Friday, March 6, 2015

A Walk in the Park ... City Park!

#CityPark#SculptureGarden#SpanishMoss


After our first "Beignet" taste test at the Morning Call in City Park, we strolled through the park and visited the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden.

It wasn't a bright, sunny day and a soft mist hung in the air with possible threats of rain.

The park was full of old oak trees dressed in Spanish moss.



                  
   
 
The Sculpture Garden is an absolutely wonderful part of the New Orleans Museum of Art.
The creative pieces of art are by various artists/ sculpters and funded by donations.

It is a peaceful garden that is home to some beautiful birds and waterfowl with surprises throughout.




The Tree of Necklaces, 2002 


                        

We met several characters as we strolled throughout the garden, there was a Cardinal, a drummer who had a canny likeness to Darth Vader, musicians and many more! 

If I lived in New Orleans this would be a favourite place that I would make part of my daily walks, a place to contemplate, reflect and feel close to nature.

                             



                       
    
                                          

 The installations are numbered, titled with credit to the artist and donor. 
There are many more sculptures to see. A must do if you are in New Orleans.
   
          


I "Love" this special place ...




Love was in the air ... at this photo session.






Thursday, March 5, 2015

Dining with Legends


Our friend, Laury who was going to play tourist with us for a couple of days in her city was busy Saturday with a prior engagement.

We spent our first night just off I-10 in East New Orleans, arriving at our hotel late Saturday afternoon.

When we checked in we were told about the "Seafood Grill" next door ... bonus we wouldn't have to drive anywhere.

After some rest and relaxation, we wandered next door to the restaurant ready for an evening of good wine-ing and dining.
Imagine our disappointment when we opened the door to discover this was a fast food joint.

Now we were on the hunt. 

We went to the hotel, spoke with the clerk who said the grill was good.
After Msr. told him we wanted a fine dining experience, he directed us to "Dish on Hayne".

Not walkable! We had no address and our GPS "Molly" could find no such place, so we followed the  directions we were given that sounded simple enough.

After driving the full length of Haynes we turned around to return to the hotel as we could not find it, suddenly we saw an unlit sign directing us to "Dish".

We pulled into the dark parking lot surrounded by a 9ft. High chain link fence. 

The restaurant was located in a large industrial building shared with the Top Notch Auto Repair shop.

Things didn't look too promising. 

With much apprehension we entered the restaurant.

We were relieved and surprised as we were greeted by the hostess and taken into the stylishly designed dining room with an upscale soul atmosphere including white linen napkins and tablecloths.


Our friendly waiter, Derek promptly took our wine order and presented the evening's special ...
Surf 'n' Turf  (ribeye steak, half pound shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus) which sounded delicious and did not disappoint. The best shrimp ever!
Everything was perfectly prepared and presented.

              

We were serenaded by jazz musicians and singers.

We were in the company of many great performers!




Who would have guessed what was inside here?


Once again ... proof you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover!

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Postcards from New Orleans

Hello everyone!

We've had a great time in New Orleans and wish you all could have been here!


Our road trip was so much more than what we expected.

I have so many photo postcards and stories to share that I will write and post over the next few days!