New Orleans in full Jazz Fest swing

6.55am, Saturday 29th April, Orleans Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

Morning folks, and right now, it’s just the street cleaners and me up and about. The city is jam packed to the gills with pretty happy laid back late night revellers, and our crew of Victorian restaurateurs and retailers are soaking the whole ‘Big Easy’ thing up in style. We’ve got right into the cultural thing – joined the locals for Jazz in the Park, went out to Willie Mae’s Scotch House for possibly the best ‘fraaaaaied chikkkn’ in the country (and yep, everybody has to line up), and got quite flashed up  to go along to the old school fine dining house Brennan’s last night for our Welcome along team dinner…….accompanied by some of Yalumba’s finest – 1989 Menzies, 2006 Reserve, and the brace of 2009 & 2010 Octavius……thank you Terry for raiding your cellar, and for everyone that ferried bottles accross in their luggage.

Oh and PS….still on London time, so that’s the working breakfast photo first up – 6am run down to Cafe du Monde for their fab cafe au lait and beignets ( ben-yays if you want to sound like a local), and a catch up on those jolly always accumulating each one requires an answer emails.

So cheers from the Crescent City, most folks are off to the Jazz Fest today, and I’m off to catch up with our new area manager for Down this way …..Louis. We’re off to Crabby Jacks, local seafood shack right next to the Louisiana seafood exchange, so catfish and shrimp …..here we come!

New Orleans, Louisiana…..its Jazz Fest time

4.42pm, Thursday 27th April, The Hotel Lobby, French Quarter, Noo Awlins, Loosiana, The Yoo Nighted States of Mmmmmerica

I’m waiting on our team of intrepid Melbourne trade travellers to arrive any minute, and I’m expecting them to be a tad creased from the flight up to Los Angeles, then the almost trans continental hop from LA to NOLA. We’ve put a cool tour guide together for them that covers a good solid checklist of the best things to do in New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville……and tonight I think it’s just going to be an early dinner then crash…..even though the Jazz Fest packed streets will be extremely inviting. The plan is to wander across the French Quarter to the old warehouse district where the restaurant Mother’s has been serving up the local flavours down home style since the 1930s, and that’s going to be us! Gumbo, catfish, andouille sausage, country ham, crawfish étouffée…..and pie!!

I’ll introduce the crew in the next post, might be best if I take that first group pic tomorrow I think!! Cheers for now and we’ll check in tomorrow

Goodbye London – Noo Awlins, Loozyanna…..here we come!

11.56am, Wednesday 26th April, Heathrow Terminal 5, London, England, United (for now) Kingdom

Morning folks, and here I am at Heathrow Terminal 5 again, this time getting set to catch British Airways’ brand new direct Boeing Dreamliner service to New Orleans (pronounced NooAwlins one word by the locals) to meet up with an intrepid group of staunch Yalumba trade who have won a trip to spend a week exploring the ‘Americana Music Triangle’ of New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville for a week. We’ve coined the tour the ‘Americana Adventurers’, written a specific tour guide book for the ground we’re going to cover, and it’s even got a ‘sealed section’ for the surprise day tour from Nashville next Wednesday. 

So goodbye London, and thanks enormously yet again to 67 Pall Mall for your support…..and we’ll see you all again when it’s autumn.

PS going to the post office in South Kensington yesterday, guess what I found next door? The Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman has a rib and burger place called Sticky Fingers……..definitely on the ‘must do’ list for the next trip.