Since I mentioned yesterday that I spent last New Year’s Eve down in NOLA, I thought I’d share details about some of the things we did that day. It might give you ideas for a future trip to New Orleans, at the holidays, or any time of year. You can do most of these things all year long:
We began our day watching football at Parasol’s, a landmark Irish pub, where we feasted on roast beef po-boys and too many Zapps potato chips. (Warning: These Louisiana chips are highly addictive, especially the spicy creole tomato!) To work off our lunch, we walked along the river and eventually hopped on the free ferry to Algiers Point, where we spent a few hours strolling through this quiet residential neighborhood. It’s a peaceful place, tucked perfectly into a bend of the Mississippi. (Be sure to stop and salute the statue of Louis Armstrong at the ferry landing.)
Hungry again, we wound up back at an old favorite for dinner, a wonderful place called La Peniche, that I’ve written about before. Since it was a mild evening, we then walked (again!) from Farbourg Marigny back towards the French Quarter, where we spent the final hours of 2007 taking in the party atmosphere — without having to cram into crowded bars. We simply walked the streets, sipping Abita beer (Restoration Ales all around) and listening to live music from street performers, and then later, from the free New Year’s Eve concert near Jackson Square that the city puts on each year. It was conveniently close to another mandatory stop, Cafe du Monde, where we polished off some beignets — No better way to ring in the new year than with a mouth full of powdered sugar and fried dough!