The Court of Two Sisters

Posted on December 10, 2015December 10, 2015 by Dusty Roads

It’s the last night of our Amtrak vacation adventure, our last night in New Orleans and the last night we get to use a voucher for dinner.

It’s still raining buckets with gusty winds. Our reservation is at the Court of Two Sisters only a couple of blocks from the hotel but in this weather, it’s a cab ride. No walking for us.

Our doorman called a taxi for us and we made a mad scramble to get in without getting too wet. However we learned a new reality about New Orleans, they close off streets. Yup, some of the streets in the French Quarter are closed nightly from about 4 pm to 7 pm. Our reservation was 6:30 so we had to be dropped off at the end of the street and make a run for it to the restaurant about a block down.

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Its called the Court of Two Sisters because the tradition is a brunch in the courtyard. This has been expanded to include a dinner menu and luckily for us, they have indoor seating too. I would not have wanted to try to eat in the courtyard in the pouring rain!

As you enter the restaurant you pass through a set of ornate gates.

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These charm gates at the 613 Royal entrance were wrought in Spain especially for The Court of Two Sisters. Legend says that Queen Isabella of Spain had them blessed so that their charm would pass on to anyone who touched them. Yes, we made a point to touch them.

Once inside we were shown to a lovely table in a beautiful room. The atmosphere is elegant to the point that you can almost taste it. Our waiter, Stephen, was wonderful.

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He came over with a flashlight so we could read the menu in the dimly lit room and introduced himself as the “inspector”. His fine sense of humor kept the evening light.

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Our Table D’Hote Dinner Menu was for use with the voucher.

HORS D’OEUVRES

Turtle Soup Au Sherry

Creole Seafood Gumbo

Shrimp En Brochette: Bacon-wrapped Shrimp served over a crispy toast point. Finished with citrus Beurre Blanc. (add $6.00)

Barbecue Shrimp: This dish was created in New Orleans and is not barbecued at all. The shrimp are braised in a peppery butter sauce. Very unique and very tasty. (add $6.00)

Salades

Court of Two Sisters Dinner Salad: Seasonal greens and red onions in a Creole French dressing, garnished with tasso, pecans and chopped boiled eggs.

Caesar Salad: A classic prepared tableside (add $4.00)

Entrees

Chicken Oscar – Boneless skinless chicken breast served atop new potato mash and steamed asparagus. Topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and tasso hollandaise.

Corn Fried Louisiana Catfish – Served with jumbo lump crabmeat Napa slaw and green onion & cayenne tartar sauce.

Shrimp and Grits – Louisiana shrimp and Andouille sausage poached in a Creole Meunière reduction. Served over southern grits.

Trout Meunière or Amondine: Pan fried filet of trout served with rosemary roasted new potatoes and steamed asparagus. Finished with your choice of Meunière or Amandine style.

Char-Broiled Tenderloin of Beef – The whole tenderloin is lightly charred and cooked to perfection and sliced. Served with marchand de vin and béarnaise sauces and accompanied with new potato mash and haricots verts.

Veal Oscar – Baby white veal cutlets served atop new potato mash and served with sautéed jumbo lump crabmeat, tasso hollandaise and steamed asparagus.

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We could order from the main menu but we would have to pay for that ourselves. I did so ordering the Escargot Au Champignons: Mushroom stuffed Escargots sautéed in garlic butter with herbs.

Sandy bravely tried the Turtle soup for her appetizer.

The meal came with 1 glass of wine so we felt we could each have a 2nd glass as it would be like 2 for one then.

I don’t recall what Sandy had for her main course. I bet she will let us know in the comment section.

I had Trout Meunière : Pan fried filet of trout served with rosemary roasted new potatoes and steamed asparagus. Magnifique!

I also ordered an “extra” for desert. I wanted something flambe at table side so I ordered

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Strawberries a La Ray: Fresh strawberries laced with sugar and strawberry liqueur, flamed tableside with brandy and served over French Vanilla ice cream (add $4.00)

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Strawberries have never tasted so good.

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Everything was excellent. This meal was a real high point in the trip, easily the most elaborate that I’ve had in a long, long time.

Everyone Loves a Parade

Posted on December 6, 2015December 6, 2015 by Dusty Roads

The weather still couldn’t seem to decide what it wanted to do. The sky was dark and threatening and it was windy but no rain. It was tempting to head back to the hotel but I had a “vision” of the photo I wanted to get in Jackson Square so after a brief debate we decided to take a walk over there before we went back to the hotel. Good thing we did as the weather finally hit the next day, but more on that in another post.

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It was kind of cool to think we were actually walking along the top of a levy to get to Jackson Square but once there it was filled with spectators watching another street performer. As interesting as that was it meant that I couldn’t get the shot I had in mind. We hung around a bit but light was fading fast so I took what I could and we started walking back to the Wyndham.

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Since it wasn’t Mardi Gras or any other holiday I didn’t expect a parade but in New Orleans they hold parades for any reason. I guess the one we happened upon was because of a foot ball game but the float themes were more along the lines of a salute to the Horror Movie genre.

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It wasn’t a long parade but the floats were quite elaborate and they were throwing the ever present beads. Did you know that in New Orleans you must catch the beads in the air? Yup, I’m told its bad luck if you pick them up off the ground. New Orleans is very serious about their superstitions.

