TRAVELOGUE

42 ACCENT on Tampa Bay

LouisianaCajun, Creole, and Loads of

Southern HospitalityBy Melissa Wolcott and Al Martino

“Pssst! Wanna buy some swampland?—It’s a really good deal!”That question would send you scur-rying away today, but two hundredyears ago, one of our illustriousforefathers (Jefferson) said “Yes,”and it turned out to be the best realestate deal in history. That would be,of course, the Louisiana Purchase. Inaddition to said swamp land, theU.S. also acquired the eventualstates of Louisiana, Arkansas,Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,Minnesota, Missouri, Montana,Nebraska, (part of) New Mexico,North Dakota, Oklahoma, SouthDakota, (part of) Texas, andWyoming—all for $15 million(about 4¢ an acre), which morethan doubled the size of the exist-ing United States.

We had the pleasure recently ofattending the closing ceremoniesfor Louisiana’s BicentennialCelebration at Jackson Square,New Orleans. They held a wonder-ful reenactment with hundreds ofparticipants in full period costumeoutside the Cabildo building where

the actualPurchase agree-ment was originally signedin 1803. Via large screenTVs positioned outside thebuilding, ceremonyattendees watched thesigning in the room whereit originally took place. Itwas quite well done, andthe actors took their roles

seriously. The fellow playing Napoleon’senvoy looked suspiciously like Napoleonhimself—apparently he wasn’t going to lethis uncanny resemblance to the dictator goby unobserved.

When the celebration wound down, wechecked into the venerable Fairmont Hotel,

located just outside the FrenchQuarter, which only gets betterwith age. Built in 1893 as theGrunewald, it became theRoosevelt in 1923, and finally theFairmont in 1999. She was alwaysa fine hotel, visited by royalty,heads of state, and movie stars.Our suite was lovely and comfort-able, and the hotel staff attentive.

The Fairmont is famous for itslobby Christmas decorations, andwe were fortunate to be there dur-

ing the season. It is a truly breathtakingexperience to enter the fairyland of angelhair, glittering trees and ornaments. Folksdrive in from all over just to walk throughthe block-long lobby. And, of course, whilethere, they stop in at the hotel’s Sazerac Bar,which oddly enough, is where the famousSazerac cocktail was first created. Speakingof cocktails, quite a few spots in NewOrleans lay claim to being where the “cock–tail” was invented, so the jury’s still out onthat one.

The Fairmont houses a famous supperclub called the Blue Room, which back inthe 30s-60s presented the likes of GlenMiller, Sophie Tucker, Frank Sinatra, TonyBennett, Cher, and Tina Turner, all of whichwere broadcast across the nation from aradio station right in the hotel. Although nolonger used for broadcasting, the room stillretains it’s nostalgic charm.

While in New Orleans, we decided toexperience some of it’s more well-knownrestaurants in the French Quarter—whichwould be Arnaud’s, Muriel’s, New OrleansGrill and Brennan’s.

Although Brennan’s is known for its finedining, it is most famous for breakfast, as in“Brennan’s For Breakfast”, which is a long-standing New Orleans tradition. Indeed,when westopped in forbreakfast, theplace waspacked, withmany of thedignitariesfor thePurchasecelebrationalso in atten-dance. I don’tbelieve youwill ever see

A waiter pre-pares Brennan’sfamous BananasFoster.

A waiter pre-pares Brennan’sfamous BananasFoster.

The Louisiana Purchase reenactment.The Louisiana Purchase reenactment.

The Fairmont Hotel’s beautiful Christmasdecorations.The Fairmont Hotel’s beautiful Christmasdecorations.

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a menu with a more varied egg-style choiceon it, which makes it difficult to choose.Brennan’s also lays claim to creating thefirst “Banana’s Foster”, so we had to havesome. Needless to say, we were extremelypleased with our breakfast and with the res-taurant’s service. A terrific book “BreakfastAt Brennan’s and Dinner Too” is availableon the restaurant’s website, and it containsover 230 Brennan’s recipes as well as theinteresting history of the restaurant.

We both agree that the Steak au Poivrethat we had at Arnaud’s was either the bestwe’d ever had, or the best in a very longtime. Dinner at this well-know eatery wassheer delight. A fine jazz trio entertainedwhile we dined in one of the very atmos-pheric rooms. The 1918 restaurant is a laby-rinth of dining rooms of varying sizes,which were added on through the years asthe restaurant expanded. As we explored thebuilding we discovered wonderful old pho-tos and a Mardi Gras museum.

