Day 16 - The Deep Saff!

I was sad leaving Memphis this morning - we had a great two nights there but I guess all good things must come to an end... not before one last stop-off in one of the many Elvis gift shops to get an all-important Elvis bobble-head sitting in a pink Cadillac!  A real collectible (no Oli, it's not a toy, it's a future antique)!

Another marathon driving day today working our way through the Deep South (or "Saff" in my cockney accent!) - 8 hours this time without a traffic jam, taking us all the way from Tennessee through Mississippi all the way to New Orleans in Louisiana.  Not too many photo ops as travelling in car all day but will no doubt take tonnes tomorrow.  We arrived around 7.30pm and after two unsuccessful hotel availability checks we found one of the so many typically French hotels to stay in - this one is called Hotel Chateau located right smack bang in the middle of where else but the district known as the French Quarter!  Before I forget to mention the Business District is not too far away and is a complete contrast as it's tall glass skyscrapers dominate the area.

As we were approaching New Orleans from the freeway our view was so different from anything we'd seen so far.  The scenery changed from corn and cotton fields to green leafy swamps, in some places there were even houses built on stilts, and then as the swamps cleared and we drove a little further into the town of New Orleans we were faced with amazing architecture.   

All the streets feature French-style architecture, the charming higgledy-piggledy style of these buildings are nothing like anything we've seen in the US so far - I doubt we'll see anything like them on our trip again!

This was exactly how I pictured New Orleans - it's what the guidebooks show you and the reality doesn't let you down.  After we got changed we made our way to the jazz bar and restaurant district.  It's really warm here at night but the locals tell us this is nothing - apparently from about 2 weeks time it's too hot to walk about during the day - timed it just right then!  The hotel manager recommended a few places to visit tonight, some jazz and blues bars and a restaurant called Aldolfo's.   

When we got there we were slightly disappointed - the place itself looked and smelled amazing but it was actually an Italian restaurant, call me crazy but when in New Orleans I want to eat their their traditional food as we can have Italian anywhere.....looking back we should have guessed what food it served by the name Aldolfo!  The place is heaving with restaurants so it would be easy to find somewhere else to eat, not actually as easy as I was thinking as there are loads of Italian restaurants everywhere.  We were looking at a window menu while a waitress kindly asked us if we wanted to eat, when we told her we were looking for traditional New Orleans food she said we don't do a lot of that as that's what we cook at home!  Anyway she recommended a place called Coop's just two blocks away.  

It had a massive queue outside so must be good, and it was, it was just the kind of food we'd been hoping to find.  

Oli ordered a taster platter which had a whole variety of things including gumbo, jambalaya, fried chicken and beans n' rice.  I opted for a smaller meal, it was boneless chicken with a shrimp and ham sauce with a side of green beans - can't remember the name but it should be called "yummy von yumison"!

We got talking yet again to some locals who suggested various places to go for a drink after (yes of course they asked us about the Royal Wedding too!).  We ended up having a stroll along the Mississippi (yay can finally spell it right), then walking along the bustling Frenchman Street which is known for it's live Jazz and Blues music in every bar, we went into a couple, one called The Apple Barrel.  Although the streets seem quite dark at night and the bars loud I felt totally safe, had in mind we may have felt vulnerable but everyone is really friendly yet again:-)

Our hotel plus the other two we first tried didn't have any availability for tomorrow and we're guessing most places will also be booked up here (local festival on Saturday), we may therefore have to cut our stay here short so will wake up early tomorrow to make the most of it as so much to see and do...defo gotta get me a ride on a paddle steamer goin up the Mississippi before we leave:-)

J&O

ps. If you're squeamish don't read this next paragraph!  We had a couple of  "restroom" stop-offs (toilet to you and me) on our drive through the state of Mississippi, and while the staff were really friendly while we looked totally out of place, one gas station was running alive with cockroaches!  At least I presume they were once alive but were now all squished over the floor, a lady was mopping the floor but I'd like to know what the heck she was mopping it with - cockroach food to attract them cos it certainly wasn't discouraging them, I've since felt itchy all day!!!