BJ's and Alan's Adventures

Today's our last day in New Orleans and our last day near the Mississippi River. We head out tomorrow through Texas and home. Mama took us out to lunch today to Lüke, a John Besh restaurant. It was as good as the last time we ate there. Alan had three kinds of fresh made sausage, Mama had an oyster dish and a snail dish and I had a soft shell crab, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. Once again we are skipping dinner!

Three kinds of homemade sausage and potatoes

Soft Shell Crab Sandwich

After lunch the three of us went to visit my Aunt Elise. Aunt Elise is my Dad's sister and is 99+ years old. She is totally together and we argue politics a lot! It's always fun to see her.

After dropping Mama back at her apartment we came back to the B&B where Alan is now watching the 4th game of the World Series.

Since this is the end of our time on the Mississippi River, I wanted to include our pictures from the mouth of the River. When we were in New Orleans last April we rode down there on a day when the weather was much more pleasant and warmer and much less windy. These are the pictures from then.

The red dot is New Orleans and the blue dot is where we took the pictures from. We went as far as we could until the tide came in and covered the road. "Cain't go no mo'"

Tomorrow it's on to Texas. Good bye, Mississippi River, you've been a great traveling companion and we will see you soon to explore your northern half.

Before we get started today, I wanted to post the names of the two bookstores we went to yesterday. The one at 823 Chartres was Librarie Books and the one at 228 Decatur was Beckham's Book Store. We started off our morning today by going to yet another used bookstore, this one at 437 Tchoupitoulas Street and called McKeown's Books. If we were flying we would have had to buy an extra suitcase by now for the books we have bought. Luckily we just throw them in the car and go! Hooray for road trips. After the bookstore we went to the drugstore to get stuff for my mom and then, on the way to her apartment, we went up on the levee. Today is probably the coldest, greyest day thus far this Fall in New Orleans so we didn't stay on the levee very long. We did get a couple of pictures but it seems the part of the levee we chose to go to was a parking lot for a company located on the River so there are many parked cars in the picture.

We then went to Mama's apartment where we did exciting thing like laundry. She has an amazing view right onto the River so we do have a few pictures out of her windows.

Mama at 92+ years old

The Mississippi River from her windows

Mama took us out to dinner tonight at Pascal Manale's and now we are back at the B&B watching the World's Series (well, Alan is, I am typing this blog).

Just one comment about New Orleans tonight. It is the most over air-conditioned place I have ever experienced. With it 63 degrees outside today, every place we went had their air conditioners going and most were as cold inside as the outside temperature. UGH!

Today we did something we rarely do on a trip to New Orleans. We went down to the French Quarter and wandered around for hours. After the usual great breakfast prepared by Michael and Patricia at the B&B, we left and went downtown to a parking lot we know on Decatur Street. The first thing we did was walk the short distance from the parking lot to the Moon Walk. The Moon Walk is a Mississippi Riverside Walk and Park first put into place during the term of Moon Landrieu as Mayor of New Orleans, and thus the name. (At least that's how I remember it so don't all you New Orleanians attack me if I am wrong). Before it was there, I remember crossing the railroad tracks and sitting on shells on the levee watching the boats go by. Anyway here is the River at New Orleans:

An overview of Jackson Square from the Moon Walk

One of the main reasons we wanted to go to the Quarter is to look for a picture that Ethan and Erica wanted to buy 2+ years ago but couldn't find the artist when they went back to get it. We walked down to Jackson Square and went to where they had remembered he was set up and there he was! We were so excited. Erica and Ethan and Alan and I have been to look for him several times over the past few years so finding him was quite a success story. He had three pictures of a black cat eating a beignet, each slightly difference so we asked permission to photograph them all, sent these pictures by instant message to E and E and found out which one they wanted. While we waited for their response, we found, what else, a used book store. This one was on Chartres Street and was so much fun, musty, overcrowded, everything you would want in a used book store. Alan was looking for old sheet music and this owner referred us to another used bookstore which we will describe later. While there, E and E called, told us which picture they wanted and so we went back to get it. The artist was delighted by their continuous interest and was more than glad to pose for this picture after he had sold the painting to us. Can't wait to see it in E and E's home!

We wanted to go down to the old US Mint, which has been turned into a museum, so we started down Chartres Street. It was about 10 blocks down and it was already in the 80s temperature wise but it gave us a chance to take several pictures of the architecture in the Quarter.

We arrived at the Mint and they told us that one of the Rangers was about to have a "concert" singing songs about the Mississippi River. I have to say that this fit right into our road trip so, of course, we went to hear him. He was a voice major at the University of New Orleans and his partner in music was another park ranger who played a wicked slide guitar on a steel guitar. Afterwards we walked through the special exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of Preservation Hall.

Sweet Emma who always seemed to be there when I would go to Preservation Hall in High School and College.

Louis Armstrong's original cornet from his boyhood

We went through the old mint part of the museum also and then walked back down Chartres to Dumaine where the State of Louisiana also runs a small museum in Madame John's Legacy, one of the oldest original homes in the French Quarter. The exhibit that is currently there was Newcomb Pottery and I really wanted to see it. Seeing the inside of Madame John's Legacy was lagnaippe.

