Fall comes to nola & so do the tourists!

What a week of tours, tours & more tours!  Although I live Uptown, I definitely spent more of my time this week in the French Quarter.  Met some great people from all over the country & beyond.  Ya know, when I decided to become a tour guide, that decision was primarily based on my love for nola, history, architecture, art, food, music & sharing that passion with others.  My goal is always to give my tour guests the nola local’s perspective, because that’s what I want when I travel somewhere else.  However, I never really gave much thought to another wonderful perk of guiding tours, which is meeting so many people from so many places.  I’ve already had the pleasure of making friends from Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany, England, Brazil, & all over the States!  And, thanks to my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/nola.leah, I’ve been able to keep up with many of them long after their visits to nola have ended.  I’ve learned so much from them & made great connections for my future travels, which ain’t a bad perk, indeed.  Now, before each tour, instead of worrying about how many guests I’ll have in my group & what the weather’s like, I can’t wait to find out where all my guests are from. 

Fortunately, we’ve also had some amazing weather for my tours this week…other than Tuesday when it poured for 10 minutes, then cleared up, then poured again, & so on.  The rest of the week, it was crystal blue skies, sunny, breezy, & less humid (thank the Lord!).  I guided 3 tours in the French Quarter, 2 for the Friends of the Cabildo & 1 private tour w/a fantastic German couple.  The Kassners from Hamburg, were referred to me by their son, whom I’d met over the summer while we were both on a tour of Houmas House (which is a wonderful tour, BTW)…now that’s a small world, huh?!  I’m completely smitten with the Kassners & already consider them my extended family in Hamburg…can’t wait to visit! 

I also tagged along on the second official nola Tastebud tour yesterday afternoon, so that I can begin learning the ropes, before taking on Tastebud tours myself in December.  When we have our roast beef po’boys from Johnny’s, weather permitting (which is was), we picnic in Jackson Square.  Not only did the group get to enjoy their po’boys in the square, but they were also lucky enough to catch a wedding second line leaving St. Louis Cathedral (the oldest cathedral in North America).  The tour was a great success, we’ve already gotten 2 terrific reviews on TripAdvisor after the first tour last week!  Looking forward to reading the reviews from this week’s tour.

Now, I must run, hopping on the streetcar in about an hour to meet a friend of my sister’s & her boyfriend in Jackson Square to give them an afternoon tour of the French Quarter.  I’ve heard about my sister’s friend & old co-worker for years, so I feel as if I know her, but I’ve never met her.  My sister had emailed me weeks ago, just asking for some nola suggestions to pass on to her friend.  Of course, I took over from there!  And, we’ll be enjoying a cocktail together somewhere in the quarter after the tour…but, where shall we go?  Napoleon House for a Pimm’s Cup, French 75 at Arnaud’s restaurant for their signature cocktail, the Sazerac bar at the Roosevelt Hotel, Hermes bar at Antoine’s, or Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta Hotel for a little jazz to accompany our cocktails…choices, choices!  

I can taste it.

I started off my day on the streetcar headed to the French Quarter for FOC’s monthly tour guide meeting at the Cabildo.  On my way, I received an email from the founder & president of Tastebud Tours, he asked if I could meet for lunch sometime this week.  Well, I’ve got a full week, mostly with tours & of course, some other nola schmoozing events.  I wrote him & said I’d be available for lunch today after FOC’s meeting.  So, before I’d even reached the quarter, I had a business lunch scheduled. 

Each month at FOC’s tour guide meetings, we have a presentation from a local expert (professor, curator, author, etc.) on a particular subject.  Today, Christine Wiltz, author of “The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld”, spoke to our group.  Instead of retellings stories from her book, she focused on the writing of the book…& she had some wild, crazy & uniquely New Orleans stories of how she collected her research on the life of the city’s last Madam, Norma Wallace.  The husband of the only prostitute she could find from Madam Norma’s brothel told her wild stories while he sat incarcerated at Angola prison.  At one point, he threatened her life, if she even considered telling anyone about other things he’d done & not been convicted for.  She met the right-hand man to several New Orleans mayors in his home during the height of carnival costume crafts…choking on purple, green & gold glitter while listening to his fascinating tales.  It goes without saying, we all enjoyed the lecture, & I learned a lot.  I have to admit, I’d never even heard of Madam Norma…clearly, I need to do more in depth research on Storyville. 

