NOLA - Part 2
Thanks, Mom and Jack, for posting your guesses to my previous blog.
To continue my NOLA story, on Sunday, a coworker and I took a tour of the Garden District and got to have brunch at Commander's Palace, a 5-star restaurant in New Orleans. We had some very unusual, but delicious, food, including turtle soup. And before you ask, let me tell you that it does include turtles, but ones that are meant for this - not the kind in your local pond. Our time there included songs from the traveling jazz trio that they feature each Sunday during brunch as well. (Strangely enough, one of the musicians from this trio was playing with a different band back at the airport when we left NOLA.)
That evening was the opening reception for the conference and it was quite a sight! We were bussed to a place called "Mardi Gras World" that appeared to hold mardi gras floats, and possibly hold events as well. As soon as we got off the bus, we were instantly greeted with sounds of a fantastic marching band (i love marching bands!) and numerous people in mardi gras costumes. As we walked down this long carpet through what looked like part of a warehouse, on either side of us were enormous floats used in the mardi gras parades. Once inside, there were various food stations, drink stations and live entertainment. We were left to mingle and wander the place as it was quite large. Afterward, we met up with another coworker, her friend, others I didn't know and the tv reality celebrity I alluded to in my previous post. I met the season 4 winner from Bravo's show Top Chef: Stephanie Izard. We went to a pretty well known restaurant for some late night food as the reception only had finger food. I did not talk to her a ton that night, but did ask her a few questions without trying to be some weird fan. It was interesting to see her eat though because instead of just enjoying food like most of us, you could see her thinking about the flavors and trying to figure out how it was made. Afterward, my coworker and I continued our evening at our third and final reception for the night.
On Monday, we headed to sessions all day at the conference, a couple of which were great. Then it was on to that night's festivities. We headed to a chapter reception for the midwest, and then I was off to an extravagent dinner hosted by one of our vendors. It was a 6 course meal that was absolutley delicious, but so very rich - 1) appetizer course (too many to remember), 2) soup (I can't remember), 3) fish (something I was not familiar with, but my favorite course of the night), 4) sorbet (pear sorbet served with pear vodka), 5) steak (pepper crusted filet) and 6) desserts (trio of Devastation Chocolate Cake, creme brulee, and my favorite of the three, a praline crepe). After this, I was headed to "Party with a Purpose" where the ticket price benefits a local charity. Upon arriving, I got to talk with someone I met the previous night for a while and discovered that she and her fiance live less than a mile from Jack and I - small world! But after a while, coworkers arrived with Stephanie and she hung out with us the whole time at this party. She was a lot of fun and very laid back.
Tuesday was my last day at the conference so we headed to some sessions, wandered the French Quarter for a bit and then headed to the airport. Once we were at the airport, I was on my way back to the gate after taking a quick walk and ran into Stephanie again. She ended up coming to sit with our group while we all waited to board. Again, very laid back and friendly. Upon arriving back in Chicago, I was greeted by some bone chilling temperatures and my husband who picked me up from the airport!
I have pics of Mardi Gras World and of us with Stephanie on my phone, but until I learn how to post pics on our blog, they'll have to wait. I hope to learn that from Jack soon. :)