Muriel’s Jackson Square Restaurant is adefinite must-visit spot while in the FrenchQuarter. Therestaurant,although onlybeing in busi-ness asMuriel’s since2001, can traceit’s building’sland roots backto 1750, whenit was one ofthe first grandhouses in NewOrleans. Thecurrent facadehas been reno-vated to look as it was in the late 1800s.While doing the renovations, they cameacross the charred walls and beams from thedevastating French Quarter fire of 1788. Thebuilding housed a variety of businesses dur-ing the years that led up to its being a restau-rant (1974), including the Royal Club—aplace for drinking and carousing in the late1800s. There are several lounging roomsupstairs decorated in what looks likeToulouse-Lautrec brothel style with red bro-cade walls and loads of over-stuffed sofasand pillows—just for effect these days, how-ever! The restaurant’s cuisine is a contempo-rary Creole, with some interesting tastesthrown in. A great spot in the restaurant toenjoy your meal is on the balcony overlook-ing Jackson Square—one of the best viewsin the Quarter.

Another treat during the Christmas seasonis the traditional Reveillon Dinner, an oldCreole custom from the mid-1800s of fami-lies gathering, sharing and giving thanks onChristmas Eve, involving an elaborate andlong lasting meal. Today’s Reveillon is cele-brated nightly during the season at manyNew Orleans restaurants. We had a

Reveillon dinner in the elegant New OrleansGrill, located in the Windsor Court Hotel.Surrounded by fine art in a room reminis-cent of 17th century England, we enjoyed afabulous French/Creole dinner beginningwith Shellfish Bisque with Tarragon Cream,then Pumpkin Veloute, on to Rack of Lamb,and finished off with a Caramel Souffle.Merveilleux!

And one cannot visit the French Quarterwith having a beignet and cafe au lait at theoriginal Cafe du Monde. You have neverreally ever had a beignet (a donut withoutthe hole, covered with confectioner’s sugar)until you’ve had one (or two, or three) atthis open air coffee shop (est. 1862). Noneed for a menu, as beignets, coffee, andhot chocolate are all you can order there, 24hours a day, 7 days a week (exceptChristmas). It’s a great way to begin or endyour French Quarter day.

Menus are full of “Cajun” and “Creole”cuisines, so we investigated the origin anddifference of the two. A primer on the sub-ject: A Creole is a descendant of an earlyFrench or Spanish colonist born in the NewWorld, but has become homogenized todefine “an attitude toward life”, so all NewOrleanians are Creoles. Cajuns, on the otherhand, are always French in descent, and arerustic, country folk, living along the bayousand swamps—isolated, clannish, and speaktheir own form of French. The French hasslowly been merged with English to pro-duce their current distinctive accent. Theyhave retained their particular foods andmusic. Cajun and Creole food both relyheavily on herbs and spices, with Cajunbeing more hot and spicy. For a little ofboth, you can always buy Zatarains’ prod-ucts and make your own taste treats.Louisiana is, after all, the homeland ofZatarains, known for their red beans andrice, and jambalaya.

With the city gearing up for Mardi Gras,we thought a visit to Blaine Kern’s MardiGras World would be interesting, and so itwas! This is where just about every major

float for every major parade in the countryis created. A tour takes you past massivefloats and figures of people and animals andeven some familiar props (they do a lot ofwork for Disney World, Universal Studios,and Tampa’s Gasparilla). The warehouse is

Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras MuseumBlaine Kern’s Mardi Gras Museum

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44 ACCENT on Tampa Bay

TRAVELOGUE Cont inued

huge, as you would assume it would have tobe, and artists are busily creating new piecesfor upcoming events. This has been a familyowned operation since 1947.

On one cool evening we visited the NewOrleans City Park, which was transformedover the holidays into an enchanting won-derland called “Celebration In The Oaks,” anannual event. Christmas trees—too many tocount—were decorated by different schools,and the park glowed with thousands of twin-kling lights. A fairy tale theme park andCarousel Gardens featured live seasonalentertainment, and a hot chocolate whilestrolling through the park completed the per-fect evening.

The next day we drove an hour west of bus-tling New Orleans and stepped back in timeat the San Fransisco Plantation in Garyville.The name is not too glamorous as it is actu-ally a French derivative of “sans fruscins”meaning “without a penny in my pocket.”The home, however, is glamorous. Built in1856, The open-suite Creole style home hada very successful sugar cane business, andhas been completely restored with authenticfurnishings and elaborate ceiling murals.Also on the property is an original schoolhouse and slave quarters. Our docent,Catherine Stephens, made the home’s his-tory come alive for us with her charm andmellifluous voice.

