Cold Evening in the City

It was rather a chilly night for wandering around the city last night, although we had a really good time.

The day started with a return to the office from a holiday break. Tied up a few loose ends, not too much going on. My family is in town; parents staying with my sister in the Quarter, brother, sister-in-law and nephew with sister-in-law’s brother in Metairie.

My brother had made plans to have us all go to the LSU-Tulane basketball game at the New Orleans Arena last night. The crowd was sparse, we had awesome tickets right behind the press box on the floor at mid-court. LSU lost, but it was a good opportunity to meet up with some of my sister-in-law’s family I had not seen in a while.

An evening highlight was dinner at the Bon Ton Cafe on Magazine Street. Before retiring, my dad worked on Poydras and Magazine across the street from the restaurant. He ate their frequently and had not been back since retiring 17 years ago.

The food was great, although we stayed away from the etouffees and jambalaya that the Bon Ton is known for. Mom got a cup of the gumbo, which I did not taste but she was happy with it. Remembering Nola’s post on the subject a while back, ordered the Denise salad; boiled shrimp and lump crabmeat in a creole-mustard vinagarette with tomatoes and asparagus. Yum.

Entree-wise, Dad stuck with his favorite fried oysters, Mom her favorite softshell crab, and I the broiled drum, not necessarily a favorite but pretty darn good anyway. We met the owner on the way out, it turns out he and Mom are both from the same town in southeast Louisiana, Houma. It’s-a-small-world-after-all talk ensued; reminiscences on the Houma that was and the people they knew.

The chilly part came in after dinner. We parked in the Superdome parking lot. The wind was whipping up between the dome and the arena and the walk from and back to the car after the game was simply brutal. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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