New Orleans, Day 3 - Part 2

For dinner tonight, Joel and I went to the Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. Although we were expecting a long wait, we were actually seated within a few minutes, as the line was pretty short, and we were a small party. To start, we ordered a dozen raw Louisiana oysters and a dozen chargrilled oysters, since Joel hadn't tried them yet. For our meal, we split the New Orleans Medley (sampling of gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and grilled smoked sausage) and the Fried Soft Shell Crab Platter.

Of the medley, the gumbo was my favorite, although everything was very good. If I remember correctly, Joel found the jambalaya tastier after some hot sauce. The soft shell crab was also good, very light and crispy, not overly breaded.

After dinner, we briefly walked around Bourbon Street before heading out to the Columns Hotel in the Garden District. A friend of mine happened to be in town for a few days with her architecture classmates to work on a project, and invited us for after dinner drinks. The Columns Hotel basically looks like your typical Greek revival southern mansion - huge lot with a magnificent frame, and a welcoming front porch flanked by columns holding up the balcony. Joel and I are actually planning on visiting the Garden District tomorrow, so tonight was a nice sneak peek of the area.