70130 Travel Guide
Tags: True-Blood-Map / True Blood / Louisiana Travel / Food Travel / Vampire Travel / New Orleans / → All Tags
True Blood Travel Guide: Eating Alligator Appetizers
You've heard of Christmas in July, but we're about to get all Halloween in June this week as we prepare for the debut of the second season of HBO's TrueBlood. Any juicy suggestions or questions? Let us know.
Although the True Blood town of Bon Temps and its local diner Merlotte's are both fictional, that doesn't mean that you can't get some good, greasy and exotic southern cooking elsewhere. We're thinking of New Orleans' French Quarter in particular, known as it is for being riddled with restaurants serving up everything from pan-fried yams to heaping helpings of crawfish étouffée.
In particular, we like Antoine's on Rue Saint Louis for their traditional and dramatic dining rooms paired with their famous "Potage alligator au sherry"—a sherry-laced alligator bisque. They've still got the usual fried oysters and lump crabmeat if alligators aren't exactly tickling your palate, but if you're not drinking blood you might as well dine on something equally creepy.
Related Stories:
· Antoine's French Quarter [Official Site]
· Louisiana Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: vidiot]
Tags: Movie Set Travel / Brad Pitt / New Orleans Travel / Oscars Travel / Real Estate Safaris / → All Tags
Benjamin Button's House is For Sale in New Orleans
Most homeowners these day are fretting over whether or not their house is still worth anything but the owners of the house featured in the Oscar-nominated movie (several times over), "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" might not have much to worry about.
The house, located in the Garden district of New Orleans, is now on the market. According to the rental listing on Sotheby's, the 7,800-sq.ft. Victorian-era mansion has six bedrooms, six baths, central air and heat, a library, music room and reception hall. That's a far cry from the movie incarnation of the house which was a nursing home. And the listing price? $2.85 million.
The Sotheby's listing has a 30+ page slideshow of interiors photos of the house and you can practically see Brad Pitt as an old seven-year-old in his wheelchair on the porch. Or Oscar-nominated actress, Taraji P. Henson picking up an abandoned Benjamin Button on the home's back steps. However, if you are interested in buying the house, remember to put some money aside to furnish it.
Also, we're no real estate experts here but if we were the owners, we would hold out until after the Oscars is over. That way if the movie does win all 13 nominations, you could probably get at least your asking price. Of course, there's a chance the movie will only win one Oscar (and a lesser one like "Makeup.") Then you'll just have to use the "Brad Pitt was here" selling angle.
Related Stories:
·
7,800 Sq. Ft Garden District Mansion! [Sotheby's]
· Oscar Nominations Announced [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Jaunted]
Tags: New-Orleans-Travel-Map / Jaunted Field Trips / Bars / → All Tags
Jaunted in New Orleans :: Carousel Piano Bar
Inside the Hotel Monteleone, the Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge could be one of the city's top cocktail spots. After getting slammed last week during this summer's Tales of the Cocktail, things were considerably more quiet when I popped in early this week.
The most notable feature of the bar is its in-the-round format, complete with moving floor: The barstools actually rotate around the bartender all night. (Thankfully, the spinning is quite slow.) Gossiping about all the fellow drinkers you'll spy as the wheel turns is almost as much fun as the drinks.
Speaking of, they're terrific. You won't find any hand grenades at the Carousel. This place is all about the classics, like negronis, sazeracs and lots of bourbon. Fortunately for me, my room was right upstairs.
Related Stories:
· New Orleans Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Hotel Monteleone coverage [HotelChatter]
· Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge [Official Site]
Tags: New-Orleans-Travel-Map / Jaunted Field Trips / Tours / Videos / → All Tags
Jaunted in New Orleans :: Gray Line Cocktail Tour
New Orleans probably has more stories about drinking than any other place in the world. And the man to tell you about them is Joe Gendusa, a Gray Line tour guide who's been leading cocktail tours of the French Quarter for five years. (He's so expert that the reality show Blind Date asked him to ferry some young lovers on a pub crawl for an episode.)
Not to worry, though. Joe's tour isn't all history. After detailing famous locations and buildings, he'll also tell you which bars make the best hurricanes (Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop), mint juleps (Court of the Two Sisters) and Pimm's cups (Napoleon House Bar & Cafe). In other words, make sure you go on the tour with a full stomach.
With all the drink stops and hiking, the tour takes just under three hours, so wear some comfortable shoes. And if you want to remember anything that Joe tells you by the time the walk ends, maybe you should take a notebook, too.
More New Orleans Travel Map.
Related Stories:
· New Orleans Field Trip [Jaunted]
· New Orleans Hotels [HotelChatter]
· Gray Line Tours [Official Site]
Tags: New-Orleans-Travel-Map / Jaunted Field Trips / Restaurants / → All Tags
Jaunted in New Orleans :: Cafe Adelaide
When the first family of New Orleans restaurants opens a new place, you pretty much have to check it out. So a friend and I went over to the Loews New Orleans Hotel to have lunch at Cafe Adelaide. Since it's run by the Brennan clan--of Commander's Palace fame--I knew I'd have fun, I just didn't realize how much.
Tags: New-Orleans-Travel-Map / Jaunted Field Trips / Restaurants / Emeril Lagasse / → All Tags
Jaunted in New Orleans :: Eating at Emeril's
Since opening in 1990, Emeril Lagasse's original has likely become one of the best known restaurant in the country. There's not too much to add to Emeril's hagiography, but it's worth noting that even with all his restaurants and shows, quality at his flagship is still as high as it was more than 10 years ago when I first ate at Emeril's.
