New Orleans again

We are back in New Orleans! We have been here a few times and it's always the food that brings us back. This time we are trying a different RV park. We are at "Three Oaks and A Pine".  So far it seems like a good home base to visit The Big Easy.

Our first stop was Willie Mae's Scotch House in Treme. According to Food Network, they make the best fried chicken in the world. Got to try that! The neighborhood was a bit scary, but Crown Candy's neighborhood is about the same and I never pass up the chance to go there. So we went in and ordered fried chicken, with mac-and-cheese for me and butter beans for Randy. 

We agreed it is not really the best fried chicken in the world - at this point, Castelli's (aka Moonlight) gets our vote for that. But this is really, really good. There is something special about the crust - it's deeply fried but somehow light and airy. It's great fried chicken but $30 for 2 chicken dinners seems a bit much.

To walk of some of that, we drove across the bridge, parked the jeep, and started walking downtown. I love the balconies here - this lacy-looking ironwork is one of the things New Orleans does best.

There were a lot of street performers out today. Some of them were excellent, like this quartet. The little blue sign in front says "It's an African Bass Harp" - I guess they get asked that a lot. 

Further down the spectrum were "performers" who don't have any skill, just the nerve to act silly in front of people. 

And at the bottom of the spectrum were the beggars with dogs. If they can't take care of themselves, how can they properly care for pets? 

But I can't change the world. I can, however, have beignets at Cafe du Monde. Love them, but they seem to be a little smaller than I remember, and maybe a little doughier. I may have to try them again, just to be sure.

We continued our walk through the city. Our fondness for New Orleans is not because it's a perfect city; it's not. It's because, in addition to the food, it has an entertaining level of oddness. Mules still pull tourist carts, beads are still draped everywhere, Central Market is still too expensive, and Bourbon street is still a neon-lit spectacle.

And, of course, hustlers still work the streets. Someone came up to Randy and tried the old "I bet I can tell you where you got your shoes" scam; I thought that went out years ago! 

We weren't hungry enough for dinner, but we did find a couple of restaurants we will visit later. Then we went back to the RV for laundry and an early night.