French Quarter Fest 2011

Yeah, I'm a little late on posting this, I know. But I've been inspired by NOLA blogger Bayou Creole about her Fest experiences.



Rather than wait till the Saturday of FQF, we decided to hit it on the Friday. The weather was perfect and the crowd wasn't as heavy as it was last year.

We arrived at the Fest at 10:30, hoping to get a jump on the crowds only to find out that they wouldn't start selling food till 11.

So we bought Abitas and strolled to Jackson Square to pick up a piece of art I bought from Leveeland Creations , which is "New Orleans Folk Art from Salvaged Wood and Found Objects" by NOLA blogger Lance Vargas


Here's Lance Vargas in his "Office" at Jackson Square


Here's the piece of art I bought. I know it's huge (you should've seen us walking it back to the car!), but I love it!

By the time we got said art back to the car it was FOOD TIME!!!

Our first item was 12-hour roasted tenderloin with horseradish sauce and pickled red onions from Bourcherie


This picture doesn't do it justice, it was very good. I just wish they'd offered sides of the horseradish sauce, because I ate the dollop on top in one bite!

We were looking for good music and we didn't have too look to far. At the Louie Louie stage on the riverfront, we found the Marc Stone band, sponsored by our facebook friends Craig and Kimmie Giesecke of Janita's at the Rendon Inn.




Here are Kim & Craig watching the band on a rare day off for them


The Marc Stone Band. You like blues, you like slide guitar? You'll like them!
They play Wednesday evenings in Lafayette Square and later on Wednesday nites at the Rendon Inn. Check them out.

We decided to wander back to Jackson Square in search of food.



It was here we found the best food of the Fest. Our first sample was a stuffed mirliton with shrimp & crabmeat in a creole sauce from Tujagues Restaurant, right around the corner.




Mrs. Wheat's Meat Pie was good, as always.


The Court of Two Sisters' Crawfish Louise. VERY good!

While waiting on hubby to get us another sampling of food, I noticed this bird having a good old time in the fountain. He seemed so happy.





Next we sampled crawfish in puff pastry with a mustard sauce and dill from Broussards.


I must admit I was a little disappointed with this dish. I couldn't taste any mustard and the crawfish were a little chewy. But the fresh dill was very good.

Our last food in Jackson Square was the best. From Desire Oyster Bar, we got the Shrimp and Grits (I'm salivating thinking about them). The whole dish was perfect, in my "I'm not a chef but I know good food" opinion.



I've lived in this area for over 30 years and have never been inside St. Louis Cathedral. Billy and I went inside to cool off and to have some contemplative time. We didn't take pictures out of some kind of respect (my Catholic guilt, I guess), but I was amazed at the beauty of this place. And to think it is over 300 years old.

After that wonderful respite, we headed on down to the U.S. Mint to check out some Rouse's crawfish. We decided to ditch the crowds and walked down Royal Street. Got some good pictures, which will be the subject of a future blog post.

Halfway down Royal Street we spotted this car.



And they were GIVING AWAY RED BULL! If you know me, you know I must have my Red Bull in the morning. This started after I kinda bumped into a truck in front of me at Powers Junction one morning about 5 AM when I kinda of nodded off waiting to pull into traffic. But I digress.

Once we got to the Mint we started to smell the crawfish. It's not as if we didn't get enough crawfish during this particular day, but there's something about the smell and taste of boiled crawfish that gets me excited. And to think that 2 years ago I didn't like crawfish!


For $8, Rouses was very generous, given the crazy price of crawfish this time of year. And yes, they were delectable!



After glutting ourselves on mudbugs, I got a call from my daughter who was in Jackson Square and wanted to see us. So we headed back that way, happy to be moving after all the food we'd consumed during the short 5 hour period.


We found them happily eating a nutella/strawberry crepe. I hadn't seen my little sweetie in about a month, so a hug from her felt good.

While we were talking, I noticed this very cool tatoo and couldn't resist taking a picture of it.



It was about 3 and we decided to head back to the car to get back home. On our way back to the parking lot, we saw two Mardi Gras Indians strutting their stuff. I kind of laughed when I heard someone say "they're asking for donations". I felt like saying "Yeah, they put these costumes together by hand, cough up some money!".





Still heading toward the parking lot, we had to stop when we realized who was on stage by the Aquarium.



None other than one of my favorite NOLA artists, Coco Robicheaux (ro-bee-show). We decided a few extra minutes of enjoying this wonderful day was worth it before heading back to the "dreaded" northshore.

It was. French Quarter Fest 2011 Rocked. Looking forward to next year.

