This is the last installment about the wedding! This covers the days touring with Shane's family.
Above is Shane with the leftover packages of beignets.
December 26th
Shane’s parents, maternal aunt, paternal uncle and wife and
two children and boyfriend arrive at the NO airport at 5 pm.
I had rented a 7 passenger van to be able to transport everyone
around. And I had borrowed Anna’s
Cadillac Escalade that fits 7 passengers.
That should have been enough because I was picking up 8 people and then
Caitlin and I were drivers and Shane and Devin came with us. That makes 12. We should have had 2 seats left over. But with all the luggage, using the trunk
areas and some of the seats, we were short one seat. So, unfortunately, Shane’s young cousin sat
on the floor. We went straight to the
hotel to check everyone in. That was a
nightmare checking 12 people in. I think
that we overwhelmed the reception desk.
That evening was Girls Night Out and Guys Night Out (not
quite bachelor party and bachelorette party) for the wedding. After checking in, everyone had to
immediately leave for reservations at 7 pm.
The girls’ dinner reservation was at Café Remoulade, a casual offshoot
of Arnaud’s, which was founded in 1918. There
were 15 of us: Shane, her mom, her two
aunts, 2 cousins, Anna, her mother in law, her daughter, her son’s girlfriend,
two of my sisters in law, my niece, my daughter and me. Anna and I were hosting this and we wanted
Shane’s family to try Cajun food in a lively atmosphere. We were running a little bit late and really
had to hustle down Bourbon Street to get there.
And of course, on Bourbon Street, there are always lots of “odd” sights
to see-mostly interesting people. We saw
a red devil just casually walking down Bourbon St and also a menacing, alien
looking creature.
Shane’s aunt told me
that Bourbon Street reminded her of the area around the Confucius temple in
Nanjing, China. She shocked me when she
said it. I asked her in what manner were
they alike. She said that they were both
crowded and noisy. And that is certainly
true about Bourbon St. J So, they were able to try roasted oysters,
gumbo, red beans, crawfish pie, jambalaya, shrimp remoulade etc., etc. I asked what they thought and they said that
it was good, but salty. I found that
interesting because everyone says that about American style Chinese food. I did not find the food in China salty.
After that, we went for drinks at Irvin
Mayfield’s Jazz Club, which was very nice.
The guys only had one event to go to because Devin wasn’t
feeling very well. He had a sore throat
and felt dizzy. They “just” went to Antoine’s, “world-renowned French-Creole cuisine, impeccable service
& unique atmosphere have combined to create an unmatched dining experience
in New Orleans since 1840”. J The guys night out was hosted by Dieter in a
private dining room and it included Devin, Dietrich, Jason, Shane’s father,
uncle and Shane’s cousin’s boyfriend. Of
course, Antoine’s is fine dining and they had great food, fantastic service as
usual and they had the coffee ceremony with Cafe Brulot Diabolique - a coffee-and-brandy drink that's flamed
in a dramatic ceremony, and is served in special cups embellished with a little
red devil. After dinner, they were given
a tour of Antoine’s, which is impressive.
The guys came back really talking about their experience.
Dec 27th
I organized
a tour of Oak Alley Plantation. In
included Shane’s relatives, Ken had now arrived, Shane and Devin and two of
Devin’s friends and me. It was the perfect
number because we had 14 spaces in the two cars. Ken drove one and I drove the other. I had arranged a guided tour of the mansion,
a pre-set lunch of house salad, chicken & sausage gumbo, crawfish etouffee,
red beans and rice and dessert. It was
basically another Cajun meal. J
After dinner, we did self-guided tours of the slave quarters and
plantation grounds.
On the way
back, we stopped at the Southern Yacht Club.
Dieter wanted us to join him for cocktails. Ken, Shane, Devin and I slipped out after a
drink to go to the wedding venue to check things out and make sure everything
was OK. I watched Devin and Shane
practice their wedding dance and it made me cry. I didn’t want them to see me cry and I turned
to walk away. Devin came over and gave
me a hug and then Shane came in and joined the hug. It was so sweet.
After we
finished checking everything, we went back to the Southern Yacht club to pick
up everyone where we had left them. When
I entered the bar area, I didn’t see them.
I went out on the patio overlooking the lake thinking they might have
gone outside. They weren’t there. I wondered if Dieter could have ferried them
back and forth to his home, but his Mercedes would only fit 5 people including
him. He would have had to make 3
trips! I asked the bartender and he said
they were on the 2nd floor. I
wondered why they would be on the 2nd floor. We went downstairs and there was Dieter
giving them a tour of the club-the weight room, the maps, etc. :)
We piled
back into our two cars because that night, Anna and Dieter were hosting a
buffet style dinner for Shane’s relatives, my friends who had driven in from
Houston, two of Devin’s friends and a few of Shane’s friends. It was about 40 people. Jason helped Anna to cook. They did an awesome job. Everything was delicious and everyone seemed
to feel very comfortable.
Then it was
back to the hotel.
