From Rock'n'Roll to Creole Sept 17: Day 10 New Orleans : WW2 Museum, Cocktails and Gumbo

[WileyCoyote]

Yesterday is Downtown Nashville and arriving in New Orleans

OMG this hotel bed was super comfy.

We had a really long lie in and a leisurely start to the day .

So leisurely that it was gone 10 before we set off , not realising that it was a] already scorching hot and that b] breakfast service was almost over.

I got out our cubes for the stay here and took another couple of pics of the room

Did I mention it was hot already?.

WOW, Super hot, took us by surprise.

And not realising that the planned breakfast destination was going to be a complete yomp , we set off taking in the incredible atmosphere on the way to Canal Street.

Our hotel

Yep, more wine , less crime, I could vote for that …..

Love the streets around the city

Courthouse

The poshest PD ever ..

We stopped into a couple of stores.

We loved this one . It had some great coffee but being a family site I cant post the photo of the name here. Suffice to say , it encouraged you to wake up !

The names of these sauces ! Slap Ya Mama and Bayou Butt Burner

We arrived on Canal Street which was much more like a “normal” big city street scene with high rise, glass fronts .

We did a quick stop at the Voodoo Mart but it was really overpriced tourist tat

We had a been going for 30 mins and already lost half our body weight in perspiration.

EWWWWWW

I had failed to take account of how far along Magazine Street we would need to go.

We passed a really busy café and Andy suggested we stop for breakfast – I was a bit (very) dogged about getting to the restaurant on the “plan” – so he agreed to carry on. He was right, we should have stopped …

After another half an hour and the realisation there was probably the same walk again ahead of us to reach the planned Diner , we found ourselves going past at the WWII museum .

Our plan had been to come here after breakfast.

It made no sense to keep going in the insane heat but unfortunately there was not a single flipping café in sight .

I had to admit total plan failure and opt for anything as by now we were really thirsty ( did I mention it was HOT). This was way hotter than Florida !

We spent a bit of time looking at the memorial bricks and then crossed over to the Museum

We had missed breakfast service by about 15 minutes so had to go for an early lunch . We chose the Jeri Nim Soda Shop purely as it’s the first café at the Museum !

It was ok, nothing special but not bad.

I had the bacon jam burger

Andy had a Chilli hot dog

With two iced waters.

It certainly tided us over while we went around the incredible museum.

We paid our $27 each entrance fee and entered the main hangar with the larger exhibits.

It was staffed by veterans and Andy spent time chatting to a few of them.

One chap had been to Manchester so was asking all about England and where we lived .

Its very humbling speaking to the vets, they were all such gracious and charming people.

To progress further into the museum you board a virtual train and are given a dog tag.

The tag relates to someone who features in the museum and you tap the tag as you go along to find out about their story. It’s a pretty neat idea.

The special event exhibit was Louisiana at War

We then spent quite a bit of time in the section on Merchant Navy.

3 of my Gran’s brothers had been merchant seamen on the Russian convoys in the War so I have always found it an interesting topic.
.
Even more so to read that there had been a big
dispute about compensation as Merchant Seamen and their families were not recognised for armed forces payouts but this had recently been changed.

A handbook on how to abandon ship, imagine that !

The main part of the museum is brilliantly themed to immerse you in the different “ theatres”.

The Pacific war was set as if you were on an aircraft carrier or on one of the islands.
They had lots of video clips running which were all interesting to watch

You started on the Ship

And then the Islands

We found the person on Andys dog tag

And then we reached the end of the American and Pacific section , which is very sobering.

From there we headed downstairs to the war in Europe

Amazing details, think of people knitting dog tag covers to stop them clinking

Then into a mock up air raid shelter

And around a number of famous European battlegrounds

It was a completely absorbing experience.

Lots to see and really interesting way in how it had been laid out.
We had been completely immersed in it. It was definitely getting busy as we left. We exited through one of the larger cafes and it was packed out.

We finished up by looking at some of the outside exhibits.

[WileyCoyote]

It was almost 2 by now and I wanted to get a street car back to the hotel .

I thought we could do this from Robert E Lee Circle

Robert himself had gone walkabout in March …. But the column, plinth and street name still remain …….. I later read the official statement on the statue’s removal on the NOLA official city website. It’s an interesting read.

We tried to board a street car but it was going the wrong way and we just couldn’t be doing with walking to the right stop so Andy hailed a taxi back to bourbon street .

At just $10, we did wonder why he hadn’t done this earlier.

Time for some refreshment so we made a stop at Pat o Briens

I had an $8 mint julep which was so refreshing.

And the infamous $14 Hurricane , no longer served in souvenir glasses !

Eesh that hurricane was potent I was definitely feeling a bit woozy

At some point I must have walked back to the hotel – probably to pick up our ponchos as rain was forecast.

