Wed., Dec. 26
We both commented today that the charm of the city is beginning to grow on us. Yesterday afternoon we had Christmas Dinner (Reveillon) at The Bombay Club in the Hotel Prince Conti. The restaurant has some private booths with curtains, very elegant. Very good food, excellent service (adorable waiter with curly dark hair and dimples--Bernardo). We were so stuffed from dinner we came back and collapsed for a little while. Then we headed out again to a New Orleans club on the edge of the Garden District, called Tipitina's . There's nothing fancy about it at all. It's a big barn of a place with bars along the edges, the stage up front, and no seating. Very reasonable--just $12/ticket, but again we were not initially impressed. We stood in the crowd in front of the stage, and it took almost an hour for the band to get started. But when it did, they kept on moving. This was an annual Christmas bash hosted by a local NO blues singer named Marva Wright. Here's the line-up although I'm not sure they were all there and I know there were others who dropped in who weren't on the list: Irvin Mayfield (young trumpeter and not related to Curtis), Ivan Neville (keyboardist and son of Aaron), Kermit Ruffins, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews (amazing 21-year-old with great stage presence), Jo "Cool" Davis, Amanda Shaw, Nu Beginnings, B.J. Crosby, Veda Love, Danon Smith, Judy Spellman, Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolia Indians, James "Satchmo" Andrews, Rockin' Dopsie, Ceasar Elloie . At first, I thought it was going to be a mostly older crowd--aging baby boomers--with even older performers, but as the evening wore on, the crowd got younger and the performers were a really eclectic mix of types and ages. We enjoyed it so much we stayed there on our feet for over 3 1/2 hours! Finally, we had to give up, but we had a great time. Video sampler below.
This morning we slept in a bit after our late jazz/r & b night. Then we walked over a couple of blocks to Cafe du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets. Yummy. While we were walking over there, this very odd young man--early 20s maybe, not a bum, alone--attached himself to us. Said he wanted to buy us a drink, where were we from, etc. We declined politely and kept walking, but then he started following us. We crossed the street, he crossed the street, kept saying, why won't you let me buy you a drink? When we into the cafe, he followed us and stationed himself near our table. When the waiter came over, we asked for his help and he spoke to the guy, who moved away a little farther. Then he came back and stood right next to us and said,"All I want you to do is apologize for being rude to me." This time the waiter came back and told him to get the f#% out of there. Then he stood just outside the door, watching us. A little while later, we saw the waiter talking to a policeman, and after that our stalker vanished. So creepy. There are indeed weird types in this city.
Later we wandered in and out of shops and galleries on Royal and adjacent streets. We wanted to go shopping along Magazine Street this afternoon, but there are thunderstorms now and we have another big evening ahead with a restaurant in the Garden District and another club farther out. We're just party-animals.
Tomorrow we have breakfast at Brennan's, for which I've waited for more than 30 years. Then some final sightseeing before we head back for Alabama.
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