Days three and four in the Big Easy were also super cool. On Tuesday, we had a 10am class a the Louisiana School of Cooking. The place itself is pretty neat, being half general store, half cooking classrooms. We had class with Barbara, who was a native from Louisiana and also about 4 feet tall. This was even more comical when she told us that the other chef is 6 foot 9, and the demo kitchen was built to his specifications, making everything supertall and annoying for her. She was pretty cool about it, though. 
I was a little disappointed at first when I learned that we weren’t actually going to be doing the cooking in class, but rather watching. Then they gave us free unlimited beer, and no one seemed to care much after that. Plus, it was nice to relax and take notes rather than screw up my own lunch. We ended up learning how to make jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding with a rum sauce, and pralines. Yum!
I was a little disappointed at first when I learned that we weren’t actually going to be doing the cooking in class, but rather watching. Then they gave us free unlimited beer, and no one seemed to care much after that. Plus, it was nice to relax and take notes rather than screw up my own lunch. We ended up learning how to make jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding with a rum sauce, and pralines. Yum! After the cooking class we headed over to the Audubon Aquarium, which was pretty cool as far as museum-type stuff is concerned. The people watching was far more interesting in my own opinion. Then I got hit up for money on the street and Jason made fun of me. 
Oh well, I can’t thwart them all.We hit up Deanie’s for dinner and had the BBQ Shrimp for two. They essentially brought out a frying pan filled to the brim with huge prawns swimming in spiced butter covered in three loaves of French bread. Heaven. The wait staff here was not as awesome as other places we’ve been to in the Quarter, but you can’t argue the awesomeness of the food. It was amazing. As a side note, if y’all ever come down here, make sure to have some Abita beer. It’s local and extremely good. Jason ended up trying another local beer called ‘Dixie’, which he tried to like, but is best described as “skunkerific”.Tuesday night got a little more 
interesting when we moved back to our favorite place Felix’s for drinks. We thought we’d have a couple and go walking around to try another bar. Oh no, not even close. We’re proud to say we bellied up to that bar for 5- yes 5 - hours. We made such good friends with our bartender Julia that she gave us free food to ‘sample’ and let us watch Fringe on the bar television. Mike the oyster shucker was extremely impressed with our, uh, loyalty. 
We made the creepy walk back to our hotel ( I say creepy because when we went, there weren’t a ton of tourists, making the streets a little bare late at night).When we got back, we finally got to enjoy the hotel pool. I wish I had taken a picture of it, because honestly, it’s tiny. I’ve seen hot tubs bigger than the pool, and I’m not exaggerating. The water was nice and we had it to ourselves, so I officially can’t complain. The courtyard that it is in is also gorgeous, so that helped. We collapsed sometime later in our crappy bed and passed out.Our last morning we walked the two blocks over to the very well known ‘Mother’s’ for breakfast. They are well known for their ham and for their Po-Boy sandwiches. I had a ham and veggie omelet, and J dawg had the special with ham, eggs and grits. Everything tasted great, but the service was a bit lackluster and everything was kind of expensive. I would’ve been happy with a slightly crappier breakfast for half the price and an actual waitress. At least I’ve been-there-done-that.We spent the rest of our time before our flight enjoying the sights and sounds of the Quarter gearing up for the annual French Quarter Festival. There were a lot more people about and musicians in the streets, and we were kind of bummed to be going. I got to stop one last time at The Gumbo Shop for some of their incredi
ble Crawfish Etoufee and then it was time to leave. We thanked our indispensable concierge for all his help and then made our way to the airport. New Orleans was great, and I’m kind of ashamed to say, better than expected. I have to hand it to Cristina (AKA Mouth) for inspiring us to go - you rock! I must say, if you have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. Hell, I’d be more than willing to be your tour guide!
Oh well, I can’t thwart them all.We hit up Deanie’s for dinner and had the BBQ Shrimp for two. They essentially brought out a frying pan filled to the brim with huge prawns swimming in spiced butter covered in three loaves of French bread. Heaven. The wait staff here was not as awesome as other places we’ve been to in the Quarter, but you can’t argue the awesomeness of the food. It was amazing. As a side note, if y’all ever come down here, make sure to have some Abita beer. It’s local and extremely good. Jason ended up trying another local beer called ‘Dixie’, which he tried to like, but is best described as “skunkerific”.Tuesday night got a little more 
interesting when we moved back to our favorite place Felix’s for drinks. We thought we’d have a couple and go walking around to try another bar. Oh no, not even close. We’re proud to say we bellied up to that bar for 5- yes 5 - hours. We made such good friends with our bartender Julia that she gave us free food to ‘sample’ and let us watch Fringe on the bar television. Mike the oyster shucker was extremely impressed with our, uh, loyalty. 
We made the creepy walk back to our hotel ( I say creepy because when we went, there weren’t a ton of tourists, making the streets a little bare late at night).When we got back, we finally got to enjoy the hotel pool. I wish I had taken a picture of it, because honestly, it’s tiny. I’ve seen hot tubs bigger than the pool, and I’m not exaggerating. The water was nice and we had it to ourselves, so I officially can’t complain. The courtyard that it is in is also gorgeous, so that helped. We collapsed sometime later in our crappy bed and passed out.Our last morning we walked the two blocks over to the very well known ‘Mother’s’ for breakfast. They are well known for their ham and for their Po-Boy sandwiches. I had a ham and veggie omelet, and J dawg had the special with ham, eggs and grits. Everything tasted great, but the service was a bit lackluster and everything was kind of expensive. I would’ve been happy with a slightly crappier breakfast for half the price and an actual waitress. At least I’ve been-there-done-that.We spent the rest of our time before our flight enjoying the sights and sounds of the Quarter gearing up for the annual French Quarter Festival. There were a lot more people about and musicians in the streets, and we were kind of bummed to be going. I got to stop one last time at The Gumbo Shop for some of their incredi
ble Crawfish Etoufee and then it was time to leave. We thanked our indispensable concierge for all his help and then made our way to the airport. New Orleans was great, and I’m kind of ashamed to say, better than expected. I have to hand it to Cristina (AKA Mouth) for inspiring us to go - you rock! I must say, if you have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. Hell, I’d be more than willing to be your tour guide!
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