on tuesday night in new orleans after eating the most devastatingly beautiful southern meal, katherine and i went to the corner of bourbon and st. peter’s streets to hear some jazz. we traded off waiting in line to get into preservation hall for the last set of music, and i found this band in a bar filling the air with sweet bluesy strains and listened for a bit from the big, open windows:
preservation hall opened in 1961, created as a sanctuary to protect and honor authentic new orleans jazz in the face of newer musical trends. nearly every night for 51 years, melodies and harmonies and improvisations have filled up the hall’s simple, small room. when we walked in after a half an hour of waiting, i could feel the memories of this place in my bones, the trillions of musical notes having soaked deep into the walls and the floorboards.
we sat on the front row, on the ground, on some thin cushions, in our dresses. the saxophone tube was right in front of my face. for an hour we listened to a six man band play jazz with so much fervor, and i couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the entire time. the room was filled to capacity with about one hundred people and several times we were all singing along. there was no photography allowed so i had to be sneaky about getting these shots. i just had to capture this bluesy, soulful, golden hour.
the finale was the band playing “when the saints go marching in” with all of us singing out loud and the musicians on their feet with their eyes closed, so very unencumbered. sweet music strains saturated all the space around us. it was so awesome.
for our team dinner in new orleans, we went to the city’s most famous restaurant, commander’s palace. that night was one of the very, very best dining experiences of my life.
the atmosphere in the main dining room was so neat. there were birds on the walls and barely flickering bulbs in the chandeliers. i have the most amazing, smart, funny, interesting coworkers and their company was just delightful. i ate turtle soup, pumpkin salad, pecan crusted gulf fish with creamed corn and the most incredible bread pudding (the same recipe that has been used since the early 1800s). everything was just so, so delicious. i was swooning the whole time.
afterward, our waiter took us on a tour and we got to see all the different gorgeous dining rooms, the kitchen (everything is made from local ingredients and from scratch – they even have a butcher!), the wine cellar, the lush back gardens, and the patio, which was canopied by the branches of a huge, mosey cyprus tree.
it was just the most exquisitely lovely (and tasty) evening.
on tuesday night, katherine and i went to another fancy dinner (hosted by an organization that we work with often) at emeril’s delmonico restaurant (apparently emeril is a super famous chef?). that meal nearly rivaled the commander’s palace experience. we sat in a private dining room with a wall of windows overlooking a garden and ate the most magnificent five course meal with included (katherine and i shared some of our selections with each other): deep fried mac and cheese, warm dense cornbread, authentic gumbo, the most flavorful shrimp and grits in the world, delicious salad, creole chicken with bacon, melt-in-your-mouth filet minon and chocolate crème brule with berries. i have not been that (nearly painfully) stuffed since thanksgiving. it was amazing.
food, glorious food. no one does it like new orleans.
katherine and i went to new orleans a day before our conference started so we would have a little time to explore. i immediately fell for this colorful, lively city that is so unlike any other. we had a fantastic saturday afternoon and evening wandering through the french quarter, taking it all in.
st. louis cathedral in jackson square, where we sat in the sun and ate poboys
interior of st. louis cathedral
art sales in jackson square
balconies and buggies
the most famous and delicious beignets
goods at the flea market
and gator on a stick at the farmers’ market!
balconies and shutters decked out for halloween
really fun shops along royal street
all kinds of street performers
we happened to get to see a wedding parade! all the guests waved handkerchiefs behind the band
and then everyone paused in front of the reception site and danced and cheered
we took the ferry across the mississippi river and back
and then strolled down the infamous bourbon street just as things started bumping
one of my very most favourite things about nola is the gas lamps along the streets
we stopped at the oldest bar in america for a virgin hurricane by candlelight
and as we walked back down bourbon street we noticed this down a side road:
an interesting contrast to the revelry
such a cool city. i love exploring places i’ve never been.
