Down in the Bayou

What is a Bayou?

"A Bayou is a slowly moving body of water, usually attached to a river." That's what we learned on the Swamp Tour, at least. We also learned that this particular bayou is home to a myriad of plants and animals, including an enormous alligator, a slew of smaller ones, snakes, birds, and people.

The swamp tour was a third-day diversion from the buzz of New Orleans. After umpteen "be careful in New Orleans" warnings, Linds and I were so preoccupied with watching our back, we barely saw a thing in front of us the first couple of days in the Big Easy.

A little nature was just what we needed, because frankly, we were doing everything else all wrong. We got to the French Quarter around 5 o'clock the first night with every intention of easing into a raucous evening. After nearly 2 pounds of boiled shrimp (we ordered 1 pound, but the waiter "brought extra"), a dozen Oysters on the half shell (we ordered 1/2 dozen), salad, beer and dessert (the latter bought for us by, you guessed it, our waiter) we were too spent to do much else, so we went home around 9pm after a relaxing smoke at the Hookah Bar.

The second evening out, we prepped ourselves again and again succumbed to the food coma.

By our third day we were prepared both mentally and physically, and realized that perhaps all of our guardian angels were probably being a little tiny bit over dramatic about crime in the Big-Easy.

Before the swamp tour we stopped for beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde and went house shopping in the Garden District under a picturesque November sky (t-shirts in November = 2 happy yankees). After the swamp, we went home and STAYED THERE until around 8:30 pm - we figured that by going out later than we had even stayed out the previous nights, we were bound to find some fun.

It's been brought to my attention that this blog is all about food. Dick & Jenny's was the restaurant that topped them all. We ate crawfish cheesecake as an appetizer. We ate fried oysters as an appetizer before that. Lindsay's lamb was the best plate of food we've been served anywhere in the country - and dessert (bought for us by our waiter - again) was beyond belief bread pudding. All of this in blue jeans and a relaxed atmosphere, with a wonderful waiter whose band we later learned we missed by just minutes that first night at the Hookah Bar.

We finished our night with a stroll around the quarter sipping a Hurricane, stopping to chat for nearly an hour with an artist painting in her open studio. We winced at the strip clubs on Bourbon street (Lindsay because she winces at strip clubs, me because Lindsay was there). Marveled at the antiques and the architecture. Wound our way to Frenchmen St. into Snug Harbor for Jazz that turned our untrained ears into Jazz-loving sponges (while sipping a Monsoon). Then wove our way back to the car by popping into club after club to soak up some more music.

The next morning we hit the highway through the Bayou, smiling about what a great time we had had - and how nice it is that there are no mosquitos in the swamp during the day (betcha didn't know that!).