December 28th
Anna had
found out that the one thing that Shane’s cousin wanted to do in New Orleans
was to have beignets at Café du Monde. In
my planning phase, I had thought about taking them there, but decided against
it because the tourists line up there all day long and you can wait more than
an hour for a table. And there were 17
of us! Anna suggested that she go to the
Café du Monde in City Park where there are no lines, pick up beignets and deliver them to us. So that is what she and Dietrich did on
Saturday morning. They delivered the
beignets along with about 6 large and 2 small umbrellas because it was raining
and this was our day to tour the French Quarter. L
We walked to
the St. Louis Cathedral and toured the inside of it. Beautiful!
Then we walked across the street
through Jackson Square.
Usually, the
exterior of Jackson Square is teeming with artists. You can look at their paintings and watch
them paint. They have many diverse
styles and it is interesting just to stroll around and look at them. There are usually performance artists,
also. Well, not that day! It was pouring down raining! Next, we walked past the Café du Monde, which
still had a long line even in the rain, and then down along the French
Market.
We made a U turn and walked back
to Moon Walk where we could see the Mississippi River and all the shipping
traffic and activity. Then, we headed to
lunch at Drago’s for fresh seafood.
Various members of our group had lobsters (steamed and stuffed), Drago’s famous charbroiled oysters, crab
fingers, Fleur de Lis Shrimp, etc.
Drago’s is incredible! They are
an incredibly popular restaurant. We
walked in there, the 17 of us, and within 10 minutes we had two tables. We had impeccable service.
At 2 pm, Ken
and I needed to go back to the hotel to get organized to leave early for the
wedding to make sure that everything was set for 7 pm. We put some people in cabs and the rest of us
walked back in the rain.
The stretch
Escalade limo for 20 people was supposed to arrive at the hotel at 6:15 pm and leave
at 6:30 pm. And the limo was supposed to
arrive at 6:30 pm for Shane, her mom, her aunt and a friend and leave at 6:45
pm. Well, they arrived in reverse order,
but everything went fine.
There was a
slight hiccup around 6:45 pm, when I
received the phone call that the flower girls were caught in a traffic
jam. So, Shane hung out in the limo
until 7:15 when the flower girls arrived.
J
And then the wedding began!!
On the way
back to the hotel after the wedding, while driving Anna’s Cadillac Escalade,
someone ran into the back of me on the highway when traffic began slowing. No one was hurt. The back of the driver’s side of Anna’s car
was pushed in. This was a serious bummer. The other driver was a stupid young man with
a foul mouth and very bad manners. We
waited for about 45 minutes and then the police came to write the report. This was a bad ending to a great day.
December 29th
Shane’s
uncle, aunt, 2 cousins and boyfriend flew back home at 7:30 am. Everyone else was on their own for the
morning. We brought Shane’s father,
mother, maternal aunt, Devin and Shane and one of Devin’s friends and a few of
Shane’s friends out to Lakeview for 1 pm to go sailing with Dieter, Jason and
Dietrich on Dieter’s sailboat on Lake Pontchartrain. They loved it. Dieter let everyone have a chance to “steer”
the boat. That night, Anna and Dieter
hosted 22 of us at the Southern Yacht Club for a wonderful dinner.
December 30th
I arranged a
tour for 9 of us to take a paddle wheeler riverboat down the Mississippi River
past the French Quarter to the Chalmette
Battlefield where the Battle of New Orleans took place in 1815. Two of Shane’s friends realized that they
would not be able to complete the tour and get to the airport in time for their
flight, so they bowed out. The Creole
Queen was very accommodating. After just
2 phone calls, I got my money refunded for their tickets. The river ride was nice, but cold. We went inside and enjoyed the sites sipping
wine and being warm. The battlefield was
a little bit of a disappointment. Right
before disembarking, they announced that the visitor center and the
Malus-Beauregard House (mansion) would not be open. What was left were displays explaining what
happened at the battle, but without the mansion and the visitor center, that
part was a letdown.
When we
disembarked, we headed over to Fulton Street where they had a very pretty
Christmas decorations.
Ken suggested
that the final cuisine choice for that night should be steak. We made the suggestion and everyone liked
it. We went over to Ruth’s Chris Steak
house and just squeezed in before the crowd.
Their food and service was excellent.
Shane’s family said that they loved it and that it was a great choice for the last night together.
We walked
back through the French Quarter to the hotel and saw a Second Line wedding going down the street!
December 31st
We only had
one car now that the Escalade had been damaged.
Shane’s father, mother and aunt were spending the last night near the
airport. So, we loaded all the luggage
into the rental van for us to bring Shane’s family to that hotel. They took a cab to it. We said our sad goodbyes and then Ken and I
hustled to the airport to return the rental car and catch our 1:10 pm flight to
Houston.
Jan 1st
I searched
for a place for us to have our black eyed peas for good luck and cabbage for
money. The BlackEyed Pea Restaurant was
a mile away. Our flight to
Istanbul/Yanbu left at 8 pm. Wedding festivities
had come to an end.
THE END
