Wofford Travels – 2019-10-27 – New Orleans-1
Greetings,
Yes, today we head off to the “Big Easy.” But…this is Sunday…and we’d like to attend a Mass in Lafayette. Our hosts told us about a cathedral in town which offered an 11:00 AM Mass. So, after having some toast and coffee, we departed from the hotel and made our way to church. Now we weren’t expecting to see anything unusual, because Lafayette has a population of fewer than 130,000, so we figured the cathedral would be rather small. Not exactly. What is now the cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist or La Cathédral St-Jean (originally called l’Eglise St.-Jean du Vemilion) is the cathedral and mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. It was the first parish in Lafayette Parish, founded in 1821, and was made cathedral upon the erection of the diocese in 1918.
The cathedral is a large red and white brick structure with an octagon bell tower in the Dutch Romanesque style, having features such as its marvelous flambeau stained glass (portraying the life of St. John the Evangelist), 14 mosaic Stations of the Cross, statues, stone medallions, oil paintings of Christ and the Apostles, and a Casavant Frères organ. The church has 7 acres comprising the Bishop’s residence and the cemetery, which is quite large (at least half the acreage), and reminded me of a cemetery I saw in Paris, with very old, and some very large, above-ground tombstones.
An added surprise to this visit was the largest live oak tree we have ever seen! Already 275 years old when the first church was established, the St. John Oak, or Cathedral Oak, is the third oldest member of the Live Oak Society. Supported by a trunk measuring nine feet in diameter and a circumference of 29.6 feet, the massive tree spreads out 210 feet and stands 126 feet high. Its huge limbs reach back to the earth for support. I took a photo of Tom in front of the “gated” tree and you can barely see him.
The Cathedral was also sponsoring an Antique Rosary Collection (donated by a parishioner). Many were from the 19th century. We took a little time to check them out and other very interesting artifacts in the Gift Store and, what I would call, a “quasi” museum: Bishop and priest vestments from the past and sculpted figures and furnishings in framed shadowboxes. The Very Rev. Chester Arceneaux V.J. happened to come into the store, so we exchanged a few words and managed to get a photo with him. After viewing the rosary collection, and making a quick visit to the gift shop, we headed out to New Orleans. It was about 1:00 when we left.
After some driving we decided to check out a place for lunch. Tom saw one seafood place on the Internet that looked promising except that it stated that it offered barbecue on Sunday. You know, how you think that that really can’t be true, they must offer it…along with the seafood. Not so. Sometimes you just have to take things literally. We walked into the Bon Creole, a small restaurant with a fully bayou-painted front exterior. It almost looked like a takeout. But, the statement was true: They were only serving barbecue. Tom then decided that he would like to go to Landry’s Cajun Seafood and Steakhouse. The women working in the restaurant gave us directions. However, they were not the easiest to understand because of their Acadian accent. The directions ended up being confusing and didn’t sync up with the map, so after a couple tries, we gave up and went to plan C…just get a bite to eat. We ended up at a small sports bar in Morgan City called the PressBox. Upon entering, we saw only one individual sitting at the bar watching a game. Our hopes were not too high, but the menu had a decent selection and our meal turned out to be pretty good: hamburger steak with onions and mushroom and 2 sides. OK, what’s that statement about making assumptions?
Now…the concern when entering a city is to get your directions in order and head straight for your target. We had the full-blown Louisiana map (with the New Orleans insert), a printed map that Tom made from the Internet (getting us directly to our hotel), my iPhone map, and “Ulmon,” an app for city maps where you don’t have to use your data. The highway goes over the Mississippi River in two locations and we were following the streets to get us to the Drury Inn, when we made a wrong right turn (it wasn’t clear on the street or on the map) and guess what? We ended up going “back” over the Mississippi. You’re almost in disbelief! What just happened? That’s when you resign yourself to do a repeat performance, except that we noticed on the way back, that the way in was almost stop-and-go traffic. (We could have been in that. After all, it was a weekend [Sunday] and 4:30 PM.) So we decided to take the “other” US-90 route, and, fortunately, didn’t get into any traffic issues. I predicted that we would lose an hour in this whole mix-up and that’s exactly how it turned out!
Arriving at the Drury at 5:30, we loaded our cart, checked in (this hotel has valet parking), and headed to our room. It’s not real big, but well appointed (a floor-to-ceiling tile bathroom) and a decent view from the 5th floor. The hotel has many perks: 5:30-7:00 happy hour with three free drinks per night (you are given a drink pass): The POPULAR DRINK SELECTIONS: Bloody Mary, Madras, Margarita, Martini, Tequila Sunrise / WINE: Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, White Zinfandel / LIQUOR: Bourbon/Whiskey, Gin, Rum, Scotch, Tequila, Vodka / MIXERS: Club Soda, Cranberry Juice, Grenadine, Orange Juice, Sweet & Sour Mix, Tonic water, and more / and finally BEER: Bud Light and Craft Beer. I think you get the picture. They even ask if you want a single or double! P-L-U-S Happy Hour with heavy hors d’oeuvres…a veritable feast. And, it is a good thing that we partook of it, lightly, as we had planned either a light dinner or a dessert later in the evening.
We headed to Bourbon Street, and it was as we recalled it 8 years earlier…a wild, crazy scene: loud, colorful, diverse, with many bars and lots of music, and people all over the street, many with drinks in hand. It’s somewhat of a free-for-all. But, there was no violence, just people having a good time. The fact that it was getting close to Halloween added to the ambiance.
We continued to walk, trying to decide what to do for dinner. A light meal or a dessert, and long story short, we really didn’t find anything that suited us, and besides, many of the stores were closed. So, we just headed back to the hotel. We went to the bar (Tom was ready for a beer) and saw that they had a small menu. And look, there were several desserts. When did they close? Eleven PM. What time was it? 10:59. We’re in! One order of a chocolate lava cake and ice cream split between us and we were good to go. Back in the room I remembered that I had almost two Margaritas sitting in the fridge. They aren’t very large so I finished one and was ready to retire. Yet, we still didn’t get to bed until 1:00. Where does the time go? I can tell you, it goes faster the more years you get under your belt.
Tomorrow, a full day in New Orleans.
Tita