I came out to this part of the country for work. I actually have family nearby and decided to combine this work trip with personal business. I flew out on United Airlines and it was an easy flight. This flight will be my first for 2014 and I have forgotten what domestic planes are offering. I was in the new Boeing configuration and appreciated the new chair and lighting design. The drawback was the lack of entertainment. It must be a trend to get rid of the TVs in planes now and I ended up being unprepared to entertain myself on this flight. I will not be making this mistake on my return.
I am not sure if the airport underwent any renovations since the last time I have been in New Orleans but it felt relatively refreshed in décor. The rental car facility appears new and is not a remote location. I know that some airports have opted to remove the car rental facilities to an offsite location and it was nice to know that you can walk to your rental car after you land in New Orleans. Luckily, I did not need a rental car on this trip. After landing at Louis Armstrong Airport (MSY), I was picked up and taken to the a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Orchid. I had the Bun Bo Hue and liked the dish. I tasted the Pho broth afterwards but I think my palate was too affected by my dish to appropriately comment on the Pho. I also tried the Chao Tom and it was a softer consistency than I'm used to. Would I go back? Not necessarily but it is a nice restaurant and the food is good.
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| Houmas House |
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| Venus flytraps at Houmas House |
On the way to Baton Rouge, a stop was made at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens. It is a real plantation mansion and the gardens are pretty nice. Popular for events, I can see the reason why it is popular. On my way out, I bought honey from the gift shop.
Sammy's Grill was dinner. I shared a five pound plate of crawfish boil and was too full to finish my cup of corn and crabmeat soup or the blackened alligator. I did enjoy the bread pudding. I was told it is made of Krispy Kreme doughnuts but I don't know that for sure. The white chocolate blueberry bread pudding is definitely a must. If you can get into the restaurant with less than an hour wait, it might be worth it.
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| Capital Steps in Baton Rouge |
The next day, lunch was at French Market Bistro. I started off with a corn and crawfish soup and shared a pizza. Food was good and service was attentive. I was later taken to visit the Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge. The campus is very residential feeling. The campus feels very large given the amount of space between buildings. It very much reflects the city in that regards. I also walked around University Lake. You know a campus is large when the bodies of water next to it is named as part of the University. After burning some calories, a pit stop was made in downtown to see the Capitol Building before heading south to New Orleans.
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| Doubletree New Orleans Guest Room |
I checked into the Doubletree New Orleans. I was given an oversized King room and it was really spacious. They could have easily added a sofa in the room. I thought the size of the bathroom was on the small side given the amount of space available unless you wanted to bring in another bed into the room. I could see two king beds easily.
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| Hilton New Orleans St. Charles Guest Room |
The work event was at the Marriott New Orleans and I checked out the next day to go to the Hilton St. Charles/New Orleans. I had to switch hotels since I originally booked the Hilton and adding an extra night was too expensive for my company budget. The Hilton was a normal King room so the change in hotels was a downgrade for me. At least there was a fridge in the room which came in handy. Although the hotel felt a little dated, it was still a very charming building. The executive lounge is very small but I liked that they offered free beer and wine. The concierge in the lobby will also give you free wine but I think it is to get people to come by and be exposed to all the tours available. The concierge is outsourced and staffed by a travel tour company.
For dinner, I went to the Gumbo Shop because restaurants I went to before would not take anymore walk-ins nor let you wait. The restaurants in the French Quarter are fairly small so I can see how restaurants can get maxed out in capacity. I was just surprised that you couldn't find a spot at 9 pm but I guess people eat late in New Orleans. After failing to find space at Café Amelie or Eat, the Gumbo Shop was a 15 minute wait. The food was ok. The standout dish was the alligator and pork sausage.