“The Big Easy” is a great city of hospital-ity and character, but we wanted to find outmore about some of the Louisiana parishes(counties) drivable from the city, so we setout for the Northshore, and St. TammanyParish. To get there you drive over LakePonchartrain via the longest bridge overwater in the world, at 24 miles. The lake isthe largest inland lake (after the GreatLakes), but very shallow at 10-12 feet deep.It opens into the Gulf of Mexico, and ishome to our old friend, the manatee.

In the 1800s, folks used to cross the lakeby steamer to vacation on the Northshore,and experience the artesian waters at AbitaSprings. Today the waters are still being

sought after for their purity, and as the mainingredient in the very popular Abita Beer.We stopped by the Abita Brew Pub for lunchand a “beer sampling”. You may be familiarwith Abita Beer as the choice of EmerilLagasse in all his cooking. In fact, he has itflown in to him wherever he is working. Wesampled about 5 different types of beer anddecided the “Purple Haze” suited our pal-ates. This particular beer is a wheat beerwith fresh raspberries added during secon-dary fermentation. Abita Beer uses onlymalted barley (no rice or corn, or cheap wayto get alcohol). Their draft beer takes 45-60days to make, and bottled beer takes 5months. We learned that beer is bettercanned than bottled, although the public per-ception is the opposite. Light is the enemyof beer, and the bottles still let some light in.(Brown is better than green, and clear glassis really bad.) Abita beer is now found in 33states, Florida being one of them.

Right down the street from Abita Beer isthe most unusual museum we’ve ever seen—and I wageryou have everseen—calledthe UCMMuseum (as inYou-See-Em).Housed in anassemblage ofbuildingsincluding avintage serv-ice station, a90 year oldCreole cot-tage, and the“House of Shards,” the collection consists ofthousands of found objects and homemadeinventions, some of which are animated andare hands-on fun. Several items in theexhibit look like tabloid creatures - like the24 foot “Bassigator”—a combination ofgiant bass and alligator. This place takeseccentricity to the max.

Louisiana is known for its swamps, so aswamp tour was definitely in order. Dr.Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Tours inSlidell, take you on a guided tour throughthe pristine Honey Island Swamp, one of theleast explored in America. During the 1800s,it was a place of refuge for pirates. There areghost stories, tales of hidden treasure yet tobe found, AND Swamp Thing (or “Ro-ogeroo”) sightings! The tour uses motorizedboats rather than airboats (which are out-lawed). The Cyprus trees hung with Spanishmoss were beautiful as we glided alonglooking out for gators. Cyprus trees growabout one foot in diameter per century, sowe saw quite a few really ancient ones. Itwas pretty cold that day, and we didn’t seeany gators, but heard that they really enjoythe marshmallows the guides toss out to

them.Alligatorsdon’t eatbetween firstfrost andMarch inLouisiana asthey mostlyhibernate then. Back at the gift shop snackbar, we tasted our first ever alligator-hot dogand a delicious homemade jambalaya. Wegot a kick out of the giant pig outside theshop, with the word “PET” spray painted onher side so she won’t be accidentally shot byhunters while roaming about.

We decided to stay in a B&B off thebeaten path, and chose Little River Bluffs inFolsom, whichhas 60 acres ofwoods with pri-vate riverfrontcabins. Thecabins are allwood, spacious,fully outfitted,and with fire-places for cozyevenings. Ourhost, DavidCampbell, wasvery friendly and accommodating—we evenfound his homemade bread waiting for us inthe cabin. If solitude, nature walks and a lit-tle fishing are what you like, this is yourplace.

There are several such B&Bs in the areathat are just charming. One that stands out isthe Wood’s Hole Inn in Covington. The rus-tic inn provide suites with private entrancesand all are outfitted with comfortableantiques. One of the more interesting cabinswas built in the 1850s to house folks withyellow fever to isolate them from others.Owners Sam and Marsha Smalley are funand hospitable.

Another Covington B&B of interest isAnnadele’s Plantation and Restaurant. Set ina restored 19th century plantation home on

the banks of the Bogue Falaya River, the res-taurant is very popular and the mostlyCreole menu is wonderful. There wasn’t anempty table in all five dining rooms whenwe were there. Even though there are fourantique filled rooms for overnight stays, thisproperty is primarily a restaurant with full

San Francisco PlantationSan Francisco Plantation

Little River Bluffs B&BLittle River Bluffs B&B

Annadele’s PlantationAnnadele’s Plantation

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ACCENT on Tampa Bay 45

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banquet facilities, and features a new kitchenaddition. The property expansion and excel-lent menu is the creation of longtime localfavorite chef, Pat Gallagher.

