Day 2:
It was cloudy and/or overcast all day, but thank the Lawd, no damn rain bore down. After the Mr. registered for his conference, we got the car from the valet (it is absolutely highway fuckin' robbery that the Sheraton doesn't tell you until you get here that it's $30.18 per day to park your car, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it, unless you wanna pay $15 per day for uncovered, out-in-the-open parking three blocks away where God only knows what might happen to your ride) and drove a little meandering route to St. Charles Avenue, then to Washington Street, where we found Lafayette Cemetery #1. A volunteer was finishing a tour with a small group, so we kind of hovered while he explained how yellow fever once ravaged the city, as well as some encounters he had with family members who have come over the years to pay respects and keep up the graves. There are some really interesting structures there, and the cemetery is much more crowded than it looks in the movies. Yes, really. Lots of Masons are buried there, as are quite a few Woodmen, whose headstones can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodsmen_of_the_WorldMahony's
http://www.mahonyspoboys.com/ was our next stop, and while it wasn't the dive I'd thought it was, it is a neighborhood place that makes some damn good sammich. Mr. 94CG had a grilled-shrimp-fried-green-tomato-and-remoulade po-boy; I got the
Cochon de Lait with pulled pork (no bbq sauce) topped with dijon-seasoned cole slaw; Picky Eater Younger Brother (the one who ate the $9.95 chicken strip dinner last night) again had chicken strips, but this time they were $5.95; and Big Brother Not At All Picky Eater ordered what turned out to be the best sandwich in the place, apparently- the Peacemaker. Fried oysters, remoulade AND mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheddar, and bacon. I got great photos of him unwrapping the Marvelous Wonder, chowing down, and finally debating whether he could finish the last four bites. Oh, and a basket of uber-thin onion rings was shared by all but PEYB (see above). All of this gloriousness was washed down with cold Abita Root Beer. Lunch for 4 at Mahony's ain't as cheap as you'd think, especially with two seafood po-boys, but it was worth it.
We drove to the French Quarter and walked around for about an hour to work off the edge of the lunch. Jackson Square
http://www.jackson-square.com/ is really pretty, and there are several museums right on the square. Bourbon Street is okay to walk around with your kids during the day, but you have to watch what photos are posted in the windows of some businesses.
"Heeeey, boys, look, um... over THERE!" *point in the opposite direction of the pics of the nearly-nude chicks who perform in the bar... I think the bar actually had the words "sex acts" in its name...* We checked out Rev. Zombie's Voodoo Shop, and took the obligatory stroll in front of Pat O'Brien's. We stumbled upon the Court of Two Sisters
http://www.courtoftwosisters.com/, where we may try to go for brunch on Friday.
Back to the hotel to cool off- despite the lack of sun and the breeze, it's still humid. Mr. 94CG went to the first conference workshops late in the afternoon, and I took the boys to the hotel pool. We walked back to the French Quarter, just up the street from Jackson Square (which, as it turns out, is only 6 blocks from the Sheraton), to the Gumbo Shop
http://www.gumboshop.com/. PEYB not only found grilled cheese and garlic mashed potatoes on the menu, we convinced him to try some of our food- red beans and rice with sausage, and chicken-and-sausage jambalaya. The jambalaya is now PEYB-approved, as is the chocolate brownie sundae, but he wouldn't touch the seafood gumbo that his brother ordered. I think the crab claws and shell in it freaked him out. Mr. 94CG also had Shrimp Creole, yum. Coming back, we looked towards Bourbon but didn't dare go near it at 7:30 pm, We have since been safely ensconced in our hotel room flipping channels between the Red Sox and the Octomom lost footage.
Tomorrow's plan: I promised the boys we'd have beignets one day for breakfast, so I think tomorrow will be Cafe du Monde
http://www.cafedumonde.com/ Day. Dad can have lunch with us, and we've got a few ideas, but we don't know where we'll go yet. Tomorrow afternoon I'm probably taking the boys back to the museums on Jackson Square- one of them is the Cabildo, which once upon a time was the area's government center when the Spanish owned the place, and post-Civil War,
Plessy v. Ferguson was heard in its courtroom.
Parkway is indeed on my list of places to hit, and I've been intrigued by the repeated sights of a "gravy" po-boy on several menus here. I think we'll have to order one just to try it.
I have also decided that anyone who has written a book titled
How to Be an American Novelist in Spite of Being Southern and Catholic deserves to be read.
