I N T H E N I G H T K I T C H E N 7.28.2001
Southern by the Grace of God Every two years, T.'s father's side of the family gathers somewhere for a week or so to hang out, have fun and regroup. They have gone to Gulf Shores for a number of years. Apparently, in two years time, they want to do something different (rumor has it: cruise). This is my chance to revisit the south (lived in Mississippi for six years), feel some serious heat and humidity and remember why I love the Northwest. + + + On the 17th, Tuesday night, Laurie took T. and I to the airport to catch a red-eye flight that left at 11:40 p.m. We flew to Dallas, had an hour layover and then got in to New Orleans at about 7 a.m. Have you ever taken an all-night flight? It's sort of painful. T.'s mom picked us up at the airport and we drove from NOLA to Gulf Shores, Alabama. You might remember that we took a similar trip a couple years ago. Here's the entries that I wrote then in the Rainy Day Stories journal in June. That trip was all sorts of craziness. [links will open into same new window] I kept a paper journal that time and transcribed it when I got home. I didn't feel like doing that this time so this will all be from memory. After a seemingly-endless drive, we got to Gulf Shores, Alabama, also known as the "Redneck Riviera." T.'s sister came in really late that night, flying into Mobile. Gulf Shores is actually a really pretty beach -- very clean and there's actual surf (though it was pretty calm when we were there). I went into the ocean almost everyday and alternated between ocean, pool and hot-tub. I was a little frustrated for part of the time we were there because no one seemed to want to do anything. Eventually, I had to just go with it, knowing that for me, this was a vacation from being around my house and for them it was a vacation from work. On the last day there, Saturday, T. and I build dueling sand castles with his cousin which was actually really, really fun. The strangest thing about the trip this time was how cautious people were in the water. The reason? Sharks, of course. That kid that got chomped by the shark down in Florida. Well, red star is where he was and blue star is where we were.  Yeah. So, people were pretty cautious. But, luckily, we saw no sharks. I did get stung by jellyfish a little too much for my taste. I've never been stung before but they were everywhere. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would but it was pretty annoying. We did see some Manta Rays -- small ones, not more than a foot and a half across. The coolest was what appeared to be a small pod of Manatees. Those are some freaky creatures. There were four of them and they moved very slowly down the beach. I seem to recall that these are the creatures blamed for the mermaid legends as they really almost look like people. At first I thought they might be divers. It was really interesting to spend that much time with T.'s family. The dynamics are pretty wild to watch. Also, I was reading We Were the Mulvaneys and thinking about how my own family works. It made for some pretty intense thoughts on family structure and patterns of behavior. I have to say, though, that I was ready to move on to New Orleans. Family can be exhausting. Souvenirs: two beer bottle cozies (the ones with zippers) that have a confederate flag, a cowboy-hat-wearing skeleton and the phrase "Southern by the Grace of God." I had seen in a gas station on the way from NOLA to Gulf Shores some that had such lovely southern hick ideals as "My wife or my truck -- don't make me choose" and "If you can't run with the big dogs; get off the porch." However, I couldn't find any like this later so I had to settle for "Grace of God." We also managed to limit our trip to the outlet mall to one and we bought a Coleman four person tent for $90. I think it was a good deal. We also only went to the Waaal-Mart just once. I was determined to stay out of both these places. Others in our group went to both more than a couple times. Granted, the contingent from Jonesboro, AK, justifies it since they don't have anything like that where they live. + + + On Sunday, everyone packed up to leave. T. and I said our goodbyes and took Stephanie to the airport in Mobile (MO-beele) in our rented car and then drove on to New Orleans (NAW-linz). We got there about 5 p.m. and checked in to Olivier House on Dauphine and Toulouse. We took pictures in New Orleans but that'll have to wait. That night we had dinner at the cheap Arnaud's and got our first taste of the bad service that is New Orleans service. It was incredibly weird because it wasn't just that it was slow, which it was, it was that it seemed that it was bad and slow especially for us. Other people around us were getting better service. Other people didn't have to ask for the basket of bread rolls or ask to have their iced-tea refilled. And, when you're eating on Bourbon Street, every one is a tourist so it couldn't have been that. Anyway, we wandered around Bourbon and then went to bed around 11 so that we could get up early before the heat and have beignets at Café Du Monde in the morning. + + + Café du