After the meeting, I made my way to The Old Coffeepot for lunch with Lynn Jaynes, the president of Tastebud Tours.  I was all set to order red beans & rice, seeing as it’s Monday, but I then I noticed that the menu said breakfast is served until 2:30pm…well, I can’t pass up breakfast in the afternoon (or super late night, for that matter).  So, I went with Eggs Creole, lots of bell peppers, onion, cayenne pepper, a pile of New Orleans style hash-browns & a big ole biscuit…mmm, that hit the spot.  While enjoying my breakfast for lunch, we chatted about how the first official tour, “Taste of New Orleans Du jour”, had gone over the weekend (the local tour guide that created the tour, also a volunteer FOC tour guide, guided the tour this weekend).  Evidently, it was a great success & we already have another tour scheduled for this coming weekend.  We’re starting off slow since there’s only one tour guide officially hired in nola at the moment.  I told them that I was definitely in & excited to become part of the Tastebud Tours nola family…so, I’ll be tagging along on a few tours in the next couple weeks & getting on the schedule come December!!  This company is terrific, it already has a great rep in Chicago (where it’s based) & the president gives back to the community whenever possible (food shelters, educational organizations & health related causes).  Given all goes well, Tastebud Tours will be eventually be offering a New Orleans desserts tour, too.  

Since food is one of my favorite things to talk about (& partake of) in New Orleans, I’m thrilled about guiding these tours.  I got to taste all the food at each stop during the tour test run, fortunately, I won’t be eating while guiding the tours…I’d gain 50 pounds in the blink of an eye!  Needless to say, my lunch meeting was a great success, & at one of the stops on the Tastebud tour, so very apropos.  If you find yourself wandering the quarter beginning in December & you see a curly haired chick w/a teal shirt on & a large paddle donning the Tastebud Tours logo, that’ll undoubtedly be me, so wave hello.

hit on by Henry Butler.

Needless to say, I had a great time at Friends of the Cabildo’s Hidden Treasures: Music Edition w/a performance by Henry Butler last Wednesday night.  What a night, especially for the middle of the week.  Started out with happy hour cocktails at the Spotted Cat courtesy of FOC, as thanks for the volunteer tour guides’ efforts during Tauck’s Ken Burns Jazz Experience.  FOC’s Special Projects Manager, Jason Strada, (a really great guy who is making terrific strides for FOC & treats the volunteer tour guides wonderfully) handed out Tauck’s thank you gifts. 

I have to admit, I expected some lame swag with Tauck’s logo on it, but to my surprise, we got a lot more than that!  The bag included the Best of Ken Burns Jazz CD (a partner to his jazz documentary which inspired Tauck’s Jazz event in nola), signed by Ken Burns, himself.  We also each got a copy of Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans DVD signed by the filmmaker, Lolis Eric Elie.  We’d all watched this DVD while preparing for the jazz tours.  I was seriously impressed & very pleased with these gifts!  Of course, there was also a pair of cheesy black & gold jazz themed Mardi Gras beads & a box of mints with Tauck’s logo, for good measure…but that’s just a little lagniappe, obviously, the CD & DVD were the main event.

After happy hour, we all walked down Frenchman St. to the Old U.S. Mint for FOC’s Hidden Treasures event.  There was more free wine & beer, plus food…much needed after starting off the evening with several drinks on an empty stomach.  Once we’d all stuffed ourselves & gotten a few refills, it was time for Henry Butler in the Mint’s brand spanking new performance space (it’s fantastic).  Henry Butler plays a mean piano, he had us all tapping our feet…us tour guides appreciated the performance even more after acquiring so much knowledge of nola jazz for those tours, & that appreciation was acknowledged by many proud nods & smirks at each other during the performance. 

