Our first stop was Morgan City where the "river wall" is 25 or 30 feet tall and the waters of the Morganza river are quickly and quietly increasing. The spillways further north were opened last Saturday to relieve pressure on New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This is a difficult situation for Morgan City and the people are worried and come to see the rising water daily. There is a solid metal gate that could be opened to let the water flow. There was water already spilling out of the bottom through some holes. Stressful situation.
Later that day we arrived in New Orleans. We stayed in the French Quarter at the French Market Inn, a historic brick hotel; right on Decatur and across from the Mississippi River. It was absolutely fabulous and reminded us the the Hotel. The inner courtyards have free wi fi so we could keep up our blogging. That first night we checked out Bourbon Street.."Hated it", but the second night in the big easy we found great music, food and met new friends on Frenchmans Street. We met some of the band members, who gave us many tips on where to hear live music. We stopped in at an R&B and soul bar- where Maggi got pulled up on stage. We also had absinthe at a Russian bar and hung out with NOLO hipsters. They were filming Treme so we could walk through the streets, but "Don't look at the camera". And I thought this would be my big chance to make it in the movies. We took the ferry to Algiers, which was a very quite and cute parish. Sam the local handy man gave us some pointers.
For lunch we ate at August, chef John Besh's restaurant. He beat Mario Battalia on the Iron Chef. Great food. But we did not know exactly what we were eating. Very fancy. We were a bit under dressed.
Now we are in Mississippi at Ocean Springs- an art community. Lots of huge oak trees. Interesting place. We have decided to head back to Louisana- to hit up Baton Rouge, swamp tour- more food and music. We just can't get enough of LA. The people, food and music is great.
Well, Good Night friends, bon temps.
Maggi and Asella
