At the completion of the "Big Trip" there were eight States we had never visited. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,Colorado,Texas, new Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska
In November we joined friends Rena and Mitch and flew to New Orleans before flying to Kansas City for a wedding. In New Orleans we stayed in the French Quarter from where we visited the sites and ate in area restaurant's.
As you can see New Orleans has a Jewish Community.
We didn't eat at Creole Kosher but we did go to Mother's for PoBoys a local specialty with roast beef and gravy. We also tried gumbo and jambalaya along with bread pudding for dessert. The best bread pudding was at the Redfish Grill. We had great tasting fish and double chocolate bread pudding. Commander's Palace a famous area restaurant screwed up my order and the food was so so. Peristyle was French which normally turns me off but the four of us made a meal of appetizers and found it very enjoyable. Nola screwed up Mitch's order and the food wasn't spectacular. I guess Emeril should stick to TV.
Other evidence of a Jewish Community was the interesting and unique memorial to the Six Million Holocaust victims (a work in progress) on the river front in City Park.
In designing the Memorial, Agam – who resides in Jerusalem - created nine brightly colored, multi-faced aluminum panels that stand 11 1⁄2 feet high. The art is in constant motion, changing as the viewer moves around the Memorial. Images come together and then dissolve on the panel surfaces. A Star of David appears and is then disintegrated by the Holocaust; seven cubes -- representing the six million Jewish victims and the 1 million others who perished -- break apart. Following this is the image of the rainbow of liberation at the end of the war. In the end, the Star of David reappears, a sign of strength and determination
We took a ride on a riverboat which was disappointing. I always go on these riverboats expecting to be transported back in time and see interesting sites along the riverbank .So far I have been disappointed. Maybe next time will be magic.
We went to the Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World where the floats are made. We saw floats being made and floats waiting for the next Mardi Gras and we dressed in costume for a photo op.
We also visited a plantation and learned how the Plantation owners lived. Despite their slaves life was tough. Unfortunately we weren't able to see the whole milieu with the degradation and cruelty of slavery but they certainly knew how to plant trees.
The Kansas City wedding actually Overland Park next door was a super finish to the week. The night before the wedding our friends Barbara and Joel Rothstein the groom's parents hosted all the out of towner's and some locals for dinner at the Negro Leagues Baseball and American Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine. The meal of ribs was unreal and the bride and groom are a lovely couple. Unfortunately we really didn't get enough time to do justice to both museums, maybe some other time.
In December we finally went to the Culinary Institute and ate at the Italian restaurant, Caterina De Medici an open kitchen restaurant which rates a 25 for food in Zagat's restaurant guide. We elected to sit near the open kitchen to watch the students preparing meals. The meal was excellent and so was the watching. Then we went to Aruba for two weeks and began working on our tans. On January 3,2004 we took the trailer out of storage and headed south.