Saturday, September 1, 2018
New Orleans Southern Decadence 2018 vacation, day 2 of 8. Pre-breakfast: orange juice. All of us rode Lyft XL to Cafe du Monde for coffee with chicory and beignets. We had hoped to dine on the patio, but the line was too long. Instead, we waited in the shorter line to dine indoors, but after a few minutes we were asked to clear the area and wait in the longer line — there was apparently only one line for seated dining whether indoors or out. So next we waited in the line for to go orders. It took about 15 minutes. We ordered four orders of beignets (three per order), two large iced coffees for Chris and Andy, two hot chocolates for Remi and Jesse, small hot cafe au lait for Patrick, large milk for me. We took our food and drink to a park bench in the shade of the oak trees in Jackson Square. Afterwards we walked toward the river but were stopped by a train passing. We waited a bit but it did not seem to be clearing soon, so we instead walked Royal Street then Chartres Street. We visited the Beauregard-Keyes house, taking a terrific tour from a gay tour guide. Then we rode Lyft XL to Willie Mays Scotch House but the line was much too long. We rode the same Lyft XL to the Italian Barrel to get in the area of a few restaurants likely to be uncrowded. We ate at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. Maque choux, margharita pizza, iced tea, and Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company Southern Pecan beer for Chris and Andy; Hunter’s chicken, tuna salad, and Crispin cider for Remi and Jesse; crawfish and tasso pizza, lemonade, and pineapple mojito for me and Patrick. Garlic ciabatta shared with the table. Next we split: Chris G, Patrick, and I rode Lyft to the Ogden Museum; Remi, Jesse, and Andy browsed the French Market and also Andy later split from them to visit another friend also in town. At the Ogden, we visited the current exhibit: Salazar: Portraits of Influence in Spanish New Orleans, 1785–1802 Celebrating the New Orleans Tricentennial as well as some great works from a local competition. After the Ogden Museum, Chris G, Patrick, and I rode Lyft back to the Sonder. Patrick and I napped until the group walked to dinner at St. Roch Market: gumbo ya-ya from Fete au Fete for Patrick, Nola trio (red beans and rice, crawfish poutine, and shrimp and grits) from Fete au Fete for Chris, vermicelli bowl from T2 for Jesse, chicken shawarma platter from Torshi for Remi, ? for Andy, brisket pho from T2 for me. We walked back to the Sonder and rested. Daniel Nardicio's Bette, Bathhouse, and Beyond at Allways Lounge with Patrick, Chris G, and Andy T. The event mimics or recreates performances by Bette Midler and Barry Manilow that took place at the New York City Continental Baths gay bathhouse in the late 1960s and early 1970s (but without the police raids). Patrick and I met Alek and Javier from Phoenix, Steven, Evan. Amber Martin was accompanied by a terrific pianist named Harry. We were floored by the quality of the performances. She made us laugh and reminisce. One of the highlights of the evening was a particularly bawdy song by Lucille Bogan. To bed by 2:00 am.