Tattoos & House Guests

We've all heard those creepy stories about people meeting internet people face-to-face and then someone gets murdered/kidnapped/inappropriately groped. But apparently, people you meet on Xbox LIVE are totally legit, because none of the above happened when we finally met our buddies Headless Rage and Zombee Queen (aka Ty & Ashley). They came to town to visit their zombie killing comrades (Dustin and I, or Sitesemt and TheHausewife) and soak up some Nawlins culture. And also sling some ink. Ty, who is a professional artist and tattooist in Florida, worked at an incredibly convenient parlor and over the course of the week several friends and co-workers got some fresh ink, including me. It's my first tattoo and I was happy that a friend of mine was able to do it for me.

But this wasn't just a working holiday. We also got to play tour guide for them, and Ty's mom, and show off our Nola knowledge. Probably out favorite thing to do when people come to town is feed 'em. The food here is unparalleled no matter where you're from, so we like to show it off, and take a little bit of credit. Among the deliciousness we demonstrated was the Oak Street Cafe. We stopped in for lunch one day where we all came away stuffed and happy. I had the fabulous Mediterranean omelet while Dustin had the Grilled Godmother. I can't recall what all everyone else had, but I know what they didn't have: complaints. We took them to Masperos and had highly satisfactory burgers and po-boys. We paid too much for overly sweet daquaris when we went to the French Quarter to show them around, and for the guys to buy skull bracelets at Rev Zombie's. Succulent BBQ was had at VooDoo BBQ and the best turkey burger and rings ever were consumed at GB's Patio Bar & Grill (the only place that let's late-nighters like us bring kiddoes until 11pm). We even had 5am mini tacos at the Avenue Pub once. Honestly, after eating out almost every meal for an entire week, I can't remember all of them. A couple of times I did cook for the crowd. I even made brain shaped meatloaf and jello one night. It was a hit, even if the fruity brains looked so real none of the kids would really eat it.

We also had no shortage of liquid refreshment. The only night we really went out on the town we had our good friend Jon be our guide. He took us to one of my husband's favorite spots (one I'd never been to), The Dungeon. I liked it. From the quiet patio area where we discussed horror and sci-fi literature and film, to the dominatrix mannequins in the cage, to the bathroom hidden by a bookshelf, and in spite of the enormous rat that scuttled by us as we drank our Sex With An Alligator shots, it was a hit. Other than a few drinks to accompany meals and the grand search that took place in order to find Strongbow that ended at Whole Foods (which I found a few days ago, more reasonably priced, at Rouses), most drinks were either gin & tonic or Abita here at the house.

The activity of tourists second only to eating and drinking is picture taking. They were able to do plenty, in the French Quarter and also in the cemeteries, where we searched for good lighting and Marie Laveau (whose grave they found the next day all by themselves). They really are impressive.

I always love having guests and enjoying the city from a tourist's point of view. It keeps the perspective fresh. You do things you don't usually think to do in order to show your friends a good time, and often discover something new that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. I can't wait for them to visit again and we can continue our gastronomical adventures.

Invasion of the In-Laws

Yesterday my mother-in-law and her father, whom we all affectionately know as Dee, made the trip from Port Arthur, Texas to visit us. Having spent most of the day in the car, they wanted to rest up a bit before we squired them around town. Patricia has been to see us three times since we've moved, but it was Dee's first time to be in New Orleans in over 30 years. Although he's from Bunkie (holy crap, this place has a website!?), he's only been to NOLA twice, the first time in the late 40's. And of course, we had to hear the tale recounted of that horrible trip to the sinful city, where he went to visit a relative at Charity Hospital and had his car broken into. The bandit broke the window and made off with a suit jacket and a basket of fruit. Thankfully, he didn't think to look in the glove box, where Dustin's grandmother's wedding ring happened to be.

Once the visitors were rested, we loaded up the MIL's PT Cruiser and road from Audubon Park, down St. Charles, took Decatur to Esplanade and back up to Rampart. Dustin also drove us by the house where he got sot at while responding to a call, and a place that he gets hot wings from while on duty. Finally we drove back across the highway and went to VooDoo BBQ where Dustin and I left the others in the car to make our to-go order.

We've never had any problem with VooDoo, and their food is delicious. But last night, we waited almost an hour for our food, as people who came in well after we did were eating and leaving. When we finally said something, they discovered that the wrong name had been put on our ticket (not really understanding that one, as we were given a number for our table). I don't know what that had to do with the fact that our food hadn't been boxed yet. The man offered us a free brownie, so we accepted (seriously, do we look like the kind of people who refuse free brownies?). The girl came out and yelled the wrong name, which we knew from our talk with the other waiter, before acting like she was going to take our food back to the kitchen. Se spoke up, got our grub and finally headed back to the car full of starving people. My pulled pork was delicious as always, as was Dustin's brisket and chicken. They got Patricia's side wrong, but she said she didn't mind as the Gris Gris Greens turned out to be quite tasty. And they didn't give us our brownie. So, since we were all set for brownies, Dustin took his mom to Winn Dixie to get dessert. He came back with a giant cookie decorated for someone's graduation (I asked him Who's graduating? and he said "I don't know, but I'm gonna eat their cookie!") and some New Orleans brand ice cream. The have such delicious flavors! We've had the Bananas Foster before, which tasted just like the real thing, and this time we had the Coffee & Chicory and Vanilla, both of which were rich and yummy.

I think our dessert was a fitting end to a nice day about town. I love being able to share the city we love with the people we love. :)