Fortunately, like any proper nola event, the bar was back open after the performance, so we could drink & schmooze a bit more.  That’s when I had the opportunity to meet the great Henry Butler.  I heard him ask if there was anymore wine available (BTW, in case you’re not aware, Henry Butler is blind).  The bar was just being closed up as Henry asked for some wine, so I asked him what he’d like & then got FOC’s official volunteer tour guide/bartender to pour Mr. Butler a large cup of white wine.  I guess he took a liking to me after that…but it was the least I could do, the man had just put on a great performance, & this is New Orleans for god’s sake…guests must be served drinks (even if they don’t perform first)!  So, we chatted it up for a bit, we even discussed the fact that I’m a non-practicing Jew that identifies with Woody Allen, my love for nola, his take on NYC (where he currently resides)…I quickly realized that he was hitting on me, I’m pretty dense most of the time, but he wasn’t too subtle.  When I say this man is like the nola version of Ray Charles, I’m not at all kidding!  The situation was even more odd & amusing b/c FOC’s assistant director had been Mr. Butler’s right-hand lady while he was visiting, she was even holding his walking stick for him.  So, she was right by his side while he was putting the moves on me. We exchanged quite a few glances & raised eyebrows, occasionally holding back a giggle.  I made a comment about it on Facebook & she later noted that he “LOVED” me & would “treat you right if you ever come up to NYC”.  Hey, what can I say, it ain’t a bad connection to make, right?  

Gala Gal

I had a great time at the Preservation Hall at 50: Celebrating Jazz & Old U.S. Mint Jazz Venue Debut Gala last Friday night.  I was on my feet for the first 2 hours, greeting & directing guests for the “Patron Party”…aka the schmoozing event for the city’s extra elite.  Believe me, it wasn’t easy keeping a smile on my face while greeting all of these guests, but at least I didn’t have to rub elbows with them at the party.  It’s amazing how much you disappear into the crowd when wearing staff/volunteer black & whites.  Fortunately, I put in my time & then got more than compensated with plenty of food from numerous restaurants around town, excellent jazz music from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band & Rebirth Brass Band.  That said, I don’t know if I’ll volunteer for LMF again, I wasn’t too impressed with how they organized their volunteers or the event…wait, let me rephrase that…I wasn’t too impressed with how they did NOT organize their volunteers or the event.  Behind the scenes, it was a total cluster fuck, there’s simply no other way to put it.  Everyone was running in circles, 4 volunteers would be given the same job & then they’d be looking for volunteers to do something else & didn’t have anyone available.  They gave us absolutely no direction; even before the event, the volunteers had to call & find out what was expected of us (dress code, arrival time, assignment, etc.), when we arrived, they still didn’t know what they wanted each of us to do. Thank god I had 2 of my other tour guide gals to roll my eyes at when things got really messy.  We decided that we need to run our own events company, because we can certainly do a better job than that!  I overheard a few of the staff members talking early on about how they ran out of serving spoons & they had to run around to neighborhood restaurants to borrow more!  All of the food, plus the Rebirth performance, were outside.  However, it was freezing outside (relatively speaking, 50 degrees is COLD to New Orleanians) & there were a total of 5 outdoor space heaters that could barely stay lit because of the wind off the river.  Thus, the coat check room at the door was useless.  Everyone was freezing & the chafing dishes weren’t able to keep the food warm…at least Café Dumonde had hot café au’lait in an insulated canister & an amusing Café Dumonde server flirting with all the ladies to help warm them up! Nonetheless, the event was a success, for the most part…primarily because the Preservation Hall at 50 exhibit is fantastic & everyone loved the live music performances.   And, the gala marks an exciting renaissance for the Mint.

I’ll be back at the Old U.S. Mint this Wednesday evening for another event, but this one is organized by Friends of the Cabildo, Hidden Treasures: Music Edition; FOC’s special events coordinator arranged for free tickets for all of the volunteer FOC tour guides that guided tours during Tauck’s Ken Burns Jazz Experience…what a way to show his appreciation!  He’s even invited us to a happy hour before the event at the Spotted Cat, drinks on FOC & he’ll be handing out Tauck’s thank you gifts…I’m very curious to see what those will be.  So, Wednesday should be a great night; more free food, drink, music, & history, but I don’t have to put in any work to partake in it this time! 

No tours on the schedule this week, but that gives me time to work on my other tours.  Gotta start prepping for all the culinary tours that I’ll soon be taking on.  Plus, there’s the Jewish history tour.  I’m starting from scratch on that one, gotta do a lot of research & reading first.  The difficult part will be routing, most of the historically significant Jewish sites in the city are spread out all over the place, but I’ll work it out.  Then, we’ll see if anyone actually signs up for it, I hope all my efforts won’t be for nothing.  But, I’m willing to take the risk, I think it could be a really interesting tour, I’m curious about learning more about nola’s Jewish history myself, & it’s cool to think I’ll be creating the first tour of it’s kind in the city!  In the meantime, if anyone out there has ideas/suggestions for the Jewish tour, I’d gladly take them…

AND a praline to go...

