Newcomer to New Orleans, Part I

The other major trip I took this summer was to New Orleans, and that was about two weekends ago. Now there are several reasons why I wanted to go here:

• Cajun food is one of my favorite types of food
• I've never been to New Orleans and heard good things about it
• There was an AIAA conference that would be in New Orleans the days following my trip so I was hoping I might meet up with some friends who would come in early.

I booked the hotel through Hotwire (which is a pretty sweet service) and invited some Florida friends along (only one actually came). I also got plenty of suggestions of things to do in the city. Let's not waste more time...here we go!

Friday, 22 June 2012

After a nearly 5-hour trip, our first stop in New Orleans was Jacques-Imo's Cafe in the Carrollton district of New Orleans. It was recommended to me by a friend who said I wouldn't regret it. After about an hour-long wait, we got our seats and treated to a wonderful salad. I got blackened redfish with crab-chili hollandaise and my friend got stuffed pork chops (stuffed with ground beef and shrimp). I also had a can of NOLA beer to go with it. There was also a shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake as an appetizer, but we passed.

Real N'awlins Food, not famous since 1996.

The workday and drive made us tired so we checked into the hotel for the night. Staying on the 39th floor gave us a good view of the city, and we could still hear a saxophone all the way up there (as well as any sirens).

Night view of Canal Street from our hotel.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Good morning, New Orleans! Morning view of Canal Street from our hotel.

My friend and I started the day pretty early and took a walk to Mother's Restaurant. This was a suggestion of a coworker who said we would wait in a long line but have awesome sandwiches. We decided to go for breakfast and skip waiting in a long line.

Crawfish étoufée omelet, grits, and a biscuit!

After breakfast, we went down to the Riverwalk Marketplace to find my friend a new pair of shoes. It didn't open until 1000 so we took the time to enjoy the river.

My friend reminiscing on the time his Navy aircraft carrier docked in this very spot (a long time ago).

Pennants in a storefront window. Which one of these is not like the others?

We weren't able to find any shoes for him so we did the next best thing.

Café du Monde in the Riverwalk marketplace. Café au lait with a beignet (and a Coca-Cola).   

I was wanting to wait until we got to the original Café du Monde in the original Jackson Square location, but I didn't know how the trip would pan out.

3 seconds after my friend said he thinks he's going to make a mess, he coughs.

Beigneeeeet!

After scarfing down the traditional order of three beignets and our drinks, we headed over to the National World War II Museum. I think it's a bit of a misnomer since the museum focuses on the run-up to D-Day, the execution, and the resulting Allied victory in Europe. In fact, it was known as the National D-Day Museum until Congress designated it as "America's National World War II Museum" in 2003. It's located in New Orleans because the city was home to the producers of the Higgins amphibious landing vehicles that made the beach invasion possible.

I didn't take pictures in the museum, but I did get the one below.

James Rudder would eventually go on to become a U.S. Army Major General before retiring. He eventually became the president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in the 1960's. During this time, A&M desegregated, began admitting women (not related to faculty), and made participation in the Corps of Cadets voluntary. The school also changed its name in 1963 to become Texas A&M University.

Texas A&M University honored him with a statue and with the naming of some of the major campus spaces after him. It is said that the slope from his statue to the top of Rudder Tower was the same slope that he and his Rangers had to scale on D-Day. His statue has since moved in recent renovations so the previous statement may just be urban legend.

The next post will cover Saturday afternoon and Sunday!