Cycles

After two days on the road with no real stops, we stopped and stayed in New Orleans for a day. We arrived late the night before, but the neighborhood we booked an AirBnB stay in was still abuzz with life. We rented a little detached room in a residential neighborhood along Magazine St. away from the touristy French Quarter. We did visit the French Quarter the following morning and had coffee and beignets at the famed Cafe Du Monde. The French Quarter was interesting to stroll around, but it had an overwhelming tourist trap vibe like Fisherman’s Warf in SF. One of the reasons I wanted to visit NOLA was to see the aftermath of damage from Hurricane Katrina. Much of the city center is up and running, but the damage that hasn’t been repaired is still evident everywhere. Driving out of city center showed the extent of the damage. Boarded up windows and piles of rubble where houses once stood are still everywhere. We even drove by the abandoned Six Flags and it had a erie overgrowth of vegetation that consumed all the rides and roller coasters. Its what I would imagine an abandoned Earth without humanity would look like. It reminded me of pictures of amusement parks in Chernobyl. We had lunch at Couchon Butcher shop, an ode to all things pork. We had Pork Belly with Cucumber + Mint on White, Cuchon Muffaletta with House Meats + Olive Salad, and Gumbo. There is a sizable Vietnamese community in NOLA and we drove through the neighborhood and sampled the Pho and Banh Mi. I’ve had Banh Mi in every Vietnamese enclave in California and I can say what I’ve tried in NOLA was better. The baguettes was perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and the head cheese was exploding with umami. We also couldn’t leave the gulf without having crawfish since it was in season. A combination of ingredients and technique made for an unforgettable mouth burning experience that was better than any crawfish I’ve had in the past. 

Our humble AirBnB abode