HNY from NOLA

The only thing everyone said we should do in New Orleans was eat. Eat as much as we could, in as many places as we could find. A lot of people had specific recommendations. Nobody told us of places which were bad. It was hard to go wrong.

Louis Armstrong Park, at the end of our street

There was a catch. It was bowl season and the Oklahoma Sooners were playing the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugarbowl. As the crowds of black and gold faded away hordes of people in red and white took their place.

College football is serious business.

So our culinary expeditions had to be well planned. For example we could not bring ourselves to wait in line for Cafe du Monde, which is very famous. We knew it was famous because of the queue, which often stretched through the cafe, on to the street, and along the block. We decided to get our beignets elsewhere.

Here are some highlights.

Andrew Jackson

The Backspace Bar gave us a meatloaf sandwich to remember, let us split it, and gave us the okay to eat it with our hands: "Grip it and rip it," the bartender said.

The height limit in the French Quarter keeps the roof line low

Cafe Amelie has an offshoot, Petite Amelie, which made a top-level gumbo and fresh sandwiches. It was one of the few places we visited more than once.

A number of the alleyways are not accessible by vehicles.

We had planned to spend New Years Eve in one of the many famous restaurants around the city but, because of the Sugarbowl crowds, they were booked pretty tight. But our Christmas experience had taught us well; we went to the movies.

The Wolf of Wall Street was showing in a cinema which offered in-seat service. We enjoyed drinks and food and emerged into the streets to celebrate with the city of New Orleans as the Fleur de Lis dropped.

Bourbon street on New Years Eve

New year's day was quiet; the streets empty but for the strange trucks applying detergent to Bourbon Street.

Actually they do this every day

The weather did not clear for our whole stay but we were determined to get some photos by the water. We braved the winds and the growing crowds of Sooners and Tide and snapped some pics by the water.

Spirit of the Immigrant (really)

With New Year's Eve behind us we finally went around to Frenchmen Street to have a drink and listen to some music. It was a revelation. Outside of the bustle of the French Quarter crowds Ali found a bar with live jazz and a massive beer menu. The first band we saw played for tips, coming around with a sousaphone and a bucket to collect change from the patrons between sets. We stayed longer than we meant to.

It was a great time.

Ali being cold in New Orleans

Of course the highlight was the seafood. Shrimp po boys, catfish, shellfish gumbo, all things I wouldn't eat at home, all smelled too good to pass up.

Oyster tacos were a highlight

In truth we probably stayed in New Orleans one night too long. With everything we meant to do finished after a few days we struggled on our last and didn't want to stay cooped up in the room of our inn.

Creepy Jesus was a landmark we navigated by.

In fact we stayed two days too long. Our flight to New York was cancelled (of the five direct flights that day ours was the only one cancelled).

We were given a hotel in a dead spot in the city. The next day we flew to Atlanta before sunrise and spent eight hours learning our way around Atlanta International Airport, which was not as bad as it sounds. The airport is huge. We learned some Georgian history, walked through a display of Zimbabwean sculpture, had some good food, and made our connection to La Guardia.

It was two degrees below zero when we landed. It only got colder from there.

Everything's bigger.

The flight from San Francisco to Austin was scenic; we saw California drop away and raise up to Nevada, flow into the salt flats and standing stones of Utah. We were sitting on the wrong side of the plane to see the Grand Canyon, but did watch the Arizona mountains roll away to the north. The terrain flattened and smoothed until we could see clear to the horizon with nothing but the patchwork of fields on the landscape.

The landing in Texas was another difference. In San Francisco, the plane passed the bay bridge and the airport, turned a hard 180 and dropped like a stone to touch down.

The way into Austin was long and slow as the terrain, and it seemed we were inches from the ground a long time before rubber touched tarmac.

With a few airport transfers under our belt, we can rate Austin as one of the best. The bus from the airport to downtown cost us $1 each and dropped us a block from the hotel. It also exposed us to the people of Austin who were loud, energetic, and friendly.

Around the corner from the hotel was a well recommended spot for dinner called Moonshine. It was cold out so we declined the offer to sit on the patio.

Our server, Jess, let us know we had arrived just at the end of happy hour, which meant cheap drinks but best of all, half-price appetisers. Ali picked the warmed brie, which was the only item which wasn't deep-fried.

We thought.

What did we do to deserve this?

That was, we decided, a sign. The mains were offered as 'platters,' and we thought that seemed like enough for two people.

Jess concurred.

So our first night in Texas we got a steak. With red wine sauce and blue-cheese butter. And sides. Everything was good.

Ali realises every meal can come with mac and cheese.

Christmas eve brought a new issue; we had almost run out of socks. The hotel's laundry was out of order and there were no laundromats within walking distance. We spent the morning looking for a shopping complex in downtown Austin and there simply was not one.

Defeated, we took to sixth street to find some lunch and heard some cool music coming from the Jackalope. They had good beers and a deal on pizzas. We got a pizza to share.

Thank goodness we only got one.

Yup. That happened.

So formed our plan for a quiet Christmas Eve in Austin. We built a dinner of leftover pizza, salad, and bottled beer and hung out in our hotel room.

We also formed our plan for Christmas dinner when we discovered the Alamo. Dinner and a movie (at the same time) seemed to be a great option for our holiday away from home. There was only one movie showing, so we got tickets to The Hobbit sequel.

On Christmas we took the opportunity to go walking along the Colorado river.

It's winter so the trees are bare.

The overcast weather made for a comfortable wander. Whole families passed us, walking off their lunch to make room for their dinner.

Some dude and the Colorado River

The experience of dinner at the Alamo was fantastic. The movie didn't do much for us, but we loved being able to go in for a couple of drinks (all their drafts were local beers - there's a lot of great beer in Texas) and food while a movie was on. The more laid-back environment and the zero-tolerance attitude toward talking/texting suited as well.  Five stars. Would do again.