New Orleans, LA

We traveled another 260 miles from Alabama, thru Mississippi, and into Slidell, Louisiana the home of Trace and Artis. Slidell is located across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. We have been here a little over 24 hours and they are such wonderful tour guides that we have absorbed so much of the local flavor I hardly know where to begin.

When Trace and Artis asked Jim what he would like to do in this area his first response was "I want to taste crawfish" -- they made sure this wish was granted by taking us to Fatty's for a crawfish boil. They ordered 5 lbs of crawfish as well as some other local tastes and we tried the best bacon-wrapped shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos (just amazing). The 5 lbs. of crawfish didn't stand a chance. Trace gave us a lesson on how to remove the meat from the claws and tail and we tried to be quick learners. Excellent!

Today we spent the day in New Orleans and we had such an amazing day I am struggling to decide where to start so let me address each aspect in turn. First of all, the architecture -- this city has a heavy French influence which can be seen in the street names, place names and architecture. Beautiful wrought-iron work from the fences to the beautiful balconies which are frequently adorned with flowers. The first apartment complex in the United States still stands here in New Orleans and it was built by a female architect. It consists of 2 matching buildings adorned with beautiful wrought-iron work which provided for retail shops on the ground floor and homes on the remaining floors.

New Orleans is a town which loves its ghost stories and tales of intrigue so a cemetery tour speaks to all of these ideas, as well as providing a great history lesson. Our tour guide Robert was tireless in his efforts to not only educate but also engage and entertain. He recounted tales of voodoo priestess and cheating husbands who met their just end, as well as less colorful practicalities of above-ground tombs and family crypts.

One cannot think of spending a day in New Orleans without jazz and Trace and Artis made sure our tour included a stop at a local café where we were entertained by several jazz musicians.

New Orleans is located along one of our nations true natural treasures, the beautiful and mighty Mississippi river. We sat along its banks, listening to the street jazz and watched as huge boats navigated the twists and turns of the river, including a beautiful stern-wheeler called the Natchez.

For our afternoon meal, we visited Jack Dempsey's -- which is now owned by Sammy who took it over from his dad. This is Sammy in the picture with Trace and Artis. The food is fantastic and we were able to taste a few more local seafood favorites. The thing I will remember most, I think, is the soft-shelled crabs. These are crabs which are caught in the brief time after they had molted their hard shelled but before the new one has formed. They are breaded and fried and you eat the entire crab because there is no shell. This is a taste treat you don't want to miss. We also tried crawfish pies -- about the size and shape of a perogie but with a delicious spicy crawfish filling that is reminiscent of a seafood bisque but a little thicker. Trace ordered the turtle soup which was finished with a drizzle of sherry (I had a taste and it was fantastic). Our main dish was Po-boys -- shrimp and catfish, both of which were the best I've ever tasted.

As we drove back home, the soft twilight colors of purple and blue reflected on Lake Ponchartrain. The images of the day filled my mind to over-flowing. Thank you, Trace and Artis, for a wonderful day full of the local flavor of this amazing area.