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Even so, I got my share of beads. Now I can truly say I have experienced New Orleans!

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Back at the hotel the concierge suggested a seafood restaurant but when we got there the line was out the door. Disappointed we went in search of another restaurant that had shorter lines.

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Along the way we passed a group of Ladies of the Night and were followed by young men trying to give away discount coupons. All very harmless but it gave me an unsettled feeling, not truly safe. This is the first time I have felt that way in all my travels.

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Finally we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe. There were no lines probably because the music was so loud you couldn’t carry on a conversation. It was rockin’ the street outside!

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It was far different from the Hard Rock experience in San Antonio but it seemed this was the best option for dinner. The meal was only so-so. Not up to the standard I would expect in New Orleans cuisine.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Welcome to San Antonio

Posted on October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Leaving Delta behind we retrieved our luggage and grabbed a cab to our hotel. Welcome to The Holiday Inn Riverwalk.

Our hotel had been chosen and booked for us through our Amtrak package. In our travel documents was a voucher to be presented at check in. I had never traveled this way so I wasn’t sure how it would work out but it was easy. I did have to present a credit card for “incidentals” but that’s just standard procedure in any hotel.

For a Holiday Inn, I was quite impressed.

And it is located right on the Riverwalk.

The river walk winds along the San Antonio river and is lined with restaurants and shops. There are pretty bridges and benches along the way. All we had to do was step out the back side of the hotel and we were on the Riverwalk!

Once we had settled into our hotel room it was time to explore and find a place for dinner. The desk clerk recommended Saltgrass Restaurant and gave us a coupon for a free appetizer.

They told us it was just around the corner. Since it was around 7 pm and quite dark I didn’t bother to bring the camera, just the cell phone.

There were loads of ducks in the river. As we walked along the Riverwalk we got a big kick out of them. They certainly weren’t shy with their loud quack quack quacks!

Eventually we found the restaurant which was so popular that there was a 40 minute wait. Even so every restaurant seemed to be hopping with patrons queued up outside so we decided just to wait. We sat watching the tour boats go by.

We watched horse drawn carriages that were lit up like Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage cross the St Mary St Bridge. they were gorgeous and I vowed to would get a picture before our time in San Antonio was over.

We finally were called and seated around 9 pm. I presented our free appetizer card and got an order of onion strings. OMG! I wish I had taken a picture of that mountain of onion. It was a volcano shaped mountain worthy of a Man Vs Food episode.

Dinner was excellent and as stuffed as we were we couldn’t resist getting the carrot cake dessert to go. Expecting a normal slice of cake we each ordered one. When they brought our to-go boxes and we peeked inside we were looking at slices the size of the island of Manhattan!

Once again we should have taken a picture because no one will believe the size of those slices. Kind of like the fish story about the one that got away!

It took us 3 days to eat through those very good, very big slices of carrot cake. I guess everything really is bigger in Texas.

Food, Fun and Sun

Posted on September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 by Dusty Roads

The Scallop Festival opened up at 10 AM. Now I may love scallops but I don’t know about eating a plate at 10 am. Somehow my tummy just isn’t ready for it at that time. Besides, we’d just had a big breakfast at I HOP so I wasn’t ready for anything more to eat right away.

The Scallop Fest has been going on for 40 years or so but this was the first time I ever went. The weather forecast this morning was cool with chance of showers and thunderstorms. They lied.

I bet it was mid 70’s when we parked at the fairgrounds in Falmouth at 11:30 and well on its way to mid 80s, The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue with white fluffy clouds. Not a thunderhead in sight.

There were loads of vendors and even though we were taking out time we were both soon soaked with sweat. Sandy made a new friend of the Geico gecko.

Sandy was wearing one of my black T Shirts so you can image how that got hot pretty quickly. She found a T Shirt stand and bought a lighter colored and it so happened lighter weight T shirt. There was plenty of room in the rest rooms so she did a quick change there.

I located a hematite jewelry kiosk and couldn’t resist a double strand magnetic bracelet. The stall owner went on and on about the healing properties of the hematite but I bought it because I liked it. If it eases joint pain that’s just a bonus.

I also found a little black cat head, like it was peaking around a corner, that I will mount on the kitchen wall as soon as I get a ladder.

There were bands playing on the main stage. They were all pretty good but I liked The Reminisants the best. They sang oldies by artists like the Moody Blues (Knights in White Satin), Neil Diamond (Sweet Caroline), Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and even The Beatles. I could name every song and every artist. Fun.

And then there was the food. Of course there was the main attraction, Fried Scallops but if that wasn’t enough there was ice cream, fried dough, strawberry shortcake, fudge and on and on. No one will go hungry here today.

There was a huge “Bouncy Park” for all sizes. Sandy and I pulled up chairs and watched the little dare devils jump from the ramparts of one bouncy house.

The younger kids were fearless but as they got older they got more hesitant.

We even saw a drone hovering nearby. Look up in the sky….

We ate our plates of scallops in a shaded picnic grove. It was a relief from the sun. The heat wasn’t too bad when the breeze blew but it was sure warm when it stopped.