A Self-Indulgent Post

I have a lot of pictures from New Orleans to post.  We had a great trip.  It was so good for me to see so many people and sights that I love.  The first day we went to the Preservation Resource Center Holiday Home Tour.  This is by far one of my favorite events in New Orleans.  I have been dying to get back to New Orleans for this very event, so what a great reason to make a weekend out of it.  Here I am holding my ticket/map of homes to tour in Garden District.  This year there were eight homes open to tour including the home of Dickie Brennan, possibly the most famous restaurateur in New Orleans.  It was amazing to see his giant, well used stainless steel cooktop.  The finish was clean but dulled from lots of use.  He had a huge built in kitchen bookshelf filled with cookbooks.  Another home belonged to the King of Mardi Gras 2009.  His home was full of, of course, pictures of people dressed up at Mardi Gras balls.  He also had several framed vintage prints of floats from the Rex Parade from years past.  I love these things because they are so uniquely insider New Orleans.  I couldn't be part of that unless I stayed there for a long time.

An old oak tree along St. Charles Avenue, covered with Mardi Gras beads thrown during Mardi Gras parades.

Just a few pictures from the tour.  This house with the table set for 24 was insane! Totally not my style but amazing to see.  They had a large bookshelf from the second French Empire and a piano made in Paris in 1880 that is one of only seven in the world.  A lot of the homes had original mirrors and chandeliers.

It was therapeutic to see my redone house.  It definitely doesn't look like my house anymore.  There are no trees or bushes.  They have replaced the large old windows with small new ones.  Why? They park their car on the lawn even though there is clearly a usable driveway.  Why? They keep their garbage can in their front yard even though there is a perfect storage place for it on the side of the house near the A/C unit.  Why? There are no rain gutters.  Why? The answer is because my street which was a nice little pocket with neighbors who cared for their home and yard and each other has now become just like the rest of the area.  Sad but helpful to allow me to let go.

This is our neighbor's home which looks pretty much the same as it did a few weeks after Katrina.  The home directly across the street is now an empty lot.

We took a drive through Lakeview which is where my kids went to school and where I'd run to the grocery store and post office.  Lakeview was a great neighborhood with nicer, expensive homes.  It got pounded in Katrina.  I was happy to see that Lakeview is making great progress recovering.  There are lots of restored and rebuilt homes.  The homes are looking good.  The main street in Lakeview is looking better, but there is quite a long way to go.  The grocery store hasn't returned although the building where it was has been redone.  The restaurants on the street, including Reginelli's, a favorite pizza place of ours, have returned.  There were three red signs that said,"Where is our neighborhood school? We pay our taxes.  Where is our community library? We pay our taxes.  Where are our recreational facilities? We pay our taxes." And this sign above warmed my heart for sure.  Hynes was the school my girls went to in Lakeview.  It was a gem of a school in a struggling public school system.  Some referred to it as a "boutique school." There was lots of parent involvement and good test scores and school spirit.  Hynes has since reopened as a charter school in a different location.  But the ground is now plowed up and prepared for construction of a new school. 

Saturday night we went to dinner at Commander's Palace which is probably my favorite restaurant in New Orleans-it's hard to choose.  I have been to Commander's six or seven times and have never been disappointed.  The service was not great for the first time, but the fantastic meal made up for it.

We went to what is left of our old ward.  It was soul satisfying to see a few of my favorite ladies. It's comforting to know that these women are still there holding the fort down.  I have so many great memories of seeing these women at church each Sunday.

We had to go track Ms. Pat Blue down at her house.  Her asthma makes it hard to get to church on humid, foggy days and she had spent the night before caring for her special needs grandson (who looks how I would imagine an angel to look) late into the night.  I adore Pat Blue.  I used to be her visiting teacher and this woman has a heart of gold.  I was pleased to find her at home with her friend Bootsy there.  What a great visit with Pat.

The cemeteries in New Orleans are always interesting to walk through and photograph.  Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in the garden district was closed on Sunday, so Mark had to take pictures through the fence.  By the way, all photography credit goes to Mark.  This last picture is typical of the sidewalks in the garden district.  The old oak trees tear up the sidewalks with their roots.  Many oak trees in New Orleans are registered oak trees, which means they can't be cut down-even if it's growing in the middle of your yard.

I insisted that we go to the Cheesecake Bistro because this chicken dish is one of my favorite things to eat in the whole world.  Kind of dumb to put a picture of it, but I thought Shawna and Natalie might enjoy a glimpse of culinary bliss:)  Only difference was they used to give you an entire broccoli crown for a side (which was delish dipped in the sauce I could eat by the spoonful).  Now the broccoli side is meager.

Royal Street in the French Quarter.  They block off sections of the French Quarter on the weekends to thru traffic.

St. Louis Cathedral-my favorite site in New Orleans.  Some day I want to find a beautiful painting of the cathedral in greys and blues to hang in my house.

Just some great pictures Mark took of the French Quarter.  This last one is my dad's favorite bookstore, The Faulkner House in Pirate's Alley.

Night shot in the French Quarter.

We went to dinner at Antoine's in the French Quarter.  It was seriously not good and every bit as expensive as Commander's.  Antoine's is supposed to be world famous.  This is the baked alaska we ordered for dessert.  It tasted like a giant Twinkie with vanilla ice cream-very disappointing-and they didn't even flambe it at the table.  We did get to take a tour of the restaurant which you would never guess is huge! There are 15 themed dining rooms-unbelievable.  It was really neat to see.  They had a wine cellar that was basically a long hall with wine racks on both sides.  It was probably longer than my entire house and garage.

Have to get a picture of a streetcar.

I was SO HAPPY to see my friend Becky.  Our kids went to preschool together and we used to do a weekly playgroup.  She is a dear friend with a lovely New Orleans accent.  She is genuinely an amazing person and such a great mom.  I look up to her in so many ways.  I miss being able to spend time with her.  She just moved uptown right next door to her mom.  She and her husband bought a big three-story shotgun double and they are opening it up into one big house.

And now you see why this was a self-indulgent post! SO MANY pictures that are seemingly overkill, but to me they represent everything I love and miss about New Orleans.  I feel so blessed to have spent five years and two months in (or near) that wonderful city (ten months the girls and I had to spend away after the hurricane). Those have been some of the happiest years in our family so far.  I'm so glad Mark and I got to go back for a short visit.