Midsummer Random: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Wednesday, June 27

We began the day by going to the Contemporary Arts Museum. Unfortunately, there was a couple that arrived at the same time who seemed like they hadn't bathed in a week. As you can imagine, we tried to avoid them as much as you can in a two story museum. I enjoyed the museum as a whole, however. Their were many different artists and different mediums used that made it interesting. For our next journey, we hopped in the car and drove down Magazine Street, just to see how long it went. We ate lunch at a place called Juan's Flying Burrito Creole Taquiera (what a mouth-full). I finally settled on a Supergreen burrito (yum) and had a Homemade Cupcake for dessert (it looked like a ding-dong).

While we didn't stop to shop around, we found that the shops on Magazine Street went on seemingly forever. In the end, we journeyed over to City Park. After walking around a bit, we toured the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is a 100 year old art museum in the middle of the park. Then it was time to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

After we had awoken from our nap (!), we set out in search for a restaurant called Arnold's. To our dismay, we couldn't find it. Instead, we settled on the Harrah's Resort Buffet. All in all, it wasn't half bad. Expensive for a buffet, but had some pretty amazing wedge fries. I was disappointed in their "eclair" because it was more mush than an actual dessert. Maybe the French could teach them something. Alas, we called it a night after walking on the Riverwalk for a short stretch.

LINKS:
Contemporary Arts Museum
Juan's Flying Burrito
City Park
New Orleans Museum of Art

Photograph from Contemporary Arts Museum

The Homemade Cupcake

Riverwalk

Contemporary Arts Museum

City Park

Carousel Gardens Amusement Park at City Park

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tuesday, June 26

Finally, a day to sleep in!! When we finally finished getting ready for the day, we walked the two blocks to get to the WWII Museum. After we paid for our tickets, we went to the museum's Soda Shop to grab lunch. We each got the grilled cheese and cheesy broccoli soup. Then we walked to the museum's theater to watch the 48 minute movie called "Beyond All Boundaries." It was a 4D experience, and I think they did it pretty well. Plus, Tom Hanks was our narrator, and who hates Tom Hanks? After spending ample time meandering throughout the museum's exhibits, I ran back down to the Soda Shop to get a Cream Cheese Red Velvet ice cream cone.

On my list of things to do was to walk down Magazine Street. It's known for having a lot of antique and boutique shops. It certainly was a VERY long walk, however. We stepped in at the Corner Muse to try a Snoball (Daniel tried Peach) and just before all the school kids came in from their day. So, obviously, just at the right time. Then we proceeded on our route. Still having some time to kill, we walked over to Royal Street. I had to make a pit stop at the Royal Praline Company so I could try some New Orleans famed pralines. Then we sat for a nice little dinner at Pere Antoine's. Then we made our way back to the Canal Place Theater's so we could watch Moonrise Kingdom. It was such a cute little movie that we both enjoyed immensely.

To cap off the night, we headed to the ORIGINAL Cafe du Monde in Jackson Square and had an order of beignets and cafe au lait.

LINKS:
WWII Museum
Magazine Street
Pere Antoine Restaurant
Moonrise Kingdom

Outside of the WWII Museum

Wall Art outside of the Contemporary Arts Center

Owner of an Antique Shop's Dog

These Beaded Dogs are Everywhere. I suppose they are like the horses around Louisville and Lexington.

FDR's Address to Congress, Declaring War. Original Document.

