New Orleans One Year Ago Day 3

On day 3 we had a leisure morning with no set plans til noon.  We enjoyed our breakfast on the patio of the hotel by the pool.

 The famous St. Louis cathedral was just a couple of blocks from our hotel so we went there to see if there were any special St. Joseph's day displays.  There weren't any displays here but the cathedral was beautiful and we thought of our friend Marion especially on this day since she was unable to make this trip with us.

 The St. Louis Cathedral  is among the oldest cathedrals  in the United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718. It is located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River in the heart of New Orleans, situated between the historic buildings of the Cabildo and the Presbytere. 

 The sun was shining and this was a nice time to relax in Jackson Square

 We then explored all the shops nearby and enjoyed walking through the neighborhoods with all the interesting architecture.

As expected Cafe Du Monde was filled with people. 

If you walk around to the back of the restaurant there is a window where you can see the workers making and frying the beignets.  That was a fun sight to see.

 We continued our stroll through the market place

 There were no lines at the early hours of the morning at Central market. We said we will surely be back before the end of our trip for their famous muffaletto sandwiches.

  The neighborhoods are colorful with so many hanging baskets of flowers and beautiful wrought iron work

 At 10:30 we walk to the Streetcar boarding area at St. Charles Avenue where we board at Canal and Carondolet streets.  Fare is $1.25 each way.  We want to take the St. Charles streetcar to Washington stop.  The line runs every 20 minutes.

  From there we walk two blocks to "Commander's Palace"  Our reservations are at this famous New Orleans restaurant in the beautiful Garden District.

 The wonderful Commander's Palace.  We're here!

 It was beautiful inside the restaurant

 The service was impeccable and the food delicious.  This is a must experience restaurant when you visit
New Orleans. Highly recommend.

 Note to all:  They serve .25cent martinis which are amazing.

 

An elegant time at Commander's Palace this afternoon. I had turtle soup,a first for me, quail over Cajun spiced rice ... 

 and creole bread pudding soufflé.  

 We were completely gobsmacked by this experience.  Wish we could be there again and again and again!

After a long and leisure and most elegant lunch we took  a stroll through the famous Lafayette Cemetery located directly across the street from Commanders Palace.

 The historic and spooky cemetery was first opened in 1832 in a classic French style with above ground tombs.

This was followed by a most interesting  self guided walking tour of the Garden District filled with 20-30 room mansions.  You can print out a copy of a walking tour which we did and a map to guide you through the neighborhood. 

 The mansions included the one in the film Benjamin Button, also homes of Anne Rice and Sandra Bullock.
Many historic figures owned homes in this area.

 After wandering around the Garden District we headed back to our hotel in the French Quarter  The streetcar was crowded so we had to walk down a few blocks to try and catch the streetcar before the major stops.

 
After returning to the hotel and resting up from the afternoon walks we decided to once again window shop along Royal Street. 

After some time it began to drizzle and we found ourselves in front of a familiar place, Yayyy "Pat O'Brien's".  

 As it was later in the day a line was beginning to form for the inside of the restaurant

But luckily few people wanted to sit outside because most of the chairs were wet. That did not stop us. Mitra found a table and we got a waiter to dry our chairs.  

 Back in business again with our now favorite Hurricanes!

Looks innocent enough doesn't it....just wait!

 Mmmmm don't we look happy?

  Since we had no dinner plans we looked at each other and said, "How about another Hurricane?"

 Didn't have to twist Mitra's arm (or mine).

 That's when things got really silly.  We started laughing so hard we could not stop.

 We started laughing so hard our sides were aching. We were bent over with our heads on the table. I'm sure we made people around us laugh and wonder too. It was hysterical and I don't even remember what made us start laughing.  Every time we caught our breath and came up for air  we would burst into laughter again.  

 

 The sun set.
 Day turned to night and the fountains were all aglow and so were we!

  A  truly unforgettably great night. 

 The night we drank Hurricanes for dinner at Pat O'Brien's. 
P.S. We both took our hurricane glasses home with us.