MY NAME
c/o Addams Family Tour
260 West 44th Street, Suite 600
New York, NY 10036-3914
I love snail mail. The postal service has been suffering due to the ease of email. Let's have a positive effect on both!
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Some theaters will have a wine and cheese party. The Mahalia Jackson has a SHRIMP BOIL:
Shrimp, potatoes, and corn - all piled in a huge rolling pot of boiling spices then dumped on an enormous table. Make-your-own cocktail sauce on one side, and a keg of Abita on the other. Everyone should experience this at least once in their lifetime... but know that your fingers will smell like shrimp until your next shower. I scraped soap under my nails, and it still lingered.
There was also an impromptu beer pong tournament. It was like college, but better because all the drinking was legal and FREE.
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After the boil, a bunch of us went out for dinner and drinks in the French Quarter. There's a fabulous little spot called Le Fitte on the far end of Bourbon Street - outdoor seating, chill music, and hot 'tenders. Its named for the pirate who famously lured ships into the shallow waters of the Gulf and ransacked their goods. The only issue with Le Fitte is that you have to walk down Bourbon Street both coming and going, so inevitably you get stuck in the madness.
Bourbon Street tires me out. Its a lot of slow walking, peeking into places, deciding if they have the right vibe, drinks, music, people, etc. After about an hour of meandering, Christy, Jen and I decided to leave and head to Cafe du Monde for a quieter evening of coffee and beignets.
CORRECT DECISION.
Remember when I said I didn't get all the fuss about beignets? I get it now. I totally get it. I want to get some more. Cafe Beignet was delicious, but their pastry simply doesn't compare to Cafe du Monde. These fluffy, fried drops of heaven are what zeppoles and funnel cake aspire to be. Crisp and hot on the outside, fluffy and cakey in the middle, covered with slowly melting powdered sugar... we stopped at one order. We didn't want to spoil the memory by making ourselves sick on too much glory. If you ever come to NOLA, don't worry about being a tourist - just go the Cafe du Monde and stuff your face. On top of it all, the walk back to the hotel will look like this:
Fairy tale much? Two blocks later we hit this:
A different tale, but a tasty one. Home by 12:30am and happy - my kind of night.
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Flash forward to Monday, our first official day of in thirteen days! A tech process that long deserves some serious R&R, but we decided to kick off the day with a Swap Tour of Honey Island. Gil was totally on board:
While waiting for our boat, Steve made friends with the local inhabitants:
While the rest of us browsed cooking sauces complete with Gator toes. Really.
Gil wanted a souvenir t-shirt, but they didn't have his size.
Sam was a little worried about Gator bites. I was more worried about mosquito bites. (Spoiler: I was right.)
Gators are partial to marshmallows. By tossing them in the water, you can lure a gator to the boat for close pictures. Our guide actually tried to grab one and haul it on board. I'm not kidding.
Gil has a decent arm:
He also made friends with a wee turtle stowaway.
We sailed through swap country and the fishing grounds of shrimp boats. Here is one of the few remaining cajun fishermen who still makes his living on the swap waters:
And here is a lazy, sunbathing gator:
Also living the swamp are trees with knees:
These were used to build many of the large plantations in the Garden District - a smart move, as termites don't like this type of wood. They've since been protected as part of the preserved national swamp.
It was a long ride, but a good one. I held a baby gator and lived to tell the tale:
I am COVERED in mosquito bites, even though the guide said there wouldn't be many. The water isn't stagnant, so the swamp doesn't smell and the mosquitos don't breed. They do, however, spend an awful lot of time near Cafe du Monde. So friends, when you visit - enjoy the swamp tour, but bring the bug spray with your beignets.
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