By Ann Terry Hill
You’all come on down to New Orleans and Lafayette. Spring and early Summer in the South are great times to visit… Flowers in bloom, not too hot, everything fresh and alive. Boats on the Mississippi… crawfish and gumbo at your beck and call, happy people and music. If it happens to be the week of the annual French Quarter Jazz Festival, it is more than anyone can ask for.
This year was my first visit during the Festival, but I assure you I’m going back! Music on every corner, and on 22 different stages, offered by big name artists performing for FREE. They just love what they do and are giving back to New Orleans. You can listen to Ronnie Kole followed by Lillian Boutte all in one afternoon. If you have the stamina, you can go all day and night.Me, I had to break it up a little for some of that wonderful New Orleans cuisine. Laid back and easy—Southern style!
Everyone should dine at ANTOINE’S at least once. Not quite the oldest restaurant in New Orleans but founded in 1840 and still run by the same family. It is old enough for me! Oyster’s Rockefeller were invented there. It has seen the history of New Orleans through the Civil War, World Wars I & II, the Great Depression, epidemics and storms.People just keep coming back. Great service and great food; the recipe for success.www.Antoines.com . Be sure to take your time and visit all the various rooms and the wine cellar of this restaurant. A living history.
You can’t turn around without some great place to eat and to hear good music. Jackson Square, the center of it all, is surrounded by shops, artists showing their works, and eateries. THE CORNER, www.corneroysterhouse.com , just across from Jackson Square, features Sports, Spirits, and an Oyster Bar and Grill.The service is home spun and warm. You can’t go wrong. This is a great place to reenergize after walking around the Square.
I’ve stayed in several hotels in New Orleans over the years, but Le Richelieu in the Quarter stands out to me. A few blocks off the main part of the French Quarter, it is quiet, but walkable to the center. Frank S. Rochefort, the owner still manages at 91. He has taken great pains to preserve the history of the area, decorating to evoke the many different cultures which make up the history: French, Spanish, English, Italian, and others.
If you stay there, make a point of introducing yourself to Mr. Rochefort, he loves all his clients. (Paul McCartney, of Beattle fame,stayed there for 3 months during a New Orleans visit a few years ago.) But he isn’t the only famous one, or one of the many repeat visitors this hotel has. www.lerichelieuhotel.com. One of the hotel’s repeat visitors told me she’d stayed there 40 years ago, went back about 15 years later, the bartender was still the same one and remembered her! That’s just the kind of place it is. A word to the wise, if you’re planning to stay there, book early---space is hard to get.
There’s so much to do in the Cresent City, you could spend a lifetime learning all the nooks and crannies. The French Quarter brings you the best in food, music, people, art, shopping, nightlife, antiques and history.Best you contact The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau for a list of events so you don’t miss your favorite. www.neworleanscvb.com
Leaving New Orleans after four days, a friend and I headed for Cajun Country. We drove deep into the heart of the area- Lafayette- the center of French Louisiana. Being hosted by The Staybridge Suites, right on a main artery in Lafayette with easy access to every place we wanted to go.
We quickly found our way around. Our comfortable accommodations were there when we weren’t busy sightseeing. Part of our mission was to visit St. Martinville, often called the center of the Arcadian world, for a tour of the Acadian Memorial and the Museum/Cultural Heritage Center located there.
Many visitors to this area may be familiar with the 1755 expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, and their arrival in Louisiana, as portrayed in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1847 epic poem “Evangeline.” Evangine’s statue commemorates the Acadia people and the poem. The great Oak that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized still stands. www.stmartinvilletravel.com. This area is loaded with history.
A main object to this trip to the heart of the Cajun country was to visit Avery Island, home of TABASCO, and interview Harold Osborne, fifth generation of the McIlhenny family who founded the world famous sauce.
Osborne is now senior vice president of the company. We spent the day on Avery Island and came away totally charmed by Mr. Osborne, Avery Island, the TABASCO products and the people who make them.
Many of the employees have worked there for years, following in their family footsteps. Truly, touring the factory, it seemed like everyone was family. They are all proud of their part in making the hot sauce and various derivatives. No wonder TABASCO is sold in 166 countries around the world! In 2009 it received the ultimate recognition: The Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II.
The recipe for this sauce sounds simple: Pepper seeds, vinegar and salt---combined in used oak whiskey barrels and aged.However, you have to have the Capsicum frutescens (v. Tabasco) seeds grown only on Avery Island, the salt from Avery Island, and the vinegar produced four miles away! 750,000 bottles of this sauce are produced and bottled daily… more than the original Mr. McIlhenny bottled in his lifetime.
Allow time for shopping at the TABASCO Country Store, perhaps sampling the TABASCO ice cream with a splash of the raspberry TABASCO sauce. A fresh, tasty treat! I admit, I was a bit hesitant about this, but one taste and I was sold. Sign up for a catalogue or order on line for more of their products. www.TABASCO.com . A few co-brand products made with TABASCO brand ingredients include Spam, Heinz Hot & Spicy Tomato Ketchup, AI Steak Sauce and Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its.
Tours are offered and well worth the time. Don’t overlook a visit to The Jungle Gardens on the island and almost as famous as the sauce. Developed by Edmund McIlhenny’s son Ned, a writer and naturalist, it is on 200 acres of the original plantation. I suggest you allow at least 2 hours for this sanctuary where you will see exotic birds, alligators, deer, lily ponds, an ancient Chinese Buddha, and gorgeous foliage, all existing harmoniously together in a natural setting.
The visit to Avery Island put us in the mood for more contact with the locals and what could be more fun, informative, and local than a Cajun cooking class offered by the Accidental Chef, Carlos Russo, at his studio in Lafayette. For three hours we savored Chef Russo’s approach to a four-course Cajun meal—toasting and tasting right along with Russo. He makes it all look so easy… a dash of garlic, flour, oil, cayenne and paprika, and some wine…and yet another taste of wine for the cook! Very fun and highly recommended. Call ahead 337-849-6837, or book online: www.accidentalcooking.com
This is an easy trip to make. You can definitely go at your own pace. Just remember you are there to enjoy. Or as they say in Louisiana, “Laissez les bous tempe Rouler,”--- that’s French for ‘Let the Good Times Roll!”
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