This is the seventh installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014. We are about half way through with this road trip series.
I have mentioned in earlier posts of this trip of the bookmarks of places I planned to visit. Here are some in the Louisiana.
like the saying goes "eyes are bigger than the stomach", I was not able to see all of them for reasons of schedule or distance
visiting the Garden District of NOLA
Casamentos in the Garden District is one of the restaurants that I bookmarked for visiting in my trip
i arrived when it just open - note that Casamentos does not open every day so check the schedule before you make the trip
the friendly kitchen staff - the lady was surprised by my picture and she remember me in my next visit
one of many typical dive bars with lots of attitude - in a good way
love these quaint street markers
this is more of Irish Channel than Garden District - lovely shotgun houses
a early lunch at Casamentos starting with a gumbo
followed with a half dozen of grilled oysters
a drive thru place that sells king cakes
a very narrow shotgun
the local that I met in the Parasol's told me about Guys' po' boy so i went and checked it out
the place is packed with waiting customers and the staff take the time to make the po' boys with love and care
there are a lot of mansions nearby
i ordered the whole roasted beef po' boy and it must have 1/2 pound of juicy beef in it
they give you a stack of tissue paper because it is messy! this sandwich would give me two meals
My timing to visit the Garden District was impeccable; it was a Friday and I found out NOLA brewery hosts free beer sampling every Friday afternoon at 2 pm (for 1 hour). Yes, all the beer you can drink and free. Of course most of the people that go there will eventually help NOLA (stands for New Orleans Larger and Ale Company) grow it's customer base. NOLA is a relatively new craft brewery to the New Orleans. The Friday event is a great way to bring awareness to those appreciate high quality craft beers. Instead of blowing their money buying TV or traditional media spots the direct campaign and words of mouth reaches the target customers much more effectively. Until the tasting event I have not try their beer even though I have heard of them. I have been drinking the much more establish Abita beers. I thought Abita is quite good.
i arrived 45 minutes before 2pm because i have read that you want to arrive early or else you run the risk of not able to get in; it was breezy day that is partly sunny; by the time the even open there were about 50 people or so
people patiently waiting for the staffs to begin serving at the filling stations; that is a wall of aluminium empty cans
these are the lids
the canning station - there is only one; this is truly a small but very good brewery
i checked out their ingredients from all over the world
German malt
barley from UK
I think these are Canadian hops for pale ale
American malt
cans for their "mean" stout - it is the creamiest stout I have ever tried; I would take this over Guiness any time; it is that good
a few minutes into the event
you can see in about 45 minutes the party was really going
the staff gave the the brewery tour and explained the process; there were two tours sessions
one of the two filling station to ensure the visitors are well hydrated
before I left I bought a pack of their IPA; I really like their IPA and stout; to me their IPA is much better than Abita's; they only packed the IPA and the stout in 16 oz cans
these are the pictures I took of the quirky bicycles of the visitors -very much what you would see in Southeast Portland
the neighborhood of the NOLA brewery
my next stop is to check out the famous Commander's Palace; the neighborhood has some of the grandest and largest period mansions
the graveyard across the street from the Commander's Palace
a lot of customers were pulling up with their Mercedes or BMWs to be valet parked; it was the valentine's day
I was not that hungry and it was too early for dinner so I decided to skip the dining experience; in truth I would feel very inappropriately dressed there
ouch! NOLA authorities don't go easy on parking violations
back to the Bywater neighborhood
make the out-of-state visitors pay!
one of the very few Sprinter van based campers or RVs I saw on my trip; I saw way more class C RVs based on Sprinter (that is non van)
this is the skinniest shotgun I encountered
these nice couple invited me in to see their shotgun house (it is a double shotgun) and gave me a bottle of beer - like the name suggests you can fire a shot gun from the front door and the buck shot will exit the back door without hitting anything in the house
i really like Fritzels - the local resident in the French Quarter told me about this place; "the only bar with live music on Bourbon Street that I would recommend is Fritzels", he said
musicians of the house band at Fritzels
they were tearing up the place that night with more traditional pieces
i hung out in the Bywater a lot after I discover the neighborhood
they were practicing for the upcoming parades
perfectly normal thing to do - walking down the street with a blowup doll
this is the first of many parades more than 2 weeks ahead of Mardi Gras
my small stash of trophies
one Saturday morning I visited the Armstrong Park
I had followed the most devastated neighborhoods in Louisiana by Katrina. That morning I set out to see the lower ninth ward.
there are blocks and blocks of deserted streets like this one; a lot of residents did not return
except a few, the only houses in the neighborhood are the one built by Brad Pitt's
make it right housing project; please do not believe for a second of the bad media reports of how his housing relief project failed because of some minor problems
another meal at the Cochon's Butcher
Butcher and the hip clienteles
a machine shot across the street
i score an unlimited free parking on a Sunday
crawling with cops at the corner of the Convention Center
this is my favorite spot to cook out in the Bywater; I inferred it is owned by the railway; and I knew better not to camp overnight in railway's property
in the distance a band is practicing for the upcoming parades
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