Farewell to the Big Easy

On our third and final day in New Orleans, we had a late afternoon flight home -- so still several hours we could use to squeeze a little more fun from the trip.

We began with a brunch at the Court of Two Sisters. We ate from a Nola-inspired buffet, in a large and green courtyard area, to the soft sounds of a jazz duo. It was a lovely, laid-back way to start the last day, and was also a chance to cross off a few more expected foods from the list: grits, andouille sausage, and jambalaya. (GW Fins, our dinner on the first night, set a high bar for "best meal of the trip," but this might have cleared it.)

From there, though it was still before noon, we were on vacation. So we headed to the Carousel Bar and Lounge. This was a location we'd stopped by (on our way to other places) a couple of times, but we had never lingered due to the crowds. After all, there's one particular attraction people are here for: the circular bar. Around 20-25 people sit at a single-piece, granite-topped bar (in circus-themed chairs), as it slowly rotates once every 15 minutes. Yes, it's totally a novelty -- one that people line up several deep to experience. We were there early enough to snipe two seats as people were leaving, and enjoyed the very weird sensation of the room spinning with our first drinks of the day. (A Sazerac for me, of course.)

Pralines were another food item we had to cross off on a successful New Orleans "food and drink" trip, so we stopped off at one of many candy shops, Laura's, and picked up a box of half a dozen, in several varieties. We enjoyed a couple then and there, and took the rest to eventually finish over the next couple of days as one final lingering experience from the trip. I would imagine pralines are one of those things that can be quite different, depending on who makes them, but these were a delicious treat. (And not nearly the sugary torpedo of a beignet.)

The Sazerac theme continued at a place called Sazerac House. It's an active distillery of rye and other spirits that has also turned itself into a shrine/museum to the signature New Orleans drink. We took a self-guided tour through three floors, getting more background on the drink and the city. And getting a few small free sample cocktails, of course. Beside the expected Sazerac, there was also a tasty San Domingo Julep, and a pretty intensely sour (by comparison) Whiskey Smash. Each cocktail came with a card with the recipe to take home and try for yourself. (And I expect I will be.)

One last shrimp meal came at a place called Bourbon House. I'd have probably gone on about how great it was had it come early in the trip, but by this point, this was just one more delicious-as-expected seafood option from a city where that's always delicious.

This felt like just the right amount of "eat, drink, and be merry" for a long weekend; I felt satisfied when we returned home. I could imagine perhaps one more day on a New Orleans vacation, more focused on other activities in the area -- perhaps one of their noted cemetery tours, or an excursion on a swamp boat. But I felt like we'd found almost everything we'd want to within walking distance of the French Quarter.

And I can always make myself a Sazerac whenever I want to "travel back" and remember the good times.