Category Archives: Louisiana

The Court of Two Sisters

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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.

Hurricane Patricia

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Well all that threatening weather finally came to a head. It took the remnants of Hurricane Patricia  to push it over the edge. As hurricanes go there wasn’t much left after getting ripped up on the mountains in Mexico but it was enough. It was like a nor’easter in New England but not a Hurricane. There was a lot of rain and some pretty good wind gusts.

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There were reports of a tornado out by the airport but we weren’t anywhere near that and there ween’t any reports of damage.

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We were on the way to take a boat tour of the bayou when we got the call. They were canceling all tours because of the wind gusts. I was disappointed but better safe than sorry. We were in the cab heading there when we got the call so we had the driver drop us off at the Aquarium instead.

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I know people who say once you’ve seen one aquarium you’ve seen them all but I disagree. I like fish, the ocean and seeing different exhibits.

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Every aquarium shows off their collections differently and can even have different animals. A perfect example is the New Orleans Aquarium that has a mermaid exhibit.

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I’ve only seen that in one other place, Weeki Wachee Springs, a Florida State Park.

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They also had an Omni Theater. They only had one movie playing that day and it’s a good thing. If they had choices I might have picked something different but this movie turned out to be excellent.

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It was Hurricane on The Bayou about Hurricane Katrina and I thought I’d seen hundreds of hours of footage but this was outstanding. This amazing film tells the story of Hurricane Katrina and the impact that Louisiana’s disappearing wetlands has on hurricane protection. It also shows the survival of a region, the rebirth of nature and the spirit of humanity. Winner of 4 Giant Screen Cinema Association Achievement Awards

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If you can get to see it, I highly recommend it.

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After spending the morning at the Aquarium we finally headed back to the Hotel. The afternoon was spent watching a movie in our room. That’s something we don’t do every vacation!

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Everyone Loves a Parade

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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.

The Steamboat Natchez

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Back at the Lighthouse we considered our options for the afternoon. The paddle wheel steamboat Natchez was right there at the dock so we decided to take a ride up the Mississippi. We had about two hours before our trip so we went in search of lunch. The menu on the Natchez didn’t “speak” to me.

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Instead we had lunch at the Gumbo Pot on Decatur St.

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We both tried the Po’boys. I had shrimp and Sandy had hamburger. They were HUGE! and very good.

We also had a little excitement. It was clear that a storm was approaching as the wind began to gust pretty good. Suddenly it caught one of the umbrellas and over it went right on another table. That certainly got everyone’s attention while the waiters hustled around taking down the umbrellas so it wouldn’t happen again.

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After lunch we made our way to a table on the dock where we could watch the river traffic while we waited for our turn on the Natchez. We had a front row seat for the steam Calliope concert.

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Boarding was like going on a cruise.  Photos were taken to documents our trip.

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The cruise was fully narrated and there was a jazz band playing inside.Both of us did a lot of our New Orleans souvenir shopping in the gift shop.

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Remember those sugar cane fields we saw from the train? Well we got to see where a lot of that goes when we sailed past the Domino Sugar Refinery.

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The narrator pointed out areas where the docks had been destroyed by many things from Katrina to fires. We passed huge ships and other refineries. The river it self was really wide and bustled with barges and tug boats.

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In spite of the “iffy” weather it was a great ride.

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Back on the dock we spotted a street performer. His “shtick” was to pretend he was walking his toy dog and freeze in place in mid-stride. Still pictures really don’e do it justice but he was quite good and very personable. His tip bucket was the white bucket you can see in the picture.

 

 

 

Big Easy City Tour

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Our tour  was billed as the Super City Tour covering the French Quarter, Jackson Square, The French Market, Mansions along St Charles Ave, St Louis Cemetery, City Park  and the Universities of Tulane, Loyola and Xavier.

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Unlike the San Antonio Tour which took all day, the tour was only about 2.5 hours and consisted of driving past most of the sites. We only made 2 stops and those were both very short.

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One of the stops was at St. Louis Cemetery and with the storm clouds threatening it set the proper mood for a New Orleans Cemetery!

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The Stop at the City Park was very short. Most of tour group went into the Morning Call Cafe for coffee or to use the rest rooms. I broke from the group to try to get some pictures of the park itself. I would have loved to spend more time there.

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There were ducks in the ponds and lovely stone bridges. Trees with Spanish moss over hung the water features.

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Later in the hotel room as I browsed one of the magazine I found an article about the park. It seems that it is a high crime area which explains the quick stop. It made me sad to learn this because it is such a beautiful place.

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The ride past the universities was fun because the Students had gone all out to decorate for Halloween. The Day of the Dead was also celebrated in New Orleans so skeletons and skulls abounded.

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Sandy was looking forward to visiting the French Market as she buys  coffee or something online from there unfortunately there was no stop there. The same with Jackson Square. We just got to peak out the bus windows as we drove past.