Day #2 -- the wedding of the decade!

This morning we awoke at 10:00am!!  We had some coffee in our room, got ready for the day, and decided to walk to Cafe du Monde, a famous coffee and beignet place.  It was already pretty steamy out -- our first taste of New Orleans on a day late in May.  Our walk took us down Royal Street in the French Quarter.

We went into some shops as we strolled.  We were in the art/antiques section of the city.  And we came upon a cat viewing some art as well...

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We arrived at Cafe du Monde at about 11:40 and found a table with two other women, one of whom lived in the area and the other from Colorado.  The place was packed, and we sat there for at least 10 minutes without being waited on, so we decided to leave because we had lunch reservations at 1PM and needed to stop back at the hotel before lunch.  But we took a picture next to the place!

 On our way back to the hotel, we saw this sign describing a short history of the city.

We climbed the steps on the sea wall to view the mighty Mississippi. A huge ship was passing by - awesome.

 As we turned off Decatur to go up a side street to get back to Royal Street, what should we pass but the New Orleans School of Cooking!  I was able to get some Joe's Stuff, a staple of my famous oven-fried chicken, right from the source!

After a brief pit stop at the hotel, it was on to Herbsaint, a restaurant highly recommended by Swanna and Christian, the couple to be married this evening.

What a fabulous place!  The service was great -- friendly and efficient.  There were definitely some power lunches going on; the restaurant was in what looked like a financial area.  We chose carefully - I had my very first Pimm's Cup -- quite refreshing!

Bob chose a wine flight - 3 northern Italian wines.

Here is the list of wines: Bob looks a little scary, I must say!

For our appetizers, I chose cornmeal fried oysters - incredibly succulent with a sauce that had a bit of a kick.

Bob had pork testa -- kind of a pork pate on toast.  Both appetizers were quite delicious.

Our entree choices were the yin and yang of lunch.  Bob had crispy GOAT (he said it tasted like lamb, but it really didn't -- it tasted like chicken -- just kidding -- it tasted like goat!!!).

And I had a spicy chicken dish that tasted like -- chicken. Go figure.  So many interesting flavors in the rub and broth!

View of the restaurant from the street.

We skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel, where we found some friends at -- what a surprise -- the bar!!  This is New Orleans, after all, where it's commonplace to see people on the street carrying various open containers of alcohol -- beer, hurricanes, daiquiris, etc. I chose a hurricane to enjoy while revolving on the carousel.  It truly is a carousel -- the bartenders have to climb over the bar to get out because there's no door through....

While sitting there, who should arrive but Amanda!  We caught up some more (we'd chatted the evening before).

 There were also other people sitting near the bar that we recognized from the previous evening.  I introduced myself to them, and, again, when I mentioned Sam's name, they all knew who I was.

While chatting with them, I discovered that many women were wearing fascinators just for fun to the wedding.  So this sent me on a mission (while Bob stayed behind and chatted with Amanda and his new friends) to find a fascinator.  I can't believe that I ACTUALLY TRIED ONE ON IN CANADA but decided not to buy it!!! I tried a few shops near the hotel -- no luck.  I went further afield, going all the way back to Cafe du Monde just as the skies absolutely OPENED UP.  I got totally drenched before I decided to buy one of the plastic bags that has a hood and armholes - my sandals were sopping wet.  BUT...I found something close to a fascinator!! Yay!! I got back to the hotel just in time to take a shower and get ready for the wedding, which was at 6:30.  

Swanna had been sick all day -- she claimed food poisoning, but it was probably stress and lack of sleep.  And then all that rain.  But by the time we were dressed and ready to go, the sun was out and the streets were almost totally dry.  Amazing.  We ran into a bunch of people walking to the Pharmacy Museum, the site of the wedding, and we sat with Sarah and Amanda, who looked fabulous.

And the skies stayed blue, and there was a lovely breeze...perfect.

Looking up from my seat at the wedding

Of course, Swanna was about 10 minutes late, but arrived looking radiant!

 Exchanging vows.

The wedding was so sweet - they exchanged lovely vows and even sang together - and we sang the chorus!! Then an amazing vocalist sang Ave Maria and a few other songs as well.

We toasted with champagne after the ceremony.  Gitty had told me that there was a memory table set up with friends and family who had passed away -- and Sam and Rhiannon's picture was on that table.  So sweet and lovely and moving.

Then it was time to get ready for the second line, a New Orleans tradition!  The bride and groom basically lead a parade of the guests, who have hankies in one hand and drinks in the other (we had Abita beer), through the French Quarter and to the reception, accompanied by a New Orleans band.  What an absolute hoot!!! We had people throwing beads down just like at Mardi Gras, and the police kept the area clear of traffic.  Wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcD1HhcAUI&feature=youtu.be

And then -- my iphone camera was full.... So I took ONE picture at the reception.  But I was too busy chatting, eating, drinking, and dancing!!!!

I did get one picture of the two of them cutting the cake. 

After a full day, we were exhausted by about 10PM, so we said our good-byes and walked back to the hotel.