Friday, September 7, 2018
New Orleans Southern Decadence 2018 vacation, day 8 of 8. Breakfast at Josephine Estelle at the Ace Hotel (600 Carondelet Street) with Patrick: two coffees with milk, we shared a fritatta (smoked pork, collards, tomato, fontina) and a chocolate croissant: $24.26 before a $6 tip for Harold. This was likely the least expensive meal of our one-week trip to New Orleans. The Monkees and later The Beach Boys played from a nearby vinyl player. Afterwards we walked through the other ground floor rooms in the Ace Hotel, stopping briefly to view art on the walls depicting UFOs, aliens, a person dressed in zentai, photographs of Mulder (one of which includes a closed caption saying, "[believing intensifies]"), a traditional wall-mounted telephone with a cord running out the bottom ending in a USB-A plug and Apple USB mini adapter. We stopped at Rouse’s Market for a small gift for Sam: various packaged spices. We complimented cashier Trenella on her excellent bleached braids. Rested in the room. Checked out of The Old No. 77. We loved our stay in room 425, what they called an artist studio, for its masculinity, seemingly custom furniture, weathered brick facade, hardwired USB-A jacks next to the bed, Tivoli Audio Model Three BT bluetooth alarm clock radio, fantastic artwork by NOCCA students, lamps with metal toggle switches, leather and leather accents, great lighting options, great color design (The walls are white, the ceiling is a darkish blue, the emergency sprinkler pipes are fire engine red.), rainfall shower head, and much more. Internet was 6 Mbps down and 5.5 Mbps up—decent. We left our luggage at the hotel while visiting the National World War II Museum. We visited a lot of exhibits. Lunch in the American Sector Restaurant and Bar: iced tea for both. For Patrick: New Orleans shrimp po’boy (cornmeal fried gulf shrimp, green chile mayonnaise, grilled corn chow chow, french bread, sweet and spicy tomato glaze, kettle chips). For me: Belle Burger (fresh ground beef, brioche bun, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, house-made pickles, fries). About $48. We visited more exhibits. We did not see everything—that would have taken all day and maybe more. Picked up luggage from The Old No. 77. Rode Lyft to Louis Armstrong International Airport. Alaska Airlines MSY to SFO flight with Patrick. Again it turned out to be a Virgin America plane due to the recent merger/acquisition. To eat: we each had one of the sandwiches I had had on the way over.