Tuesday, September 4, 2018

New Orleans Southern Decadence 2018 vacation, day 5 of 8. Television news coverage of Tropical Storm Gordon led us to believe that it would not be a problem for today's flights for Remi, Jesse, and Andy, or for the rest of our vacation. The group checked out of the Sonder. We all rode Lyft XL to The Old No. 77 where we all dropped our bags then walked to brunch at Willa Jean. Patrick and I shared a fried chicken biscuit and a Willa Jean breakfast (eggs over medium, bacon, and cheese grits), coffee for Patrick and Chris, hot chocolate for Remi, peanut butter hot chocolate for Jesse, bloody mary for Andy, and chai latte for me. Avocado toast for Remi; croque madame for Jesse; sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit with pimento for Chris; fried chicken biscuit for Andy. We all rode Lyft XL to Louis Armstong Park and found that it was closed due to the storm. We walked to and visited the Backstreet Cultural Museum. We walked to Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum and found it closed. We walked to and visited the Jazz Museum at the Old Mint. Rode Lyft XL to The Old No. 77 and checked in. We showed the group our room then said goodbye to Andy, Remi and Jesse. We arranged plans with Chris for later, then unpacked and rested. Happy hour at CellarDoor with Patrick and Chris. We shared happy hour small bites and cocktails: cracklin’ red bean hummus with crisp pork cracklings and chili spiced popcorn. For drinks, Patrick had a Boulevardier and we can't recall Chris's drink or my drink. We three walked to dinner at Compere Lapin. Cocktails: juleps for Patrick and Chris and a lucian bacchanal for me. We shared sparkling waters and appetizers: conch croquettes with pickled pineapple tartar sauce, jerk corn on the cob with lime, and crispy dirty rice arancini with sour orange mojo. Curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi and cashews for Chris, adobo pork tenderloin with plantain crema and charred okra for Patrick, and roasted half chicken with rice and peas for me. For dessert we shared the absolutely amazing, mind-blowing soursop semifreddo with coconut and yogurt.