Covington’s downtown is truly charming,and the whole town is on the historic regis-ter. With a population of only 8,550, theaffluent town is known for its arts commu-nity and galleries. The restaurants are out-standing, as all are owner/operated, and onlyone fast food restaurant can be found intown. The 1927 Camelia House B&B is justdelightful with only one suite available forguests at the present time, and a short walkto the galleries and restaurants.

The relatively new and ambitiousPonchartrain Vineyards just north ofCovington has created wine specifically tocomplement the unique Louisiana cuisine. Init’s short history, it has racked up quite a fewnational awards. We visited the VineyardsOld World Tasting Room, and sampled someof the various different blends, and wit-nessed part of the process that goes intomaking the wines. Some of the finer restau-rants we ate in during our trip servedPonchartrain wine.

Each year in October, the Wooden BoatFestival takes place in Madisonville. This isthe biggest such event in the South, with 120boats participating inthe most recent one.Madisonville is alsohome to the LakePonchartrainMaritime Museum,which takes youthrough the area’sinteresting maritimehistory. They alsohave a diorama ofLouisiana Bayou life in the early 1800s. Awonderful service the museum provides istheir boat building classes. In about 12weeks, and for about $1,200 you can buildyour own working skiff out of marine ply-wood and Spanish cedar. We saw quite a fewboats as works-in-progress.

Mandeville is another Old South townlocated on the lake, and we experienced twosuper restaurants there, Alex Patout’s andShady Brady. On our Louisiana journey, wefound restaurant’s histories and atmospheres

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Featuring TheLargest BalloonIn The Southeast

Abita Beer - 21084 Hwy. 36, Abita Springs,LA 70420; 800-737-2311;www.abita.com

Alex Patout’s - 2025 Lakeshore Dr.,Mandeville, LA 70448; 985-626-8500;www.patout.com/

Annadele’s Plantation Restaurant andB&B - 71495 Chestnut St., Covington, LA70433; 985-809-7669;www.annadelesplantation.com

Arnaud’s - 813 Rue Bienville, New Orleans,LA 70112; 504-523-5433;www.arnauds.com

Brennan’s Restaurant - 417 Royal St., NewOrleans, LA 70130; 504-525-9711;www.brennansneworleans.com

Cafe Du Monde - 813 Decatur St., NewOrleans, LA 70116; 504-587-0833;www.cafedumonde.com

Cajun Pride Swamp Tours - Laplace, LA70069; 800-467-0758;www.cajunprideswamptours.com

Camellia House B&B - 426 E Rutland St.,Covington, LA 70433; 985-893-2442

Fairmont Hotel - 123 Baronne St., NewOrleans, LA 70112; 504-529-7111;www.fairmont.com/neworleans

German American Cultural Center - 519Huey P. Long Ave., Gretna, LA 70054;504-363-4202; www.gacc-nola.com

Gretna Visitor Center - Huey P. Long Ave.,Gretna, LA 70054; 504-363-1580;www.gretnala.com

Honey Island Swamp Tours - c/o Dr. PaulWagner, 106 Holly Ridge Dr., Slidell, LA70461; www.honeyislandswamp.com

Lake Pontchartrain Basin MaritimeMuseum - 133 Mabel Dr., Madisonville,LA 70447 -www.lpbmaritimemuseum.org

Little River Bluffs - 11030 Garden Lane,Folsom. LA 70437; 985-796-5257;www.littleriverbluffs.com

Mardi Gras World - 233 Newton St., NewOrleans, LA 70114; 504-361-7821;www.mardigrasworld.com

Muriels Jackson Square - 80 Chartres St.,New Orleans, LA 70116; 504-568-1885;www.muriels.com/

New Orleans City Park - 1 Palm Dr., NewOrleans, LA 70124; 504-483-9415;www.neworleanscitypark.com

Pontchartrain Vineyards - 81250 OldMilitary Rd., Bush, LA 70431; 985-892-9742; www.pontchartrainvineyards.com

San Francisco Plantation House - 2646River Rd., Garyville, LA 70051; 985-535-2341; www.sanfranciscoplantation.org

Shady Brady’s - 301 Lafitte St., Mandeville,LA 70448; 985-727-5580

UCM Museum - 22275 Hwy. 36, AbitaSprings, LA 70420; 888-211-5731;www.ucmmuseum.com

Windsor Court Hotel - 300 Gravier St., NewOrleans, LA 70130;www.windsorcourthotel.com

Woods Hole Inn B&B - 78253 Woods HoleLane, Folsom, LA 70437; 985-796-9077;www.woodsholeinn.com

If You Go...

