Lisa and I went to New Orleans for the Louisiana Food Association Trade Show. It was a great show. We brought home lots of samples and new ideas, and met lots of great people from Tony Chachere, Zatarains and Zing Zang. Hey - we even got to meet Chef Paul Prudhomme!
We were also very interested to hear the panel assembled to speak in regard to the state of the seafood industry. Everyone is obviously very concerned over the effects of the BP Oil spill. One thing we got loud and clear ... Louisiana seafood is safe. Probably safer that it has ever been. What a committed, passionate group of people. The panel consisted of experts of Louisiana Fishieries Association, LSU, NOAA, FDA, EPA. You name it.
We stayed at The Monteleone hotel and even caught the Satchmo Music Festival. We enjoyed brunch at the Court of Two Sisters, had a great meal at Port of Call and enjoyed a dinner out with old friends at R& O's on the Lakefront. I am happy to report that we saw some new activity in the form of repairs/rebuilding in the area still devasted by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The Lakefront/Lakeview area was one area that is slowly rebuilding. What a beautiful part of town, I'm sure it will be beautiful again.
| There's art and humor everywhere. As well as real reminders as to water levels and damage from Katrina. This artwork was inside Parkway Bakery that got flooded. One of our favorite restaurants Liuzza's was under six feet of water and they have the water line marked inside the restaurant. So glad so many of these great establishments were able to rebuild. |
This was the first time in a long time that Lisa and I were in New Orleans by ourselves, had a few days to just relax and truly enjoy. We filled up on some great food (of course) great music (spent some time in the Frenchman Street area which was just great going from club to club and hearing all kinds of live music), soaked up the history and architecture and took some great photos. God how I love this city.
Where else but New Orleans would you just happen upon a parade going down the street on a random Monday night?
Yep, it was the kickoff of the new Maddon NFL video game that features the Saints. This was the year that the Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Superbowl by a score of 31 to 17. Man!
What a game that was, and it was fun to celebrate the team again in this way.
Complete with floats, beads and bands. Woohoo Geaux Saints!
