New Orleans

We had fun on our trip to new orleans. I left work early and we arrived in New Orleans around 3 PM. We checked in at the Royal Sonesta, a very nice hotel on Bourbon near Canal. I've stayed there before, but it was years ago. Usually, we stay with friends, or at a smaller hotel with cheaper prices, but Beth wanted to stay at the Sonesta and it was her birthday. We really don't have any friends left in new orleans since the storm. They've all moved away.
Anyway, the first night we ate at the Cafe Pontalba, one of my favorites even though it's a tourist area. I split a hot roast beef poboy with Beth and also a crab cake. The crab cake was not very good (although Susie and Beth seemed to enjoy it), but the poboy was very, very good. We then went and sat out by the pool. Later that evening we were going to walk around the Quarter and headed towards a back street b/c Bourbon was crowded. Beth and Susie refused to go any further when we saw the street was empty. I was annoyed, but the next day we did go down that street and there was a path of blood droplets that went way down the street. The whole quarter was weird, strangly empty the whole trip.
We ended up at the Pat O'Brien's piano bar, another tourist trap, but fun. We used to go to Pat O's when we were in college and either go to the piano bar or to the courtyard. The piano bar is always fun. There are two piano's and the pianists take requests written on napkins (with tip please). They sing all kinds of songs, Billy Joel, Elton John, etc. When we got there, it was late and they had just begun singing Itsy Bitsy Spider. The young (early 20's) folks in the audience were going wild over this song! We stayed till 2:30 AM, drinking hurricanes which were suprisingly strong.
The next day we went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait, my favorites. Then went over for some shopping at the French Market. So much cheap crap, but so tempting to buy the stuff. I didn't buy anything. Next was Central Grocery and muffoletta's. If you don't know what that is, it's a large sandwich with italian meats and olive dressing. Legend says that muffs were created at Central Grocery. I've tried several times to get one, but they were always closed. I was successful this time and it was the best muff I've ever eaten.
We sat out at the pool at the hotel again Saturday afternoon, dodging the occassional rain shower. Eventually, it really began to rain and our plans for the evening were ruined. We ended up at the hotel bar listening to a wonderful singer, a black woman with hair red like a stop sign. She sang beautifully, Nina Simone songs and others.
My friends have a tradition of drinking flaming Dr. Peppers, so we were on the hunt for some. They consist of a shot of ameretto topped with Everclear or 151 Rum. The shot is lit and dropped into a half glass of beer. You are supposed to drink it real fast, and it tastes just like Dr. Pepper. No one would make us one b/c most places use plastic cups and others didn't want to do it b/c it might cause a fire. Whata load of crap! If the wood is so dry in your establishment, why do you allow smoking???
All in all it was a great trip. I need to plan more of these trips since N.O. is only an hour away.