The next day, I had dinner at Luke, a John Besh restaurant and sits inside the Hilton. I have tried another restaurant under this chef and I'm not sure why he is so popular. The food is good but I don't know if that is enough to make you this "famous." I ordered the oyster bacon salad, shrimp and grits, and the pecan tart. The fried oysters on the salad was very good, the shrimp and grits was a little too salty for my taste, and the pecan tart was awesome. The problem with pecan pie is that it can be overly sweet and I didn't find that to be the case in this version. I would have liked a bigger scoop of ice cream given the price of the meal but it isn't a deal breaker.
The next day, I went out to Palace Café for dinner. I was feeling rather lazy and was going to not have dinner being stuffed in the conference. I decided that I should eat given I was unlikely to eat breakfast the next day. I ordered the Crab Cheesecake, Meat Pie, and Bread Pudding. The crab appetizer was good but you need something else to eat it with in my opinion. The meat pie was also good, a spicy lamb mixture with a spicy remoulade sauce. It even tasted good the next day cold. (I really used the fridge in the room for all the leftovers I was taking from dinner.) I didn't have room for the bread pudding so I ordered to go but haven't had a chance to eat it yet. :)
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| Crab Cheesecake by Palace Cafe |
The next day, a friend picked me up for dinner at Maurepas Foods. I had the sweet potatoes with the chorizo sausage sandwich and carrot loaf. I was not a fan of the sweet potatoes, the potatoes were cut like fries but it looked like it was grilled. It was a little to al dente for me. The chorizo sandwich was good but the sandwich was toasted with way too much butter. Since the sausage is so fatty, I think they could have done without buttering the bread to toast. Either than or the chorizo needs to be rendered down better for a sandwich filler. The carrot loaf was good, I wasn't expecting the "cream cheese topping" to be cream cheese ice cream. I'm not usually a fan of cream cheese frosting (even though I enjoy cheesecakes) so I wasn't a fan of the ice cream. The ice cream was well done if you are a fan of cream cheese flavors.
Now that the conference has ended, I was impressed with the Marriott New Orleans and the quality of the conference food. I was really surprised that the food actually tasted good for buffet style eating. The snacks each day was varied and reflective of New Orleans with offerings of beignets and king cake. The lunches had the requisite chicken entrees but they also offered etouffee, gumbo, shrimp creole, lobster corn bisque, and pecan cheesecake. It wasn't pralines but nuts seems to be a local favorite food. If you are looking to do a wedding or big event, I would recommend using the Marriott New Orleans.
I flew back on United and ended up spending a lot of time at the airport. I purposefully chose to go through Houston and it seems that the New Orleans to Houston route is very popular. I volunteered to be bumped and ended up with a $400 voucher and a direct flight in first class. I guess that isn't bad for a three hour delay. At first, they wanted to offer me a flight on Delta with no compensation because I would get in earlier. I was surprised that the first option was to put me on a competitor flight but I found it unappealing given all the new changes in the United Mileageplus program. I also don't get anything out of flying Delta especially with the new program changes in SkyMiles. I hope that United doesn't follow Delta. With American Airlines revamping themselves with the merger of US Airways, United might feel less inclined to do more changes. I already find myself annoyed with the third tier of qualification of the base fare spending.
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| Louis Armstrong Airport Lobby Area |
I have found the city pretty friendly and the airport is no different. They even offer free luggage tags if you ask the customer service desks in the concourse. Since I was bumped off my original flight, I had four hours to kill and opted to leave the gate area. The concourse level is more comfortable and there are power ports everywhere. Free wifi is available but the service is a bit slow. I had another craving for beignets and went to West Beignet inside the West Terminal. I have not seen a "stuffed beignet" and it was tasty. I only tried the Bavarian cream. Inside the gate area, I also tried cheesecake from
Cheesecake Bistro Scoop Cafe by Copeland's. I have never seen a deconstructed cheesecake dessert and it was good but not enough for me to return. It appears to be a popular local chain and this version is the takeaway/dessert café. It is better than the cheesecake from
Eli's Cheesecakes from Chicago. Ultimately, I still think
Cheesecake Factory is the best!
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