I know this as the remains of the Hurricane were in the fridge the next morning … but I cant recall how it got there .

We had a nice couple of hours here just chilling out , eating the complementary popcorn and enjoying the aircon !

About 4.30 we decided on an early dinner and took a walk to the Gumbo Shop

Menu

We both went for the set menu
We had the cup of chicken gumbo to start

I had the chicken espagnole

Andy had the creole combination platter

We shared corn and mash sides, it was a lot of food!

I had the praline sundae , Andy had the bread pudding

The bill - so reasonable !

Not a fancy place, simple, flavoursome food, good service and felt a genuine creole experience.

There was a torrential downpour while we were there and it was funny as people were sheltering and we had a window seat so they were looking at our food and Andy was showing them the menu.

He should have got some commission

When I say torrential , I mean it bucketed down !

Looks beautiful afterwards

We were done around 6 and after a slightly tipsy walk back , we thought a quick old persons nap would be a good idea.

Of course it was a really bad idea as the quick nap turned into a couple of hours.

We woke up around 8 and initially were all for getting up and going out.
Although I was feeling a bit delicate and we were both still full so we reckoned the hotel bar was probably our limit.

After an hour of procrastinating , it was clear neither of us really felt like more drinking so we just watched trash tv and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing .

It’s the ultimate holiday laziness – totally indulgent !

The next day Food, Cocktails,Shops and Spooky stuff is here

[Pussycat Doll]

Sounds perfect and the food looks amazing!

[Goldia]

I'm getting the feeling it was a bit hot today, perhaps you mentioned it once or twice! The museum sounds fascinating.

[Melbatb]

What a fabulous museum! It looks such an interesting place to visit!

The mint julep looks delicious - but it seems the hurricane was one to avoid

Dinner seemed to be a good find - such a lot of food (to soak up the hurricane perhaps?

[Merligan]

Wow, that looks fab.

We will be New Orleans for 2 nights in March and staying in the same hotel as you did. Even more excited after reading your report.

We are on a motorbike tour and will arrive teatime ish first day and then have a day off and leave early ish the next day. Any tips or hints gratefully received,

Xx

[DisneyDreamer81]

We failed to make it to the WWII museum but it looks fascinating! One for next time!

Gumbo Shop is so good isn't it?! We loved the food there.

Aaahh, this is making me reminisce about our honeymoon. Bringing back lots of very happy memories. And some not so happy ones about the sweat and a very long walk down Magazine Street

[i love jack]

Haha I was looking at the hurricane recipe wondering what juice or mixer was in it...maybe none
New Orleans looks lovely, those balcony’s with plants, gorgeous.

[yellowrose78]

Another fab day, your meal looks amazing

[WileyCoyote]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

Sounds perfect and the food looks amazing!

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It was a fab day

Originally Posted by Goldia

I'm getting the feeling it was a bit hot today, perhaps you mentioned it once or twice! The museum sounds fascinating.

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We totally underestimated the heat - it was crazy. But a fab day

Originally Posted by Melbatb

What a fabulous museum! It looks such an interesting place to visit!

The mint julep looks delicious - but it seems the hurricane was one to avoid

Dinner seemed to be a good find - such a lot of food (to soak up the hurricane perhaps?

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The museum is really excellent. the cocktails and dinner were all lovely ... just maybe needed better pacing !

Originally Posted by Merligan

Wow, that looks fab.

We will be New Orleans for 2 nights in March and staying in the same hotel as you did. Even more excited after reading your report.

We are on a motorbike tour and will arrive teatime ish first day and then have a day off and leave early ish the next day. Any tips or hints gratefully received,

Xx

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How fab - the hotel is gorgeous and in a great location - enjoy ! its quite an easy city to get round , the problem is deciding what to see , there is so much ! We ate at some great places - the Grapevine Bar across from the hotel was excellent .

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

We failed to make it to the WWII museum but it looks fascinating! One for next time!

Gumbo Shop is so good isn't it?! We loved the food there.

Aaahh, this is making me reminisce about our honeymoon. Bringing back lots of very happy memories. And some not so happy ones about the sweat and a very long walk down Magazine Street

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There are a few places we failed to make but hey, reason to go back right . Gumbo shop was delicious and so cheap !

Total fail by me to not realise how long Magazine Street is - it goes on for ever ! And we totally underestimated the heat - it was insane, worse than Los Angeles - but at the same time its a such a glorious city in the sunshine.

Originally Posted by i love jack

Haha I was looking at the hurricane recipe wondering what juice or mixer was in it...maybe none
New Orleans looks lovely, those balcony’s with plants, gorgeous.

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Its so strong - much more than the feeble frozen Walmart one I had It really is a beautiful city - so quirky and so much atmosphere.

Originally Posted by yellowrose78

Another fab day, your meal looks amazing

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It was, everything was great about today ( except maybe missing breakfast ..)