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kevin_standleeWhat appeared to be a break in last night's thunderstorm led Lisa and I (and travelswithkuma, carried in my tote bag in case the rain came back so he would stay dry) to venture out for something we'd wanted the whole time we've been in New Orleans: beignets. What's been stopping us are the enormous queues. We suspected that the rain would have chased most of the people away, and so it proved to be.
It was still raining slightly as we made the trek over to Cafe du Monde, but what had been a block-long queue every time we'd come by previously was only a few people deep when we got there this time. We still didn't consider the seating arrangement safe enough, so we ordered our beignets and I got a decaf cafe au lait with chicory, and we set off back toward our hotel, roughly 1 km away. Kuma Bear rode in my tote bag with the beignets.
Unfortunately, the rain came back hard again while we were walking to the hotel. We tried to stay under cover or in the lee of buildings when possible, but it wasn't always possible, and we were pretty damp by the time we got back. But we did get our beignets. Kuma didn't even try to eat them, although I could have sworn I heard nom-nom-nom noises from my tote bag.
This morning I finally figured out getting a relatively quick breakfast, although as I mentioned yesterday, it wouldn't have worked then because they were closed on Tuesdays.
The morning dawned gloomy over New Orleans, but it started to burn off as the morning progressed and it should be clearer by the time we leave in a couple of hours.
It's only just barely visible behind the trees in this picture from our 11th-floor window looking down at St. Charles Street, but the Daisy Duke's "Express" location is essentially just across the street from the Astor Crowne Plaza where we're staying. This location doesn't have online ordering (you have to phone it in), but they also are apparently less well known and because they're nominally not in the French Quarter (officially they're in the Central Business District), it appears that the tourists don't know they are there. I called in an order for a couple of omelettes like the ones we got from their much busier location in the Quarter, and instead of waiting for an hour, they were sitting there ready for me to pick up by the time I got there. Indeed, it took longer to get my pre-ordered cup of coffee from Starbucks a block away. (Mainly because they were so busy that they'd poured my coffee and then forgotten about it instead of putting it on the pick-up shelf.)
We're taking advantage of the later departure than originally planned due to the massive rework of our train travel and are now packing up the room. I see that Amtrak has been terminating trains at Reno due to the heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada. I expect that the line will be reopened by the time we get there in a few days, but if they do terminate the train in Reno, it won't be a catastrophe, just more expense for us to pay $100 for a taxi home to Fernley. Just as long as they don't try to put us on a bus from Salt Lake City or Denver!
I am not sure if I'll get online again for the next few days to update here. I'll have my mobile phone, but updating DW from my phone is a hassle. You can follow me on Twitter for more timely updates.
travelswithkuma, carried in my tote bag in case the rain came back so he would stay dry) to venture out for something we'd wanted the whole time we've been in New Orleans: beignets. What's been stopping us are the enormous queues. We suspected that the rain would have chased most of the people away, and so it proved to be.It was still raining slightly as we made the trek over to Cafe du Monde, but what had been a block-long queue every time we'd come by previously was only a few people deep when we got there this time. We still didn't consider the seating arrangement safe enough, so we ordered our beignets and I got a decaf cafe au lait with chicory, and we set off back toward our hotel, roughly 1 km away. Kuma Bear rode in my tote bag with the beignets.
Unfortunately, the rain came back hard again while we were walking to the hotel. We tried to stay under cover or in the lee of buildings when possible, but it wasn't always possible, and we were pretty damp by the time we got back. But we did get our beignets. Kuma didn't even try to eat them, although I could have sworn I heard nom-nom-nom noises from my tote bag.
This morning I finally figured out getting a relatively quick breakfast, although as I mentioned yesterday, it wouldn't have worked then because they were closed on Tuesdays.
The morning dawned gloomy over New Orleans, but it started to burn off as the morning progressed and it should be clearer by the time we leave in a couple of hours.
It's only just barely visible behind the trees in this picture from our 11th-floor window looking down at St. Charles Street, but the Daisy Duke's "Express" location is essentially just across the street from the Astor Crowne Plaza where we're staying. This location doesn't have online ordering (you have to phone it in), but they also are apparently less well known and because they're nominally not in the French Quarter (officially they're in the Central Business District), it appears that the tourists don't know they are there. I called in an order for a couple of omelettes like the ones we got from their much busier location in the Quarter, and instead of waiting for an hour, they were sitting there ready for me to pick up by the time I got there. Indeed, it took longer to get my pre-ordered cup of coffee from Starbucks a block away. (Mainly because they were so busy that they'd poured my coffee and then forgotten about it instead of putting it on the pick-up shelf.)
We're taking advantage of the later departure than originally planned due to the massive rework of our train travel and are now packing up the room. I see that Amtrak has been terminating trains at Reno due to the heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada. I expect that the line will be reopened by the time we get there in a few days, but if they do terminate the train in Reno, it won't be a catastrophe, just more expense for us to pay $100 for a taxi home to Fernley. Just as long as they don't try to put us on a bus from Salt Lake City or Denver!
I am not sure if I'll get online again for the next few days to update here. I'll have my mobile phone, but updating DW from my phone is a hassle. You can follow me on Twitter for more timely updates.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-30 12:04 pm (UTC)