Life is short....live hard

Here's a link to a great blog post by NOLA Slate in which she discusses the choices we make in life. I can relate to it, as - at the age of 56 - I have taken the mindset of enjoying the little "sins" in life (like dessert, chocolate, etc) instead of denying myself. I work with a sweet young woman of 27 who is constantly dieting and watching her weight. I can't do that anymore. I want to enjoy the little things out there while I can.

Bon apetit!

City Park's Botanical Gardens

By now I've pretty much established myself as a picture manic poster. I revel in sights that delight my eye.

After spending Friday at French Quarter Festival (a great time), we decided to check out City Park's Botanical Gardens. After this visit I will refer to it as the Garden of Eden. What a beautiful place it is. (note to self: go to thesaurus dot com to find a more appropriate word for beautiful).

Between the two of us, hubby and I took over 1,000 pictures. No kidding. I've only checked out what I took as of this posting. I have whittled down my 500 plus pix to 50, but don't worry - I will not post them all here. Just what I think are the best.

So without much further ado I present you the beauty of the Botanical Gardens at City Park




















































If you ever visit the Botanical Gardens, there is a fantastic, secret garden for train lovers. It's the Train Garden and I plan to publish my pictures from this wonderfully imaginative garden soon. If you're ever bored on the internet - as my 22 year old daughter is wont to do - check out the rest of my Botanical Garden pix at my photobucket site

Worst Persons of the Day for April 5, 2011

Worst Persons of the Day for April 5, 2011

Welcome Spring

This is probably the best time to live in the Gulf Coast area. The overwhelming heat and humidity have not yet taken over, the nights are still cool and we aren't on the lookout for tropical disturbances. Everything is awakening from a long (well, long by Southeasteners' standards) cold winter and looking very nice.

I had a gut feeling this morning about visiting the The Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippiand I'm glad we followed through. Although it is situated along side Interstate 59, the Crosby Arboretum is a world apart from everything. I believe that all of us need to get back to nature every once in a while. If you haven't done it lately give it a try. You won't believe how exhilarating it can be.

From the website, here is a brief description of Crosby:

The Crosby Arboretum is dedicated to educating the public about their environment. This mission is carried out by preserving, protecting, and displaying plants native to the Pearl River Drainage Basin ecosystem, providing environmental and botanical research opportunities, and offering cultural, scientific, and recreational programs. The Arboretum displays three basic habitats found in this ecosystem. They are a Savanna exhibit, a Woodland exhibit, and an Aquatic exhibit. Both drastic and subtle changes in landscape patterns can be observed within each exhibit. In addition to the 104-acre interpretive site, the Arboretum also collectively maintains 700 acres of off-site natural areas that are preserved for scientific study.

The most stunning part of Crosby is the Pinecote Pavillion. It is located on the pond in the Aquatic exhibit. Its design fits into the surrounding landscape as if it grew there. Check it out for yourself.

Click on pictures for larger versions




After you check in and pay the $5 admission fee, you're given a baggie of fish/turtle food. Walk out to the end of the pavillion and start tossing the food into the pond.



The turtles living in the pond will soon welcome you. The fish are also ready to welcome human visitors who have food.



Here are more photos of the aquatic exhibit












Just outside the aquatic exhibit is the Pitcher Plant Bog. Pitcher plants may be related to venus fly traps. Check out the following signs.









The following series of photos are random shots we took as we walked around the Crosby Arboretum. I highly recommend a visit if you enjoy a few hours away from the craziness that is our every day lives.







find the dragon fly




We discovered the Damsel Fly here. It appears to be a cross between a dragonfly and a butterfly. Beautiful creature!







These trees intrigued me. They look like they withstood the winds of Katrina




The place is rife with wild azaleas.








If you are hungry after touring all of the different parts of Crosby I highly recommend the the Kobe Grill less than 1/2 mile from the Crosby Arboretum. Great service, great Japanese food and sushi.

Scuzzbucket of the week 2

It's been a busy week for animal abusers. Today's scuzzbucket hails from the great state of New Jersey. This 27 year old woman was charged Tuesday with "torture and torment of a living creature."

Kisha Curtis of Newark, New Jersey.

The 1-year-old pit bull, hailed by animal care workers as a "miracle dog," was discovered March 16 by maintenance workers inside a garbage chute at the Garden Spires apartment building -- a 550-unit complex in Newark notorious for drug trade and other crimes.

The dog was found so brutalized his bones protruded from his fur and he had no body temperature. Animal care workers with the Associated Humane Societies/Popcorn Park called it one of the worst cases of cruelty they've ever seen.



Sweet little Kisha starved the dog, put his nearly lifeless and emaciated body in a plastic garbage bag, then threw him down the garbage chute in a Newark apartment building.

Curtis faces 18 months in jail or a $3,000 fine if convicted

Here is a link to a Facebook page setup for the dog - named Patrick - for more information on how he is faring.

There's a special place in hell for people like Kisha.