November is one of our favorite times to make the two and a half hour drive west from Fairhope, to visit New Orleans. In the French Quarter, we were treated to a Second Line procession from this happy couple's wedding. All the guests danced down the street as the jazz band played. My husband captured this photo, and it's one of my favorites he's ever taken. I love the way the bride is looking at the groom, and how his feet are caught in mid-step. I only wish I knew the couple so I could send them a copy.
The street artists are always quirky, innovative and fun. This guy had an old manual typewriter and for a fee, would write a poem for you. I didn't get to talk to him much because he was in mid-verse for a man who was standing to the side, describing his sweet wife. At least, I assumed it was his wife. Yeah, it was his true love sweetheart, wife. What a great guy!
The incredible dinning room table above, as well as the patina etched courtyard  teal window, are all part of a fabulous antiques shop we found on Chartres Street. Like so many other French Quarter businesses,
Lucullus Antiques is housed in a centuries old building and from the exterior, you can't really tell what treasures lie beyond the front door. But what a fabulous treat we found! The copper kitchen mold collection is the most intriguing I've ever seen, and the beautiful kitchen and dining items keep going on, all the way to the quaint outdoor courtyard, where there are separate offices for their design team. Kerry, who was with Lucullus, was incredibly nice and showed us all around. He said many people use their courtyard for photo sessions because the lighting is magical.
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Sure enough, I got a great photo of grumpy teenager, but he won't let me show it to you. (Of course he thought the one of him further down this page, acting like a nut, was just fine!).
Another great photo on Royal Street of our favorite art director of the
Galerie Rue Royal. I think this photo is almost timeless. The woman's shoes are the only clue that this isn't a scene from forty or fifty years ago.
Moving on to other shops, the top left photo shows the men's summer seersucker on the sale rack at
Muse. Now's the time to get a good deal for next Easter! Top right, how about a fleur de lis waffle? Bottom right, I'm taking a photo of a house, and my teen -kid is mimicking me. He did this all  . . . day . . .  long. How do I even survive? (prayer). (wine). (to each his own).  We also spied a sweet looking '59 Cadillac Coupe deVille. Boys like that sort of thing, so we stared at it a very long time.
On the excellent advice of my good blogging friend Ron, from
Uptown Acorn, we stopped for lunch at Superior Seafood, which is on the St. Charles Street Car line. The food was fabulous, and featured so many New Orleans traditional dishes, it took forever to decide.
There were so many delicious choices, we finally decided on a few "Angels on Horseback Po' Boys" which are stuffed and bacon-wrapped oysters which are then deep fried. Stuffed shrimp with fresh green beans and potatoes, red beans and rice, crab bisque, and then  . . . we passed on dessert to save room for beignets later in the day.
This is a darling home we saw in the State Street area.
My parents and I lived just outside of New Orleans when I was only 2-3 years old, but I promise you, I have vivid memories of visiting the French Quarter and our house there. When my Mother didn't believe I remembered that time, I drew her a floor plan of the house where we lived to prove it. Which leads me to this . . . once you visit New Orleans, It will stay with you forever. This is a city that's always the same and yet full of new surprises every day.
