This afternoon we took our little Fiat and drove the few miles into New Orleans. Our former brother-in-law, Larry, and his wife Ruth, are staying at The Belle Mason for the next couple of days. The Belle Maison is a very nice Wyndham hotel located in the Warehouse District which is just a hop, skip and a jump from the French Quarter. They had made arraignments for us to park our car with the valet.
The last time we had seen Larry and Ruth was back in 2010 when they flew over to Tahiti to spend two weeks with us on board Leu Cat. It was great to see them again. After hugs and kisses, we spent some time catching up in their beautiful suite, sipping gin and tonics that Larry made with Hendricks, his favorite gin. Ooooh, they were so good!
We then walked a short distance over to Felix’s Oyster Bar for dinner. Larry and Ruth come to New Orleans a couple of times each year so they know all of the best places to eat. They warned us that the famous oyster bar that is across the street from Felix’s, which is called the Acme Oyster Bar, will have a very long line of people waiting to get in, but the Felix’s is where all the locals go because the food is so good. The reason Acme gets the long lines is because it advertises in the New York city newspapers, so many of the east coast visitors go there. Felix’s does not advertise, so just the locals know about it.
Of course, Larry and Ruth knew what they were talking about because the oysters, seafood gumbo and fried softshell crabs that I had were all delicious. I snatched one of Mary Margaret’s grilled oysters and smacked my lips over the smoky wood favor the firewood grill had imparted. Paired with a Pino Gregio, everything went down sooo easy. Yum!
We returned to Larry and Ruth’s hotel and spent the rest of the evening planning out what places to visit during our two weeks stay here in the New Orleans area. This included a long list of great eateries that they insist we have to go to. I am already letting out my belt just in anticipation of the wonderful food that we will be trying.
Tomorrow, we will be returning for breakfast at Brennan’s, where Mary Margaret, Terry (Larry’s younger sister), Larry and his then wife, Gaby (Mary Margaret’s sister), slurped down the famous milk punches way back in 1970, before Mary Margaret and I started dating during her sophomore year in college. For decades I have heard from Mary Margaret just how special this drink was and am really looking forward to trying it.
After breakfast we will walk around and explore the French Quarter and along the way snag a muffuletta for lunch. A muffuletta is a special Sicilian sandwich invented by the Italians who came to New Orleans back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ruth tells us one muffuletta will feed the four of us. Since I love Italian subs, I am really looking forward to tasting it.
After lunch we will rest and talk the late afternoon away until 7:30, when we have reservations at Irene’s. It is a newer restaurant that Ruth and Larry have been anxious to try since it has received rave reviews from all of their friends who have gone there. We can hardly wait.
I think you can understand why I may leave my belt back at LeuC tomorrow simply because I do not think that I will need it to hold my pants up with all of this eating in front of us…
Going Down The Road With The Leu's 
Enjoy!
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