New Orleans, November 11-17, 2015
Local talent at Bamboula's
Jane and Paul decided to attend the ABVP Seminar in New Orleans this year for continuing education. We had never been there, so we accepted their invitation to join them. We didn't really expect a lot from the trip, but figured everyone ought to see New Orleans once in their life. We were pleasantly surprised. The food and music was fantastic, and we had a great time.
Our flights down were good, and they arrived about an hour after we did. We took the shuttle to the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street, the southern boundary of the French Quarter. The Marriott was nice, although they had about half their elevators down for maintenance, which made traveling to the 22nd floor a bit of a challenge at times, especially once the seminar started.
We had plenty of time to explore the French Quarter and immediate surroundings in spite of attending the seminar. It was rather interesting to watch the people, especially in the evenings, walking around town. Every restaurant we tried was excellent, and I ate seafood almost every day. One evening after the conference we decided to take in the New Orleans music and went to a couple of places on Frenchman's Street, where we sat and enjoyed drinks and superb bar food while listening to local talent. We also spent the better part of one day at the National WWII Museum, finishing about 2/3 of it.
Among the places we enjoyed down there:
- Cafe Amelie, where we enjoyed a great dinner in the courtyard. Jane had heard about this place before we travelled down there
- Huck Finn's Cafe, which was adjacent to the Marriott and convenient for breakfast
- Oysters, both raw and grilled, at Felix's Restaurant & Oyster Bar and Acme Oyster House
- Muriel's Jackson Square, once for an excellnt dinner and once for drinks and dessert (Jane and Kathy had cocktails there several times)
- El Gato Negro, where they make excellent margaritas
- Red Fish Grill for seafood
- Bamboula's and Three Muses, where we enjoyed listening to local artists while having drinks and treats
- Irene's Italian Restaurant, which we had to try several times before finally getting successfully seated for an awesome meal
