NOLA Part. 2

The best BBQ Shrimp...ever.

Whole shrimp, check.
Rich, peppery, buttery broth, check.
Delicious crusty bread, check.
Warm, wet cloth to clean up, check.

And somehow, I missed getting a picture.  But here is one from the owner...

Wow is all I need to say.  Excellent, spicy, and rich.  Shrimp perfectly cooked.  Sauce perfectly buttered.  You can't go wrong with the BBQ Shrimp at Mr. B's Bistro.  Be prepared for a wait any day of the week.  We went our first night, on Wednesday, at 8:00 and the place was jam packed!

What is a trip to New Ahlens without a trip to cemetery?

Morbid right?  Maybe a little, but fascinating too.  I was really hoping a funeral would be happening while we were there just so I could see the jazz party that accompanies them.  A little more morbid?  Maybe.  But call me and ask me how they fill the families into one little tomb.

We also took a plantation tour.  We visited Laura Plantation, which was a creole plantation, and Oak Alley. Both of these plantations were surrounded by sugar cane fields, and still are.

Laura

The gardens were making me drool.  Bananas, clementines, blood oranges, grapefruit.

Slave Quarters

Oak Alley.  Breathtakingly majestic.  Lined up to the mansion with thirteen 300 year old live oaks on each side...

View from the top floor veranda.  In the past, before levy, you could have seen the Mississippi from this spot.  Oh, if these trees could talk!

On to more food...Olivier's for a traditional, generational creole menu.

Started off with an excellent cane syrup soaked cornbread...

Followed by a traditional gumbo...with chicken, andouille and shrimp, you could really appreciate that the base, a roux, was done right.

Kyle's gumbo sampler, Creole Gumbo, File' Gumbo and Okra Gumbo.

Fresh corn flour battered fish accompanied with shrimp, a crab and salmon cake and another little pot of gumbo.

I went with the New Orleans classic trio, a way to kill three birds with one stone so to speak.  Blackened Redfish cooked so well that it melted in my mouth.  The shrimp and andouille was moist and had a nice tomato base and plenty of shrimp and andouille.  Also with a traditional crawfish étouffée, which I will say I have never overly enjoyed, but I hadn't had it in Nola so I thought I'd give it one more try.  Still not a fan.

I loved, loved, loved all of the street performers.  I think that is what makes the French Quarter great...well, that and this...

I know it is a little bit scary, but part of the experience is walking down Bourbon...at night.

And then taking the time for a set at Preservation Hall.  Great jazz, no smoking and a place where you could take your kids.  Plus, if you are lucky, Will Farrell just might walk out while you are going in!

Anyway, back to the street performers...

Such fun!