bitty

Thursday we tried a different breakfast place, on the same intersection as 2 Phat Vegans and Italian Barrell, Envie Espresso Bar and Cafe - delish! They had flavored coffee, so I got that instead of a latte, and it was pretty good (southern pecan, of course). We each got omelettes to our liking, and I had mine with a biscuit. We brought leftovers home, and then Dave wanted to rest a bit more so I took off on another walking adventure. This time I decided to head over to wander to and through the CBD.

As I meandered in that direction, I tried to go on different streets than usual, and I passed by some seemlingly random art on the outside of a building, in a little alcove. I got to the corner and it turns out this was a gallery, and I absolutely loved one of the featured artists, but the place was still closed at 11:30 AM! Weird, but whatever; I took pictures including one of the street corner with the names on the ground so I could return later.

I passed houses with their Christmas displays, one with what seemed to be a Halloween display gone too long (skeletons relaxing in a multi-level fountain in their front yard), the Immaculate Conception Church (Jesuit) with onion domes and stained glass windows, and encountered LOTS of murals. I was out for about 90 minutes, and in that time I took pictures of 9 large murals or other art. As I wound my way around, I looked up and down streets for interesting architecture or stores, and I spied a doughnut shop! Of course I had to check it out, and holy God it was worth it! Hurts Donut was amazeballs. Their apple fritter was as big as my head; I would get one as a birthday cake to share with 10 people. #DiabeticComa for sure. My mouth waters and my stomach hurts just looking at these insane creations. After much oohing and aahing, I try to contact Dave to ask what he might like, but he's not answering, so I take a chance on something I know I'd love and something chocolate, and start heading back to the hotel. I feel like I've now bought all the rest of dessert we could possibly eat this week. (This was almost true; it took us 3 days to not quite finish these two donuts.)

I had a physical map with me, because I enjoy those, so as I was turning around at this area and checking my whereabouts, I looked left, then right, and another mural slapped my eyeballs in the opposite direction from where I was heading. I said "Oh well, gotta go get that picture" and took the time. Seriously, this city. Meandering with purposes, got back to the hotel, and we had lunch of leftovers before heading out to meet Brian at the Historic New Oreans Collection, a museum and research institution. We let the front desk know we were looking for Brian; he was busy so he said to go on in and he'd find us. It's not a super large space, so we made our way to the top floor. First we got to hear the beautiful organ that was built in to the building, followed by entering the exhibit on the civil rights activism in New Orleans called "The Trails They Blazed." I really appreciated the way this exhibit was put together: there were 7 different topics, and each area asked what was the issue, who took action, what happened, and maybe also where are we now on that issue? I can't recall at the moment. The one that hit me the most was probably on desegregating the schools, though after that they all were hitting me harder. The scope of injustice, maybe, just got to be overwhelming. The fact that not only did all of this occur throughout American history, but that there are both new and old injustices still happening, that still require civil activism... One interactive part had people put little round stickers on a plexiglass with a survey on it, asking questions like "Who would you go to for help," "Who would you ask for help," "Who would take you in," and "Who would give you a meal," and your options were family, friends, neighbors, or community. It looked like not enough people were answering neighbors or community; this would also depend on who lived close enough to family or friends for certain needs to be met.

When Brian found us, we chatted about the exhibit, the museum, and we finished touring through it as he finished his work. As the museum closed, we walked a bit and decided to have a drink before dinner. We went to a place with a nice atrium, but it was a bit too cold for chatting out there so we sat inside, sipped our drinks, and had a lovely visit with an interesting guy. I hope he and Ilan continue to keep in touch, and I'd recommend his museum and his bike tour business - Brian knows his stuff. (Link to be added eventually, alas.)

Dinner was finally at Mona Lisa - a restaurant so beloved that when a new owner of the building tried to close it, the community took action (see museum above), throwing a Mona Lisa-themed party in front of the building, and applied enough pressure to keep it in place! The maitre d' was fantastically sarcastic, the space was cozy and decorated entirely with variously illustrated Mona Lisas, and the lasagna was soooooo goooooood. It's been a long time since I've had lasagna, and this one was amazing. I'm so glad tomatoes aren't currently destroying my hands/causing excema.

Thursday evening: took a walk around the neighborhood, headed in for watching shows and winding down. The noise level in the evenings was starting to increase, coming both from our balcony doors and through the wall (unfortunately), but it wasn't enough to stop us from sleeping or anything else. We determined that walking once along Bourbon Street was enough for us; that is not our scene.