We finally at 2:30 decided to stop for lunch knowing that we were not eating tonight until 8:30. We went to the Gumbo Shop which used to be a small, one room restaurant and now is quite a operation. It was excellent though and a nice break as we sat out in the patio cooled by fans instead of air conditioning!

Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Seafood Gumbo

We also had boudin but were too hungry to remember to take a picture!

Having filled our stomachs, we set out for the second used bookstore. This one was in the 200 block of Decatur, again about ten blocks away. This one was such a find. It is beyond musty and crowded, books everywhere, the mandatory older gentlemen sitting drinking coffee going through the new acquisitions, definitely a place to return to. Alan did find some sheet music, Bach 2 Part Inventions, so all was right with the world. We left the French Quarter at 4 and got caught in some pretty bad traffic but got back to the B&B in time for Alan to nap and me to play with the pictures we took. Tonight we are meeting my cousin Rick for supper so we may have some food porn from that too. Tomorrow is still up in the air except for taking my mom to Pascal Manale's for dinner. Until then, bon appetit!

Alan awakened during the night with a headache caused by making decaf coffee instead of regular last night. The error was discovered by BJ this AM. Decaf coffee is a cruel hoax.

Hard to believe we are on the last leg of the Great River Road adventure. Today we checked out of our cozy Doctor's cottage at Oak Alley, had breakfast, and then toured the Oak Alley Plantation. What a beautiful setting.

"Big House"

The Oak Alley

Recreated Slave Quarters

On the way down the River we stopped at the restaurant we had gotten the boiled crabs from last night and tried their gumbo. Served in true Cajun fashion with rice in the gumbo and potato salad on the side, Alan had chicken and sausage and I had seafood.

After we reached to New Orleans and checked into "our" B&B, Maison Perrier, Alan walked over to Magazine Street and got his hair cut. When he got back to the B&B, we went over to Mama's apartment and took her out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants La Petite Grocery. Here are two reasons we like it so much.

Shrimp and Rice

Paneed Rabbit

Tomorrow we are going to go to the French Quarter to try to find a painting for Ethan and Erica that they have been wanting for 2 1/2 years and then later we are meeting my cousin for dinner. We already have lunch and dinner reservations for the rest of the weekend and hopefully will also get to visit with my aunt. Sounds like a plan to me!

After a reasonable breakfast in Oak Alley's Restaurant, we set off for Carville, La. Carville was the site of the Public Health Hospital which dealt only with patients who had Hansen's Disease, more commonly called leprosy. As only one of two leper hospitals in the entire United States, Carville was very active in research into the disease as well as treatment for it. After World War II with the appearance of sulfone drugs, leprosy became a very treatable disease and by the mid-1990s the hospital was no longer needed. The Louisiana National Guard now uses it as a base and there is both a museum and a driving tour that give you a very good idea of what life was like when it was hospital. However, because it is a Federal Armed Services installation, no pictures were allowed.

We had driven up the East side of the River to get to Carville, and so far on neither the East Bank nor the West Bank, have we been able to find a Great Mississippi River Road sign. We went back down the East Bank road to Houmas House, a sugar plantation built originally in the mid 1700s and expanded during the 1820s. It is a magnificent house with amazing gardens and we had a great guide taking us through it. Interestingly it is still currently a privately owned and lived in home.

Houmas House

Houmas House Gardens

Next we headed back down river to go to San Francisco Plantation. Still trying to find the Great River Road sign for Louisiana, we turned onto Hwy 61 for a time to see if there were any on it. No luck. So far batting zero for zero (can you tell the World Series is on TV in the background!). We got to San Francisco Plantation and were lucky enough to join the last tour just starting. The plantation was first started by a free man of color in 1827 and sold for a huge profit three years later. The owner continued to raise sugar and finally in 1853 the current house was started and was totally finished 12 years later, although it was lived in starting in 1855. The shape of the house often reminds people of a steamboat. The two very odd looking towers on either side are actually the cisterns! It has been completely restored by the Marathon Oil Company which is its next door neighbor.

San Francisco House

The levee in this area is somewhere around 32 feet high (according to the guide at the San Francisco Plantation) and so we rarely get to see the River. The many bridges across the River seem to have replaced most of the ferries (even though the maps still say there are ferries) and the bridges themselves are very high in order to let ship traffic go under. We were lucky today to catch a glimpse of the River as we went over the bridge from the East Bank to the West Bank.

On the way back to Oak Alley we stopped at B&C Seafood Riverside Market and Deli. We thought we would have an early dinner since we had again skipped lunch, but when we went in we found out that they stopped serving at 4:30 PM. They did, however, have some boiled crabs (cold but that was okay), corn, potatoes and sausage (all still hot), and were more than happy to sell us 1/2 dozen crabs and all the fixings. That is the nice thing about having this cottage. We brought them home, spread out newspaper and dived into a very silent dinner since we were both so busy picking crabs.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Oak Alley and maybe one more plantation before we head down to New Orleans for what is the end of our River Road Adventure. I think we'll go back to B&C for a bowl of gumbo before leaving Vacherie. We'll be in New Orleans 4 days and then are taking 2 more days to cross Texas. We plan on being home on Halloween. If past history is any indication, we should be posting a lot of food porn from New Orleans in the next few days. Hope so!