Famous Frozen Louisiana Lemonade


Cafe du Monde

The First REAL Day In New Orleans

The Creole Creamery

Street Art is EVERYWHERE

Monday, June 25

We started the day off right by grabbing breakfast at Cafe du Monde. Then we went on search for the Ninth Ward that was so destructed by Katrina. We happened upon an open air market and lots and lots of shops and restaurants. The Envie Cafe is very cozy. I grabbed a cool Strawberry Kiwi Iced Tea and we sat down for a bit. We then wandered for a long time in the French Market. It was a LOT bigger than it looks from the get go. After some much appreciated shopping, we sat at the Cajun Cafe in the Market. They actually had Veggie Jambalaya!! To top it off, it was AMAZING!!!! (And super spicy).
We hopped back into our car and headed for the abandoned Six Flags amusement park. To our sadness, we couldn't get in because they were filming a movie there....(Percy Jackson 2). (*Oh, and a block from our hotel, they are filming the movie "Two Guns" starring Mark Wahlberg) But we did get to see the NASA buildings just down the street, so it wasn't all that bad, I suppose. After that, I was dying to go to the Creole Creamery to try their famed Blueberry Mojito Sorbet. IT. WAS. > than expected. Off to shop again!! This time we headed to the Canal Place Shops.
Finally, we ran around the corner to the Gordon Biersch bar and restaurant for some dinner. If you ever go, get the garlic fries. Disband the diet and EAT!! They were quite tasty, especially dipped in ranch. To cap off the evening, we headed back to Bourbon Street to try Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar. Apparently Lafitte was a famed pirate back when New Orleans was founded and used the Blacksmith shop as a cover for his pirated goods. Today, it's only a bar. It's dark, with what seems like the same woodwork and a fireplace in the middle. It truly feels like you have stepped back in time.

Cafe du Monde Breakfast

My Blueberry Mojito Sorbet

LINKS:

Cafe du Monde
Envie Cafe
French Market
Abandoned Six Flags
The Creole Creamery
The Shops at Canal Place
Gordon Biersch
LaFitte's

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Memphis

We checked into the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis upon arrival and then headed out onto the town. Just a few blocks away was the famous Beale Street!! We took a short look around at some live music and decided to eat a very late lunch at Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen. I had a concoction called the bumblebee stew (yes, vegetarian) and it was delightful. We then walked to the pier to see the Mississippi River and then decided to rest up for a bit. At 5 pm every day at the Peabody Hotel is the duck march. It’s a tradition that dates back all the way to 1933!! I had to see it. Though it only lasts all of 10 minutes max, it is something amazing to see. It was nearly impossible to get a good spot because the lobby and the mezzanine was so packed out! There were even two honorary duck masters because it was their wedding day.

Peabody Hotel Duck March

Midtown was the next destination. It is this cute, artsy part of town with lots of quaint restaurants and shops. We even got to see a photographer in action! Our hotel has a rooftop happy hour type event every Friday and Saturday. To our disappointment, they had it closed off for a private event. We did get to see the duck palace though!! We decided to head off to a movie, of course. We are cineo-philes after all. In Ridgeway there is a little movie house that reminds me of the old theater behind the Best Buy in Lexington, KY. We grabbed a quick bite at Newk’s, which has the most amazing, drool evoking (ew, sorry) pimento cheese sandwich. I do not overstate how good it was. The little art house had some very comfortable seats. They were more along the lines of leather recliners and the movie was the perfect end to the night. Until next time!!

Our room.

The legendary Sun Studio

Midtown Art

The Peabody Rooftop

There are literally ducks everywhere!!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

On the Road To New Orleans

And, yet again, another road trip we have embarked on. This time, to New Orleans. Which I am sure you have guessed by the post title. We left our cozy little home on June 21 to drive down to Franklin, KY and spend a couple nights with Daniel’s grandparents. We arrived earlier than expected and were treated to a nice dinner at the Franklin staple Texas-roadhouse like restaurant called Oasis. It was delish as always.

It’s a grandparents favorite thing to feed their grandchildren I have come to know. The next morning we ate at Cracker Barrel because, what is a road-trip without a Cracker Barrel dining experience. After I went blackberry and blueberry picking while Daniel attempted a bike ride on a rickety 3 wheeled bike that was ‘unstable’ to say the least. Spontaneously, we decided to hop in the car and make the 45 minute journey to Nashville to do some exploring.

We first went to the Opryland Hotel and then over to Opry Mills mall. I had a funny flashback of crushing my dad in a NASCAR virtual driving experience. Sad to say, the place was not still there (it was over 14 years ago, I might add). Then we called up a friend and headed over to Corsair Distillery. They make whiskey and used to make Yazoo beers. I was able to sample the Yazoo Dos Perros which was very much to my delight. Then we left to try the Flying Saucer. It didn’t disappoint. Of course, we saved the best for last when we went to Jeni’s. It’s a ‘chalkboard menu’ type ice cream parlor. YUMMMM!!!! We arrived at the right time too, because the line got so long it wrapped around the tables.

We then went back for one last night in Franklin, grabbed another Cracker Barrel breakfast and left for Memphis, TN!!