New Orleans Road Trip Day 2

Day two of the road trip started and after getting cleaned up we went to the French Quarter and had lunch at Johnny's Po-Boys where I had the Alligator Sausage Po-Boy that you see below. It basically tasted like sausage, nothing more nothing less. I could only finish half of it so I had the other half wrapped up and ended up giving it to a street musician.



Next we went around the Quarter looking for souvenirs which took a little while. While we were doing this we also went to Cafe du Monde where we had beignets and then went on to the riverwalk. While there I bought some alligator jerky that turned out to be extremely spicy and it set all of our mouths on fire. It was so hot it made me glad I didn't try the alligator on a stick (seriously, they had it). Afterwards we continued to look for souvenirs and to see what the Quarter looked like.



I asked in one shop about the location of vinyl record stores and was told that there were no longer any to be found in the French Quarter. Half a block away I found a small book/record store where I happily purchased two 45s. Did I go back to correct the lady in the shop? No, it would more than likely have proven to be a useless gesture.

We'd been out for several hours so we decided to head back to the hotel even though it meant that we needed to walk the mile and a half or so distance in order to get some exercise (and not pay for another cab ride). Once there Tommy and I went to the pool for a nice cool swim because it was pretty muggy and we had gotten hot during our walk. Chris however elected to stay in the room and watch tv. Maybe they had different shows on than what we have in Tulsa. After getting ready we headed back to the French Quarter for dinner where we decided on Felix's so that Tommy could get oysters on the half shell which he desperately wanted and I could get the blackened alligator I had been looking for. I also had a cheeseburger po-boy but decided not to take a picture of it. The alligator that you see below was excellent and I highly recommend it.




The appointed hour had come to head to the New Orleans Arena and see Rush. This was the seventh concert by them that I had seen (should have been 3 or 4 more) and they never fail to impress. Age is of little consequence for how masterful they are musically and if you get the chance, go see them while you can. It's worth it. Great songs, great between song banter, great light show and some very great music all add up to a good time in my book. The only negative thing was the people around us who waited until after the show started and then decided to go get food and drinks. Seriously, if you pay that much money shouldn't you actually watch the band instead of constantly getting up and down going back and forth from the concessions stand?


Anyway, a cabbie tried to rip us off and charge $10 each to go back to the hotel so we ignored him and found another. Here's a hint, there's always another, you just may have to wait a bit to find a good one at a decent price. Upon our inquiry the lady at the front desk told us that there was a local burger place about a block over so away we went and there found the bar and grill that it actually was, where I grabbed some mozzarella sticks. Afterwards the moment had come to hit the sack and get ready to see some more sights tomorrow before starting our journey home. More to come.

Published by Don Leach