It took us a little longer than we might have liked to get out of our hotel room. The drive from the night before was a bit too long, and the breakfast in bed was a bit too delicious. The Omni Royal does not skimp on the bacon. Once we were able to get out of our hotel, we made our way down to Jackson Square, and the French Market.
We didn't have too much time in the French Market. We booked a cemetery tour that morning, and it was a good walk from where we were. However, we did have time to make a quick stop for some sea food quesadillas. The place was called J's Sea Food Dock, and these quesadillas were amazing. Kaylea had some second thoughts about this place's adherence to health codes, but even she had to admit that it was some good sea food.
We were supposed to meet our tour guide at a church just outside the French Quarter. As soon as we got out of the French Quarter, it became obvious how big of a poverty problem New Orleans has. Our tour guide was late, leaving us standing outside of a church in a not-so-great part of town. It wasn't too long before she showed up. There were only 2 other people with us on the tour. She quickly gave us some stickers, informed us that there would be absolutely no ghost stories, and walked us to the cemetery.
The tour was fascinating. Among many others, we saw the tomb of Marie Laveau and Bernard de Marigny. He's the guy who brought craps to America. Our guide focused entirely on the historical aspects of the cemetery. There were tombs from the 1700's that were very well preserved. There were also tombs from the 1700's that were piles of rubble. We didn't take too many pictures, out of respect. But then she showed us Nick Cage's tomb, and we had to take pictures.
It's apparently the last piece of real estate he owns in Louisiana. He likes to come by and visit every once in while. The whole tour was really interesting, but it was muggy outside. We were hot, and we had just eaten a lot of sea food. After the tour was over, we raced back to the hotel for a nap.
That night we went to Desire Oyster bar for dinner. Kaylea had some baked oysters with garlic, and Aaron had some jambalaya pasta. Food here is delicious, and it's probably going to be a prominent theme in the next few blog posts. After dinner we went to the Preservation Hall to watch some live Jazz.
The outside of this place looked dilapidated. We probably would have avoided the building all together had there not been a huge line outside. While waiting in line, we met a couple from England. We ended up talking to them about our Euro trip. We tend to do that with just about anyone who will listen. Once we got inside, it was a small room with some chairs for the people who had reserved seating, and some pillows on the floor. People not in a chair or on a pillow had to stand. We were a little crammed, but we managed to make it on to the pillows. While adjusting, the British girl spilled her drink on Aaron's shoes. Once the band came out and started playing, nothing else mattered. The sound in that room was incredible, and these guys were clearly masters.
We don't pretend to know anything about jazz. Asking Google home to play jazz doesn't make us experts, but we could tell that was some good jazz. All in all, our first real night in New Orleans was a huge success.
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