Georgia | Cooking With Fire

We left Savannah, Georgia and drove Highway 10 and saw parts of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi on our way to New Orleans, Louisiana. We arrived at our hotel, the Prince Conti, in early evening and were delighted with our accommodation. An historic, privately owned hotel situated just a block off Bourbon Street, the Prince Conti was perfectly situated, authentically furnished, clean and close to everything we wanted to visit.

After checking in, we took a stroll around the French Quarter and stopped for dinner at a restaurant overlooking Bourbon Street and all the action. We shared a salad and we tasted our first crawfish etoufee with a lovely salad and glass of sauvignon blanc – delicious!

Ron visited New Orleans about fifteen years ago as his Dad, Jake, was born there, but this was my first visit. I had wanted to celebrate my fortieth birthday in New Orleans, but that didn’t happen and I hadn’t made it any other time since. I am so glad that my first visit here was with Ron – I absolutely believe that I was meant to wait to share it with him.

Our bellman at the hotel, Chad, recommended that we leave our car the next day and, instead, take the cablecars to explore. It was a great suggestion – for $3 each, we were able to travel all over the city (until 4:00 the next morning!), get on and off with no restrictions, and explore the city with total freedom. We had a fabulous day! Our first stop was the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) where we took in the Sculpture Gardens and then the actual museum itself. NOMA has a wonderful collection of art and we were able to view pieces from some great contemporary artists as well as some of the masters such as Degas, Renoire, Picasso, etc.

The restaurant at the NOMA is rated one of the top ten museums restaurants in America, so we decided to have lunch there (we shared some delicious gazpacho, salad and a Cubano sandwich with a glass of red wine) before heading out on our next streetcar adventure.

Our next stop was the Garden District, where we jumped off the streetcar and explored Audubon Park, then walked for miles back towards the center of the city to fully appreciate the beautiful homes and magnificent architecture. Our final streetcar adventure was the River District, from where we walked back through the French Quarter to our hotel, after getting foot reflexology at a little establishment en route. That foot rub felt SO good after so much walking!

After a quick shower at the hotel, we headed to Deanie’s for dinner and enjoyed a feast of charbroiled oysters, salad and crab stuffed flounder with a glass of sauvignon blanc. We grabbed a cab and headed to the Maple Leaf Bar to listen to some live jazz. Ron had been to this club on his last visit and it is ALL about the music – seven nights per week. The band that was playing that Tuesday night was the Rebirth Brass Band that is comprised of three trumpets, two trombones, one tuba, two saxophones, bass and snare drums and other percussion (including congas). The music was phenomenal! We picked up their CD entitled “Rebirth of New Orleans” to keep their music with us and remind of an evening of music that literally blew the roof off.

Our cab drivers both to and from the Maple Leaf Bar were a delight. On the way to the club we rode with Manuel, an author who wrote of his escape from Ethiopia over a decade ago. He wrote his book in his native language, which we should try to find for our beautiful Ethiopian friends, Liya Kebede and Winnie Schulman. Our cab driver for the return trip was Oscar, a New Orleans native who we hope will come to see us in Cabo with his wife and daughter.

One of the highlights of our trip to the Maple Leaf Bar was driving through the area that Tulane and Loyola Universities are situated in. The campuses of both universities are spectacular!

Just before we left the city, we walked around the corner of our hotel to Thomas Edison Square, where live jazz is playing all day and night long, to sample a traditional New Orleans beignet and it was absolutely delicious. Beignet – done that – and we can’t wait to return to New Orleans for more fabulous adventures and great memories.

We arrived in Savannah, GA in late afternoon and parked near the waterfront as that appeared to be where the action was. There’s a lot of history in the south, most of it good and, unfortunately, some of it bad, but it’s important to take in as much as we can to understand the past. It’s hard to imagine the ships bringing slaves to the harbors of this beautiful city and the horrid treatment of people.

We watched the sun set over the harbor and took a stroll down the historic marina area. We were feeling like listening to some live jazz, and were referred (by a lovely young woman in a gorgeous B&B we’d love to stay at on our next visit – see www.oldeharbourinn.com) to a nearby restaurant called Jazz’d (jazzdtapasbar.com) that serves tapas – perfect! We shared some fabulous dishes: She Crab Stew (a Savannah favorite cream based stew with chunks of blue crab and vegetables), Sauteed Mushroom Ratatouille, Fish Tacos “A La Plancha” and Chorizo Sliders with a glass of California pinot noir. A two-piece blues band called Bottles and Cans (Ray Lundy and Mike Walker) were playing and we thoroughly enjoyed them, despite that we were hoping to hear some jazz that night. Both musicians play guitar, but Ray’s voice is really unique; raspy and whisky-soaked.

The couple sitting at the adjacent table from Charlotte, North Carolina, Hillier and Yvonne, bought us a glass of wine to welcome us to the south and, before the end of the evening, we were able to buy them a glass of port to thank them and put a smooth finish to our conversation and evening. Hillier and Yvonne have only been seeing one another a few months and I think they would be close to our ages. Hillier commented that he couldn’t imagine travelling like we have and felt that, as a man of color, that it wouldn’t be possible. We struggled to understand his viewpoint, but respect that he has a right to that belief. Only he has walked in his shoes and lived in his skin. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting them and sharing some fine music and conversation and were grateful to have met them.