Outbound to New Orleans

"Good Morning John,". "Hi Larry, are you on the road? I said, "Yep, we are about eighty miles from Gainesville." John Responded, "I just got off the phone with my brother Randy, his flight was cancelled due to weather and he is driving from Dallas to Baton Rouge." I had this telephone conversation with my friend John Morgan this morning. He was in Gainesville in his truck, I was on I-10 headed West for New Orleans and then on to Baton Rouge. Earlier John had spoken with his brother in the Dallas airport and learned of the flight cancellation. What struck me about this was how common it has become for us to be able to instantly communicate with anyone anywhere. I know I am old but damn it, it is still astounding . A phone smaller than a book of matches and not only can you talk, you can send pictures, movies, hell I don't know what else. Push a button and see it now. Magic it has to be magic.

We made it to New Orleans around four o'clock our time. Luckily we missed most of the rush hour traffic. For those of you familiar with New Orleans, we are staying about a mile from the Cafe Du Monde and Jackson Square. (Tomorrow I will try to post some pictures.) The Hilton where we are staying is an absolute bear to find. It is down a two way, single lane street with cars parking on both sides of the byway. You hide behind the parked cars and wait until the head-on traffic passes, then you seize the right of way and hope the other drivers extend you the same courtesy. We waited fifteen minutes while cars streamed through in the opposite direction. Madness, pure madness but having lived in Puerto Rico, I know sometimes all there is left to do is to laugh. I tried my best to see the humor in all of it....but I enjoyed swearing much more.

Alright, tonight we are off to a local eatery that has been recognized as having the very best Etoufee in America. The New York Times food critic said it should be a historical landmark and no one should be able to serve Cajun food that has not first eaten at "Mother's." Those of you that read our cross country blog this summer will remember that we have eaten here before. Unfortunately we did not know of their reputation for Etoufee. Worse yet, I talked Jeannie out of ordering it in favor of another dish. The food was exceptional. Indeed, everything was peaches and cream until we returned home and she watched the Travel Channel. They had visited several cities around the world each known for exquisite cuisine. They narrowed the dozens of location visited to five finalists. They then selected each establishment's signature offering. Yes indeed, when the announcer said the only restaurant in the South making the list was "Mother's Cafe" in New Orleans, we both sat up. You know how that is right? Hey look, we have been there! The feeling of goodwill lasted for about ten seconds, Then the food critic said to go there and not eat their Etoufee was criminal. Jeannie looked at me, and with that look I knew we were going back. And here we are.