Ragin Cajun

As I was conceiving of this cross country road trip, I had many a dreamy notion of a quarter century birthday party in the city of soul, New Orleans. It became an obsessive focal point as I planned hours upon hours of driving to coincide with an arrival on my birthday eve. My eyes were blood shot from the long haul, but I arrived in time and feel that it was entirely worth it to be here for my happy birthday.

My big birthday present from Mom and Dad was a two night stay at a rock star hotel, the Monteleone, in the French Quarter. This apparently was a big hangout for Granddad back in the day, and when Doug finished at Tulane, the whole family stayed here for graduation weekend. It was fun to feel the old family haunts and happy spirits in this place. When I arrived on Monday night, there was a dish of chocolate covered strawberries waiting for me from my dear roomie, Soph, and I felt like a princess in this most elegant room, all to myself!

My birthday was one of the rainiest in recent memory, but I made the very most of it by eating my way through every little cafe and restaurant in the French Quarter. The morning was spent dodging the downpours, tucking under awnings until the rain let up, then skirting to the next little place where I would try the house special. Breakfast was at Cafe du Monde, famous for their powdered sugar covered beignets and chicory coffee. I sat there for a while listening to a brass band outside play. There is no wonder that this town is known for its music: on every street corner there are world class musicians sharing their tunes.

For lunch, I had been tipped off to a great little place off the beaten track called Cake Cafe. The name itself seemed enough of a reason for me to take my birthday self way down Chartres street, a long but worthwhile trek. On these less traveled side streets you can see lingering signs of Katrina: boarded houses, overgrown and abandoned lots. I know that what I saw were not even the hardest areas hit. There were also indications of the Gulf oil spill, angry signs in peoples' windows, cars that had been made into mobile billboards of disgust. At one point, finding it too rainy to continue walking, I waited at a bus stop with an older man. We shared my umbrella and he told me stories about pre and post Katrina, mostly how much he loves this city, even after all that it's been through.

As the afternoon wound down, I was hit with the melancholy inevitability of a birthday in a strange town, no friends around to celebrate. The blues didn't last for long. As I was contemplating where to take myself to dinner, I began chatting with a local guy outside Irving Mayfield's jazz play house (Bourbon Street). He directed me to a restaurant right across the street, the Oceana Grill, as a place to get some good Cajun cooking. "In fact," he said, "I'll join you!!" In no less than 5 minutes, Kenneth Dale and I were good friends. The strangest thing is that he's celebrating his 41st birthday today, so we are birthday neighbors. With Ken's guidance, I had a tasty Cajun red-fish dish with a couple of house cocktail concoctions. For dessert, the whole place sang up quite a racket, wishing us two birthday fools a special day with a wildly decadent chocolate cake.
Ken left me back off at Irvin Mayfield's and I listened to some jazz before it was time to head off to bed. A very happy birthday to remember. And now it's off to Tennessee!!