Monde is a fixture in New Orleans. I believe it dates back to the mid 1800s and they serve two things: coffee and beignets. Beignets are these lovely square doughnuts, lightly fried, which get covered in powdered sugar. They are yum and a very important reason for going to New Orleans. The coffee they serve is a chicory coffee which is hard to describe but really delicious, especially with steamed milk. I'm drinking some right now. After coffee we took the trolley out to the Garden District and walked around in the heat and looked at houses. We stopped in and checked out Anne Rice's store (apparently for devotees of Anne Rice, the woman -- all sorts of things for sale that she had touched) and got frozen lemonade (not touched by Ms. Rice). I was all hip to go shopping along Magazine Avenue which I had heard was good for shopping but there was nothing I wanted to buy there. We ate at a place called, I think, Lazy J's or Joey K's and got really bad service. Then we went back to the hotel and sat by the pool and dipped our feet in and read our books. I was starting to get a headache at this point but instead of taking a nap or finding some Tylenol, I figured I'd muscle through it. + + + In the evening we took the trolley to Uptown and went to a restaurant recommended by Catherine (a reader of this here fine journal) called Jacques Imo's. This was a real winner. The restaurant was adorable and there's pretty much nothing around it but a well-regarded bar next door called The Maple Leaf. It was packed with locals and you have to walk through the kitchen to get through the dining room where the chefs call out to you: "How's it goin'?!" The food was incredible. Upscale Noveau New Orleans is probably what it would be called. Killer cornbread, delicious starter salad of very fresh spinach with toasted sesame seeds and sherry vinaigrette, and a bread bowl of gumbo to die for. T. had blackened Tuna for dinner and said it was yummy. I had to pick the strangest thing on the menu -- roasted Acorn squash covered in "mixed seafood" and curry sauce. It was delicious. The seafood turned out to be oysters in the shell all piled on willy-nilly so that it looked like some giant prehistoric creature, shrimp and something else. That last thing tasted like chicken but whatever. I couldn't do the oysters so I just put them on the side and there was enough shrimp to make up for them. Really, really, really good shrimp, too -- very plump, fresh and perfectly cooked. The dining room was pretty loud and seemed to get hotter as more dinners came out. My headache continued to worsen and when we finally got our waitress to bring our check, we headed out. We had intended to see some jazz/funk band at the Maple Leaf next door but I knew that I just couldn't take it. We got a cab (after he passed us twice) and headed back to the Quarter. T. hunted down some pain killers and I went to bed. + + + The breakfast on our last day turned out to be one of my favorite moments from the trip. I read in my guidebook that if you only had two days in NOLA that you should go to Croissant D'or. It was about ten blocks from us and T. did not want to get up and walk over there. He was a little grouchy. But, off we went in the relative cool of the morning, watching as restaurants received their deliveries, as shopkeepers came out to clean their front walks and listened to those early waking sounds. The French Quarter is really quite charming in the morning. We finally got to where we were going, a large patisserie in an ancient building. It was calm, cool and perfectly quiet inside with a huge display case of pastries and cakes. T. and I each bought an apple-filled croissant which was to die for. I got a big cup of café au lait which was incredibly good. We read our newspaper and watched people go in and out. We split a chocolate-filled croissant which was also delightful. I wanted to stay there all day. Actually, I wanted to live there. + + + We spent our last day wandering around and picking up souvenirs for friends and family. We went to a Mardi Gras exhibit next to Jackson Square that was really quite good. It did a nice job explaining the traditions of Mardi Gras showing every side of the festival from the Krewes to the debutantes to the Creole, country traditions and to the huge gay and lesbian pageant on Bourbon Street. I was impressed. After that, my feet were killing me so we went to the Jackson Square Brewery in search of beer. Unfortunately, if the Brewery ever brewed beer then they aren't doing it now. It's a large mall with a Virgin megastore -- how boring. So, we walked over to Café du Monde and had frozen chicory café au laits and more beignets and watched the people go by and the ratty pigeons battle over discarded doughnuts. + + + It's good to be home. It's raining today so T. and I have been cleaning and puttering and paying bills. When, our plane touched down in Portland at midnight our pilot came over the loudspeaker and said, "It's a cool 65 degrees here in Portland, Oregon...." I couldn't resist a big grin and a Whoo-hoo! There's no place like home. 
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