46 ACCENT on Tampa Bay

to be as interesting as the menus.Alex Patout’s was the first house in

Mandeville, built in the 1830s. The samefamily has owned it since then (five genera-tions). It went through many incarnations init’s history, some of which were a home,brothel, casino and restaurant. Louisiana’spopular but controversial Governor Huey P.Long was known to frequent the place dur-ing it’s heyday. They claim our current cardgame of poker originated there. It may havebeen, since it was definitely played on theMississippi steamboats in the 1800s.

Shady Brady, which is just a few blocksfrom Alex Patout’s, has a Plain-Jane facade,but the food is excellent. We count it as oneof our best dining experiences on our trip.The menu is pure Louisiana, beginning withFried Po-Boys, Fried Pickles, Sugar CanePork, and on to Gumbo, and Chicken FriedChicken served with cabbage and black-eyed peas. Before this trip, this menu maynot have appealed to our more cosmopolitantaste, but the food was homemade with thebest ingredients, and we became immediateconverts.

In Jefferson Parish, Historic Gretna isfiercely proud of its German roots. Settled in1836, it began with a German plantationowner who brought fellow Germans over towork his farm because it was cheaper thanslaves. The German people moved there forfreedom of religion, and brought with themtheir knowledge of making beer and growingvegetables. The German-American CulturalCenter has an exhibit that tells the townstory from 1720 to today. Gretna has done alot to preserve some of their 1800s homes, a1906 depot, and the David Crockett FireHouse, founded in 1841 (the oldest continu-ously active volunteer fire company in theU.S.) Some of the thanks for that wouldprobably go to The Gretna Office ofTourism’s, Virgie Ott, a little powerhouse ofa lady who does a super job for her town.

Part of the museum area is a recreatedBlacksmith Shop, which originally was usedfor weddings in addition to its normal pur-pose. Weddings you say? Yes. Gretna wasnamed after Gretna Green, Scotland, whichis world famous for its runaway marriagesthat began in 1754 when England declaredthat couples under twenty one years oldcould not get married without the consent oftheir parents. Scotland had no such law, soEnglish couples would flee across the borderinto Scotland with their parents in hot pur-suit, and the first village they came to wasGretna Green, and the first building was theBlacksmith Shop, so the blacksmith wouldmarry the couple. Gretna, Louisiana becamethe same refuge for couples from NewOrleans because their rules were muchlooser. Today couples can get married inGretna’s Blacksmith Shop, and everyValentine’s Day, whoever wants to reaffirm

their vows can do so. We had the pleasure ofwitnessing the reaffirmation of Virgie andEd Ott’s vows by Father Frank Carabello.

A great way to tour New Orleans and theParishes is to take the Cajun Pride Tourswhich hits most of the high points, andthrows in some fun along the way. Theyhave a variety of choices depending on yourinterests, from refined (Plantations) to funky(Haunted Swamp Tour). We took theFestival of the Bonfire Tour in Gramercy (St.James Parish), available only duringChristmas holidays. Our tour host (andowner) Chris Smith, was very informative,jolly and quick witted, so a good time washad by all.

The “Lighting of the Bonfires” is a tradi-tion dating back to the 1880s. Over 100 bon-fire structures are built in the month preced-ing Christmas along the Mississippi Riverby families and the community. Some sayit’s to light the way for Papa Noel, but theorigin’s history is a bit muddy. On ChristmasEve, they are lit off and make a magnificent

sight, while up to 50 thousandpeople stroll along the

levees and eat goodCajun food. The

structures

range from a simple teepee shape to a com-plicated design. The Gramercy FireDepartment always makes an elaboratestructure, and this year they designed a firetruck complete with a dalmatian in thedriver’s seat!

“Southern Hospitality” must have origi-nated in Louisiana, since virtually every per-son we came in contact with in or out of thecity were warm, friendly and helpful, andwe look forward to a return visit to exploreanother part of Louisiana. K

Ed and Virgie Ott renew their vows over theblacksmith anvil with Father Frank Carabello.Ed and Virgie Ott renew their vows over theblacksmith anvil with Father Frank Carabello.

A wooden fire truck ready to go up in flames atthe Christmas bonfires.A wooden fire truck ready to go up in flames atthe Christmas bonfires.

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