Today we left Natchez and continued our River Road adventure into Louisiana. Before leaving town we took the car to the car wash. It was the first time I have ever been to a car wash where you stay in the car. Hopefully, it will be the last time. It was a really claustrophobic experience with the soap suds covering the windows and then the water blocking out anything you might be able to see out the windows. UGH! Alan thought my reaction was funny and I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to get me to go through one again. Not bloody likely if I have anything to say about it.

We crossed the bridge from Natchez into Louisiana and proceeded south. River Road is hard to find and we are not sure we were ever really on it today even though we were on the road right next to the Mississippi River. We never saw one of those now familiar River Road signs. Nice country to go through though. Here is a picture just to give you an idea of how very flat this whole delta area is!

We crossed back to the East side of the River in order to go to St. Francisville. It is a very friendly, small Louisiana river town with several plantation homes and it is also the home of a friend Mary from music camp. Alan tried to contact her but there was no answer so we decided to see Oakley Plantation out in Audubon State Park. The owner of Oakley contracted with John James Audubon to tutor his 16 year old daughter. Audubon only spent 4 months there but drew 32 of his famous bird pictures during those months. The plantation is in a lovely setting full of flowering trees and live oaks with Spanish moss. Good choice for a plantation tour. There are several other plantations in the area but we moved on back to the West side of the River.

Bridge to St. Francisville

Oakley Plantation

Grounds of Oakley Plantation

Now that we are into southern Louisiana it is time to show you the third of the "c" crops we have been through on this trip. To review we have seen corn fields and then cotton fields. Today's "c" crop is cane as it is known to all locally or sugar cane for you non-Louisianians.

Continuing down the road right next to the River we passed many signs for plantations which are no longer in existence. Finally we got to "our" plantation Oak Alley. We checked in and were shown to the Doctor's Cottage. It is an entirely separate two room cottage one cane field over from the "Main House." We had ordered dinner to be left for us and it was already there so all we had to do was heat it up. We are now very comfortably relaxing in our own little house and look forward to the next day and a half here. We hope to go up river to Carville tomorrow. Carville was the site of one of the two leper hospitals in the United States. It has been closed since the mid-1990s but the US Park Service runs a museum there. We also plan on stopping at at least one if not more than one plantation home along the River and do some touring.

Doctor's Cottage

After an absolutely amazing breakfast, we set out for the City Cemetery where my great-grandparents and two aunts and an uncle are buried. Since we had previously visited this cemetery, we did not feel a need to explore it and we also were hopeful we could find my relatives' graves again. It turned out to be very easy since they are buried very close to a narrow road we happen to turn onto. Everything was being kept in wonderful shape and it was a pleasure to be able to remember these people.

Oak Hill B&B backyard

Cemetery Visit

Since the Cemetery is near the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, we drove over to the River overlooks. The view is spectacular. On one of the streets leading to the Bluffs, one of the houses was decorated "over the top" for Halloween.

Mississippi River looking North

Mississippi River looking South

Halloween House

We stopped by the Natchez Visitors' Center and bought tickets to tour two of the many mansions in Natchez. While there, we watched a movie about the history of Natchez and the surrounding area. We had tried to go to the Visitors' Center yesterday, but true to form, we got there 5 minutes after they closed.

First we went to Rosalie Mansion which is just a few blocks down the road from the Visitors' Center. Rosalie was built in the early 1820s and during the Civil War was taken over by U.S.Grant as headquarters for the area. There are no pictures allowed on the inside so you will have to go see it yourselves!

Leaving Rosalie we then went to Stanton Hall, another town home for a plantation owner. It was finished in 1858. Again inside pictures are not allowed so come to Natchez and see it!

Our final destination today was "The Forks of the Road" Historical Site. It was here that the Natchez Slave Market took place with slaves sent from all over the country to Natchez to be sold, mostly as field hands on the cotton plantations. There is nothing left but the documentation that is presented here is sobering!

Back to the B&B we went for a break in the tourist day! Since we are the only people here tonight, Alan felt very comfortable going into the Library and playing his violin. I downloaded our pictures and then took my book outside and enjoyed the beautiful backyard and the very friendly cat. The innkeeper brought us a glass of wine and suggested we go to dinner at the Castle Restaurant which is on the grounds of Dunleith Mansion. It turned out to be a world class meal!

Gumbo

Tilapia with Crawfish Sauce and Spinach Risotto

Shrimp, Scallop, and Lump Crabmeat Casserole

Tomorrow we leave Natchez and travel to Vacherie, Louisiana. Oak Alley Plantation is our next B&B and we are planning on touring it and several other plantation homes along the River. This is something I have always wanted to do and, hopefully, Alan won't be too bored looking at antiques and homes.