The Tastebud Tours culinary tour test run led by a fellow tour guide, Richard Crawford, yesterday was a great success!!  OMG, I was about to burst at the end, I was so full.  We started at Serio’s on St. Charles Ave. with a full quarter of a muffaletta.  Then, on to Café Beignet at Musical Legends Park on Bourbon St. for 1 large doughy & powder sugar covered beignet…a great way to balance out the savory sandwich we’d started off with.  After that, we made our way to the Old Coffeepot, which is known for a great breakfast, but we had some excellent samples of super spicy seafood gumbo & chicken & sausage jambalaya.  I’d highly recommend trying the Old Coffeepot, it’s at the top of my list the next time I go out for breakfast!  I’d never been to any of these eateries before & I enjoyed all of them.  But, the tour was NOT nearly done there, we headed to Johnny’s, a classic nola dive, for a roast beef po’ boy.  Finally, we ended at Laura’s Candies for little tastes of their fudge & pralines, then we selected a fresh praline for the road.  What a gloriously glutinous afternoon!!

We may change things up a bit, but the tours should start in about two weeks & I’ll definitely be joining the Tastebud Tours family to guide this tour!  I can’t wait, I’ve been wanting to do culinary tours since I first got my license! 

Tonight, I’m volunteering for the Louisiana Museum Foundation at the Preservation Hall at 50: Celebrating Jazz & Old U.S. Mint Jazz Venue Debut Gala held at the Old U.S. Mint.  I’ve gotta go throw on a black skirt & white top…not so glamorous, but if this gets me free entry into the event, then you won’t hear any complaints from me.  Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be playing & there will be some great food. 

So far, this has turned out to be a damn good week…what will next week have in store, you may ask?  I'll probably be hearing from New Orleans Culinary History Tours about guiding their culinary tour & their new cocktails tour.  I’ve also gotta start working on my Jewish History & Culture Today tour for Tour-New-Orleans.  So, the research, reading, & routing must begin.  

a future of food & tours.

Wow, I just reread my last post, “back to the blog”…sorry for the never-ending laundry list.  It’s like if I didn’t list it out for myself, it didn’t all really happen.  Anyway, now it’s all documented, so I can stop fretting about it.

The shoot for the 1 min NOTV spot on the Cabildo yesterday was a success!  I did get a bit nervous as I got “miked up”, but I shook it off & pushed through.  We filmed my spiel in the Cabildo’s Hall of Flags on the 2^nd floor, it’s an amazing space w/tons of windows.  Yesterday was gorgeous, so we had great sun & blue skies peaking through the windows & all the old territory flags.  Sadly, the TV spot won’t air until January 2012, but I’ll post a link as soon as it’s available (as long as I don’t think I look/sound totally ridiculous).

I stayed down in the quarter for the rest of the afternoon after we completed the filming at the Cabildo.  I wasn’t too impressed with the Halloween costumes that I saw…most people really just phoned it in w/store bought cliché get-ups (witches, goblins, the Scream guy)…boring!  I waited until the evening to put my “Miss Cabildo” costume back on.  I met up at a friend’s great old creole cottage in the Treme with a bunch of friends that I always masquerade with.  We got into costume, had a few drinks, took some pictures & then walked down to Frenchman St. in the Marigny…it’s the hot spot on Halloween, Mardi Gras, & New Year’s Eve.  I finally saw some more impressive costumes down there, but I was so NOT in the mood for a crowd, so I didn’t last long. 

On more exciting fronts, I got an email from a fellow volunteer FOC tour guide today asking if I wanted her to pass on my contact into to New Orleans Culinary History Tours b/c they need more guides for their French Quarter culinary tours & a new cocktails tour (which is not yet listed on their website it’s so new).  I’d already talked to her about wanting to do these tours & asked if they needed additional guides, but she didn’t think that they were looking for anyone else a few weeks ago.  So, I was like a giddy schoolgirl after reading that email, I can’t wait to get trained & start guiding these tours!  They’re supposed to be excellent, you hit Antoine’s & Tujaques (the two oldest restaurants in the city), & much more…plus, you get to actually eat the food at each stop!  This new prospect is in addition to my friend’s new culinary tour for Tastebud Tours, I’m going on the practice run for that tour this Thursday.   

Looks like my future is filled with food & tours…I can’t complain.