A Street Car named Desire

We are down here in NOLA for the Sugar Bowl, but that's only one event.

You can't come this far and not go to Acme Oyster House.  We like the location out by Lakeside Mall.  The food is always good and the service comes with an accent that can't be beat.  The best part of eating their chargrilled oysters is dipping the French bread into the drippings!

The ride into town took us past "Mother's"  which had a line out the door a block long.  Been there, done that.  On to the Quarter!  Parked near the Westin, total for the day, $40, not bad considering the time and place.

Had a ball handing our my red and blue beads to people wearing the right colors.  Even swapped bead colors with a couple of OSU fans, all for the love of the game!  The guy caught a "Beat OSU" button and said "here!  It will look better on you!"

The Sugar Bowl Parade had the feel of Mardi Gras!   Beads and stuff flying all over the place.  Both fan bases were treated to school fight songs by their bands.  Our favorites were the local high school bands that added their own style to their march!

With dinner reservations for 6:00 it was time to roll.  We worked our way toward Canal to make a call to Uber.  Traffic stalled and I was able to hail down a taxi.  Best $20 taxi ride ever!

The restaurant was Carrollton Market,  at the end of the St. CHARLES Street car line.  The food was out of this world!  We had such a good time interacting with the waitstaff that the general manager waived the late cancellation fee on our second table.  The meringue on the lemon ice box pie tasted like divinity!  Everything was fresh and made from scratch.  Highly recommend it.

The owners wife is from Leland, and Julie McGregor's daughter designed the signage.  The owners aunt, Mary Frances Hammond has been on me for several years to try them and they did not disappoint.

We took the St. Charles Street car back to Canal
Street.  Had a blast talking restaurants with the driver and making suggestions of things for a couple from Iowa to do.  Several lady passengers were dressed for a "twenties" party.  I almost joined them!

Our walk back thru the Quarter took us down Bourbon Street,  and low and behold we run into our Grove buddy Kyle Phipps and his girlfriend.  Then my cousin Barbara Ann Beckham spotted us.  We swore to tell her dad that we spotted her inside St. Louis Cathedral lighting a candle and doing a confessional!

Feet began to fail us so we opted for a bicycle taxi.  Lord!  I thought we had done stripped his gears when he tried to crank it up!

We ended the night at Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets.  Met a new friend at the next table, from Brandon, works for Atmos Energy and knows my brother Jim.  Small world.

Time to recharge our batteries to tomorrow
  2016 is uncertain,  but 2015 has been a "Happy New Year!"