Starting here, with Part 2, I'll be breaking the story up into chunks--it won't be in chronological order any more for the most part. Our first section is: BARS!
Of COURSE consuming alcoholic beverages would be part of any trip to New Orleans. My stars! I didn't realize this until I was actually there, but you can openly walk down the street sipping a cocktail and NOT get busted for it. Zowie!
They had daiquiri shops all over the place where you could walk in and order one of many kinds of frozen daiquiris that were dispensed like 7-11 Slurpees! Yowza!
Those were fun (and yummy), but there were 5 bars I really wanted to go to. One of them was a place called Pat O'Brien's, the place where The Hurricane cocktail supposedly originated. And it was right there in the French Quarter! Pat O'Brien's is living off of its reputation---and NOT it's actual cocktails. OMG! There was almost always a long line to get in. One day when we passed by, there was no line and we decided to check the place out. It was kind of cool. There were actually several bars in the main building and it let out on to a pretty patio area with another bar out there. But the Hurricanes? AWFUL! Apparently they are so popular, they have them pre-poured for the most part (some say they are just power now---and, indeed, you can buy Kool-Aid like pouches of the Pat O'Brien Hurricane all over the place). The bartender just pulled a couple of cups off of a stack, dumped some ice and squirted liquid in it and suddenly we had these nasty, red, mixed drinks in our hands. AWFUL! That was the ONLY cocktail I think I've EVER thrown away. EVER!!! (Amazingly right across the street from Pat O'Brien's, next to Reverend Zombies House of Voodoo, there is a little bar that made a FABULOUS Hurricane! Really! Yum-a-rama! It was FREE with the purchase of a Ghost Tour ticket--but more about that later...)
One bar down and 4 left to go-go...
You know I love my tiki bars...and before going, I looked up tiki bars in New Orleans and found that (gasp!) there are THREE of them! Those were on my list to try, of COURSE. All three we just stumbled upon on our first (??) day there! The first place was called Aunt Tiki's...but it was more of a Halloween bar (who knew there was such a thing?) than a tiki bar. In fact, I think the only thing in it that was close to being "tiki" was this large Hawaiian painting. Everything else was straight out of a Halloween store. It was also kind of a dive bar with a rough, regular crowd. We found it by accident, having walked all of the way down Bourbon or Royal and started heading back down Frenchmen Street (cool street--where the locals go---away from the tourist stuff) and turned on Decatur to head back to the tourist area. I'm glad I found it, but it wasn't my fave by a long shot...
Tiki Tolteca was the real tiki discovery in New Orleans. Kind of hidden above an quasi-upscale taqueria (that was kind of like a Chipotle), Tiki Tolteca was virtually deserted the few times we got to visit. It was quaint and cozy and s-l-o-w enough so we could pick the bartender's brain about things. I scored a couple of tiki mugs (purchased--thank you) and we also got to try buzz buttons! One came with a certain drink and others could be ordered a la carte. Wild! They are legal and you can even order them from Amazon. They're a plant that, when you eat them, your mouth sort of tingles...kind of like pop rocks, but not. Basically I think you are poisoning your mouth a little bit--not enough to hurt you, but it does cause for a trippy experience. http://www.tikitolteca.com/
Bar #4 (aka tiki bar #3) was practically next door to Tiki Tolteca. It is Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29. Who is Beachbum Berry? Tikiphiles dig that Beachbum Berry sought out the original recipes for some of the classic tiki beverages and has put out a number of books, preserving them for always. Catching his tiki bar/restaurant was a must.It was nice. We hit it at least twice...once for drinks only and once for dinner. (But my fave of the trio was still Tiki Tolteca. Shh! Don't tell Beachbum Berry. Thanks!) http://latitude29nola.com/
Bar #5 was a complete novelty that I had to see...and RIDE! Inside of the beautiful Hotel Monteleone is the charming (and popular--dang! I never thought we'd get a seat!) Carousel Bar & Lounge. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like--well, pretty much. The Carousel Bar is a real carousel that spins. It seats 25 customers--not on moving animals, but on regular chars with animals carved in to the backs of them. It makes a complete rotation every 15 minutes and it's just super duper. There is no entrance in or out of the central bar pit, so the bartenders have to literally jump over the bar to get in or out. It's such a popular little bar that it's usually standing room only or there is spill over into a connected lounge next door. I LOVED it and found it quite unique (I'm a sucker for gimmicks anyway!). This was possibly my favorite bar of the whole trip.
That's it for Part 2. Still to come...my birthday dinner disaster, other dining experiences, the doomed swamp tour...and, oh yes, HOW AM I GOING TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS??? Stay tuned and find out!
CHEERS!
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