New Orleans is a fun place but turning up on the Saturday of Memorial Day week end was not ideal. Even our Hotel’s Tonight ap that has been our savior so far on the “decent for less” front was telling us we were screwed. Hotels within walking distance of the madness were averaging out around $400 a night, and that aint a road trip budget. Not even with the fiscally irresponsible attitude we have taken to ours on some occasions.

Miraculously one motel did show up on our AAA ap for $89 a night, Jefferson Inn and Suites, claiming to be only 7 miles out of town. How bad could it be? The reviews suggested it was not bad at all and so we jumped on that, and it was – well it was far from the worst place we have stayed (that came the next night) and the owners were lovely.

So on to New Orleans, then. We had expected much from this stop, I remembered fondly a short trip to the area pre Katrina in 2002. A short walk around the French Quarter and we were still feeling that expectation would be realized. The French Colonial architecture is undeniably charming and the feel of the place is can be both serine (in parts at least, I saw a bohemiam dude cycling around the French Quarter with a Sherlock Holmes pipe in his mouth) and edgy at the same time. We had been warned to avoid Bourbon Street (except for the far ends) but you feel you have to at least check it out. Having done so I will confirm to any potential future travellers that avoiding it is good advice. Bourbon Street is full of the types of bars and inhabitants of said bars that most have us have probably been at some stage but no longer want any part of. And, there is no pleasant way to put this, there is an unmistakable musk of vomit in the air all the time; doubly unpleasant in the heat and humidity of southern Louisiana.

We tried to get to the Port of Call– where we are reliably informed the Burgers are amongst the best in world but it seemed the rest of the world had received the same message. We took refuge in a non-descript bar on a side street before commencing the Jambalaya hunt. Our taxi driver, who looked like he could put away a good Jambalaya had recommended a couple of options. Sadly at each we found the line too intimidating and so once again took refuge, this time in a upscale bar/restaurant where Dione finally found herself a glass of wine worthy of the term. Ultimately dinner transpired to be Italian, out of accessibility rather than desire.

The next morning we did at least make the required pilgrimage to Café Beignet–as our virtual tour guide, Sam, had implored us we would be fools not too. On this occasion we did brave the lines in order to experience the sugary treats alongside some a crawfish in omelet form. Sadly on this trip that was as close to Creole cooking that we managed.

A very brief tour of the French market and we were on the road again to start the 500 or so mile trek to Austin. We had intended 2 days in New Orleans but extra time spent in Clarksdale aligned with accommodation costs and sheer volume of people put pay to that. If the above suggests we were disappointed with NOLO then I would argue that it was not NOLO’s fault. I would have no hesitation to go back, with more time, at a different time. If you can’t enjoy New Orleans then you may have tipped over the peak of middle age I suspect, and I am clinging to the hope I have still have a little distance to travel on that road. But as another cab driver told us that this week end was not really that crazy, I doubt Mardis Gras would be that time for us.

Tim 26th May 22, 2015