There are so many to pick from for me personally, in the end I would have to say Pierre Maspero’s. This is getting chosen over Emeril’s because of the history behind it. The atmosphere is a trip into the past, into the 1700’s. The dim lighting reminds me of candlelight, the old wooden beams of the ceiling and the uneven tables that seem wobbly like the chairs. This is in addition to the amazing food and service. I would go back to it, in fact we did two nights later! I also have recommended it to everyone who asks. Eating in there can almost seem seedy but in a good way. The feeling of being secretive, a clandestine meeting along the wharf to discuss pirate matters. Instead of a mug of grog, it’s a very delicious mixed drink. No tin plates covered in slop but some of the best food in NOLA. My favorite part of the trip was a tie between the history and the food. Two things I love, learning and cooking, and eating local food. I would take a cooking class there. The best part of the class was the pharmacy tour and Milton’s tour. Mixing history and humor is the best way to get and keep my attention. You can tell both of them have a large passion for their city and its rich history. This exudes from them and you cannot help but catch that fever. I learned that the population of NOLA is so much more varied that you will ever learn on TV or from any other medium. You can only discover this by going there! The different cultures seem to blend and function together seamlessly like no other place in the states can or will. They exist in a cohesive peace that other cities can learn from. As for learning about myself? Well at my age and experience level along with the places I have traveled, people and cultures I have worked with it is hard to say what I have learned. That is a side effect of working on the teams in my military unit. I am able to blend in and function without trying. It becomes second nature for me, like breathing. My brother and I also worked internationally as bodyguards. So, I would say I have a leg up on a clear majority of people in this country, when it comes to travel and integration. Here I didn’t have to learn any language to communicate, this is always been important to me. You go to another country learn the basics of how to ask for simple things, it build respect with the locals and shows that your trying. Even greeting them in their native tongue and gestures can bridge that gap and open doors to friendliness. I did learn (or was reminded) that cities are too closed in for me, I had to take a break and sit by the river and breath cleaner air and fill myself with the openness by the shoreline. In the end, this is a city that I would return to.

I picked Dayana Jordan a local artist, she is a transgender male to female. Normally finding out she (he) was former military and transitioning would have pushed me the other way. She is married with children and a former Infantry Marine. I picked her because she actually has unique artwork. Something I would buy. Morgan did buy a piece off her. I would like to but I must see in the next day or two. Dayana has a very flowered history. She has been a successful chef, tour manager of 2 bands and been in 42 of 50 states. She has also lived in 10 states. She makes pieces that blend music and art. They are kind of abstract in a way. Perhaps that is why I like them, they don’t follow a norm, or a pattern. It’s hard to discuss how she makes them, she says it can take up to 48 hours per piece. They are also baked in an oven to set what she’s done. They are very colorful and each piece features a musical instrument on a colored background. Each different color takes on certain meaning like a saxophone on blue means “music over the ocean”. You can find her in Jackson Square set up on the fence right in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. I also really like the whole blue dog thing. George Rodrique certainly did capture me with such a simple idea. I just like the easy bright colors. He has other art work but I’ll stick with the mutt. Blue is my favorite but the yellow and red are right there. How does one pose of the same animal over and over capture people so completely? I would say that this would only be the second time I have been in an actual art gallery, I know, everywhere I’ve been and that’s it? I’ve seen so much art in Europe, there it is more open and in places you wouldn’t expect. Well I did it, I bought my first official piece of art! It’s from Dayana Jordan, it was on our last day too! She had been gone the last three days. She said she almost didn’t come out today. I got a bit of a larger piece than I had wanted (for travel reasons). I asked her if she had purple, at first, she said no, then she remembered that she had one. It was love at first sight! It was a golden trumpet on a beautiful purplish swirled background. The border is black with his trademarked love, music, and art heart symbol around the entire border. Well, I got a hug from her along with some good conversation. I cannot wait to show it off and hang it on my wall. I mean seriously I could spend thousands of dollars on the street art surrounding Jackson Square. It is some of the best work I have ever been around. Each person and their unique style, I could easily come back and pick pieces for each of the rooms in my house.

This will be a very short post, no other way around it. We went to the other museum today, the Presbytere. There was, well, seriously not much in this place to capture any of my imagination. I know people just love Mardi Gras. I just can’t get into it. Maybe I could watch the parade? It also covered Hurricane Katrina and had a little on the prior hurricanes also. I have a different impression of many of the survivors, from a military point of view. I will not go into why. This subject matter would have been better had it not taken up that much space at the museum. I’ll go into our tour this morning. Then came Milton! Our guide for this morning. He covered (humorously) a lot of local history of the city. He started with many interesting facts of the beginnings of this town. We took a brisk, and I mean brisk stroll along the streets listening to him speak and he did so with a love and pride of where he has come from. We came past The Coffee Pot, another local eatery that his aunt works at. After the tour the girls and I went with our instructors and ate there. The Cala’s were very good, well it was all good. I had the shrimp and grits again! Back to the tour, We would stop at certain locations while he filled us in on local lore and history. We stopped at another museum by St. Louis cemetery #1 We saw the three grave sites of Marie Catherine Laveau. Nicholas Cage also has his future gravesite there, a pyramid, so very cool. I want it! You know that he had to seriously grease some church palms to put that there. Isn’t that all it takes with the Catholic church though? Money. I mean that is the bottom line with all businesses. Ok, off my platform. I would have liked more time to explore the cemetery, so many old dates to look at to imagine those lives and times. We ended up in Congo Park and discovered its history, and as a “lagniappe” he showed us where the first rock and roll record was produced. Very cool. My brother would be all over that! Well I think we have the streetcar system down, at least the river one. Better than a taxi, much cheaper. The girls and I went and did a little shopping and I had to pit stop again at…Willies Chicken! That was to tie me over till our dinner at Emeril's!