Elizabeth’s Bedroom
There’s a line like “Her room is an explosion of color and paintings and New Orleans-themed artifacts and motifs – fleur-de-lis and French Quarter street signs, blue dogs, Mardi Gras masks and voodoo dolls, the water meter cover and St. Louis Cathedral”.
New Orleans has its own art and symbolism and expression. There’s a rich history and culture, attitude and life that’s hard to find anywhere else in the country. It’s a city for love and beauty and art that represents its ...
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Cool Things in the Book
- Locations
- Miscellaneous
- Sir: The Awakening
Bonnet Carre Spillway and Park
The Bonnet Carre Spillway opened and flooding Lake Ponchatrain with I-10 in the background.
Personally, I think the Bonnet Carre Spillway (pronounced Bun-nay Care-ee) is fascinating. It’s a release valve for the Mississippi River that is opened (usually in the summer) when there’s the likelihood that the Mississippi will overflow and flood the region. There’s basically a mile and half long concrete weir (kind of like a dam) and when it’s opened, millions of tons of water rush ...
Antoine’s
I’ve never actually been to Antoine's, but from what I've heard from the people I know, it’s a really nice restaurant. I love the history of it and the menu and the floor plan, and next time I’m back home in Louisiana, I plan on visiting.
The main dining room
But, since I’m writing this book from the other L.A., I can only visit it virtually and on the written page.
[And, just to make clear, there is no disrespect intended for this prized New Orleans treasure. I ...
Port of Call
I wrote a chapter-shaped love poem about Port of Call (Sir Chapter 13) in New Orleans. I've been to a lot of restaurants in New Orleans, most of them simply outstanding, but push-comes-to-shove, Port of Call is at the top of my favorites list.
First, it’s a damned good hamburger. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t really like hamburgers.
Second, baked potatoes piled obscenely high with cheese, butter, and sour cream. Need I say more?
Third <drumroll ...
The Finewhile Diner. . .
I love diners.
Particularly small-town, roadside diners. Diners that still look like they did when they were built in the heyday of highway travel, at a time before interstates were a thing.
Diners are going by the wayside, which makes me sad. Half the ones I’ve been to in the past decade since I moved to L.A. cook frozen food that they bought in bulk and call it “homemade”. (Maybe it says that on the box, but it sure as hell ain’t homemade!) Anyway, bad food, and bad diner food, ...
One Canal Place (Chapter 9)
That photo above? Not my photo. Nor is the one below. Shocking.
At the end of Canal Street, almost at the river, on the edge of the Quarter, stands a high rise. In that high rise, you can both get your passport from the passport office upstairs, Chanel 22 at Saks Fifth Avenue, and a great little dress at one of the boutiques.
http://www.theshopsatcanalplace.com/