Taking it Easy in the Big Easy

By Bob Arbogast

Gia and I recently made a return visit to New Orleans, along with our neighbors Tamara Cushing and Mark Turgeon. This was Tamara’s first trip to the famous Louisiana hot spot. We all knew that NOLA was a party town, what we weren’t expecting was how relaxing this trip would be. Everything we did reinforced the idea of slowing down, from strolling through the French Quarter to unhurried table service in restaurants and bars.

Getting There:

You can’t get a direct flight to NOLA from Jacksonville or Daytona so we drove to Orlando for the hour-plus flight. It was actually the quickest way to get to New Orleans, and we didn’t have to stress about connections and lay-overs.

Getting Around:

We took a couple of Ubers and found them to be overpriced. One Uber refused to pick us up at our location, because there was too much traffic. We hopped in a passing cab and paid considerably less. We also took a cab from the hotel to the airport. The cost was $15 per person, a real value compared to the Uber we took from the airport to the hotel when we arrived. The historic trolley from Canal Street to the Garden District was a treat. We lied about our ages to get the “Senior Discount”. The trolley cost 80 cents per person, round trip.

Accommodations:

We stayed at the Omni Royal in the French Quarter. The location was perfect, adjacent to Royal Street, and a block away from Bourbon Street. The Omni was an interesting experience. We arrived at the hotel, just after a fire alarm had triggered. This meant that the elevators weren’t working and we couldn’t get to our rooms. The rooftop bar and pool were closed for renovations. Mark and Tamara’s room was colder than a meat locker, because the AC wasn’t working properly.  We ate breakfast at the hotel every day, and we had to send back food on multiple occasions, but when the food was prepared correctly, it was delicious, and piled high. The cinnamon bun covered an entire dinner plate and was 3-inches high. There was live entertainment every night at the bar, and a 3-piece combo played in the restaurant during brunch on Saturday. All things considered, would we stay there again? Absolutely!

Sightseeing:

Royal street was amazing. You will find everything from art galleries and high-end antique shops, to souvenir and spiritualist shops. Royal Street is also home to the Monteleone Hotel and the world-famous Carousel Bar. The bar features a revolving carousel, but you need connections if you want a seat at the bar, because it’s completely occupied from opening to closing. We settled for a table adjacent to the bar for our welcome to NOLA cocktail.

Bourbon Street surprised us. We prepared Tamara for the worst. From prior experience, we knew that Bourbon Street was dirty and smelly, and something to avoid. The truth was exactly the opposite. The streets were clean, and there were some really cool bars. Yes, there were also some smelly bars, but they were few and far between.  On Saturday night, the street was packed and raucous. Everyone crowded around a live percussion band, and a few steps away a troupe of break-dancers was busking for tips. It was tremendous fun.

The WWII Museum was a must see. We were at the museum for three hours and only saw about half of the exhibits. One hour of our time was dedicated to the 4-D movie “Beyond All Boundries”. 4-D refers to the fact that there was a main screen, auxiliary screens, 3-D props, and the seats vibrated during explosions and gun fire.  It was an incredible, immersive experience.

The Garden District was a disappointment. We stopped at two of the historic cemeteries. Both were closed, and both were completely overgrown, and unloved. Market Street was the commercial hub of the Garden District, but we were underwhelmed, especially after seeing Royal Street.

Restaurants

NOLA still maintains a gentile tradition of jackets and slacks in the venerable restaurants. Some might find this charming; we found it unnecessary. Mark made several inquiries about corkage fees on the day we arrived. We heard everything from $20 to it’s illegal to bring your own bottle to a restaurant. The truth was much simpler; we paid a $20 corkage fee twice and everywhere else there wasn’t one.

Every restaurant was a mixed bag as far as the food was concerned. Some items were great, and on a few occasions, we sent food back. That never dampened the dining experience. The service was unhurried, the ambience was charming, and the waitstaff was always pleasant and accommodating. There was live music everywhere, and it was always good. We never paid a dime for entertainment.

Here are a couple of standout dining experiences. On Friday, we went to Frenchman Street. The Jazz Festival was rained out that evening so all the jazz lovers were also on Frenchman Street. The bars and restaurants were jammed, but we were lucky to find safe harbor in Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro. Jason Marsalis was playing in the theater that evening for $50 per ticket. We didn’t have to buy tickets because the concert was piped into the restaurant. It was a perfect evening of dining and music, and we were there for over two hours.

Bars

I’ve already mentioned the Carousel Bar. The cocktails were great. We also found ourselves in La Habana Hemingway Cigar Bar and Lounge on Bourbon Street. The bar is owned by a Nicaraguan family and it definitely had a Latin flair. It was so relaxing to sit in the leather chairs, puff on a cigar, sip a cocktail, and watch humanity pass by on Bourbon Street. La Habana had a smoker going in the courtyard. We found that curious and discovered that they served smoked steaks for dinner. We went back to the bar on our last night for a steak dinner and sat in the courtyard. Keep in mind, this was not a restaurant. Dinner consisted of the best steak we’ve ever eaten, accompanied by a few slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. My God, it was good! After dinner we found ourselves back in the cigar lounge, puffing on cigars, sipping cocktails, and feeling totally relaxed.

“Laissez les bons temps rouler”.