It is rare that the ride from Westport to JFK Airport is  described as enjoyable, but there was so little traffic that we arrived  in sixty-four minutes, the shortest time ever for us. The drawback was that in order to arrive at the airport for an 8 a.m. flight,  we were on the road at 4 a.m.

Carla took an Uber from her NYC apartment at 5 a.m, and the three of us met at the gate by 6:30 a.m. The airport has been in the process of being renovated for several years, and there is definitely more work to be done, but we were impressed by the changes. We hope the food  will be improved, because most of what was available  was processed and had little nutritional value.

All three of us nodded off during the  calm flight. Check-in time at our Airbnb was 4 p.m, so we had to find a place to leave our luggage until that time. Carla and Nick found such a place in the French Quarter, so off we went. After  photographing and dropping off our luggage, we realized that we were very hungry. Yelp! recommended a  restaurant just a few steps away called Zesty Creole, and we decided to get right into trying creole food. We noticed that we were the only tourists in the restaurant, and the decor and the menu were different from any we had ever experienced.  Nick and I shared Crab Cake Eggs Benedict, while Carla ordered an oyster sandwich called a po’boy. We were off to a delicious start!

Stepping out from the restaurant and into the French Quarter, we followed the self-guided tour that was in our guide book. Nick was taking photos of everything, and he  began falling in love with the fun shops, the art galleries, the variety of restaurants, and the street musicians.  One musician asked Nick to send him the photos of himself playing the saxophone.

One of the stops  on the self guided tour was a praline shop.  New Orleans is known for  pralines,  sweet discs that contain  granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, milk or cream,  and  lots of pecans, and there are many shops throughout the city that feature them.

Our friends Mari and Tony had asked us to stop in at an antiques dealer called  M.S. Rau. We reached it to find that it is closed on Sundays. After more exploring, we returned to retrieve our luggage. Suddenly huge groups of people were walking in the opposite direction from us. It was easy to see that they had attended a football game at  the Superdome, because they were wearing Saints tee shirts. They were walking without joy or excitement, so we concluded that the Saints had lost the game.

We took an Uber to our Airbnb, located a few streets from the Garden District, an area that is known for its variety of historic homes, lavish gardens, and stunning Live Oaks, some with Spanish moss hanging from their branches. Our Airbnb was the first floor of a two family, three bedroom house  that was very  comfortable and very quiet. We were ready for dinner, and I found a nearby restaurant called Deanie’s Sea Food Kitchen that sounded just right, and it was. Again, we were the only tourists eating there. Carla ordered shrimp and grits, and Nick and I shared a stuffed flounder. Back at home, my friend Cathy had told me that shrimp and grits in New Orleans was incredibly good, so I tasted Carla’s dinner. Cathy was so right! I knew that I’d be ordering it for my own main course very soon.

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