New Orleans, Day 5 - Part 1

For lunch today, Joel and I went to the Central Grocery in the French Quarter for some local muffuletta, which I've never had before. I should have asked how large the portions are, because I mistakenly asked for a whole sandwich, when clearly half would have sufficed. The muffuletta itself is like your typical Italian sandwich, but with an olive salad of sorts spread in the middle, which makes for a pretty salty bite. If you don't like olives or a messy sandwich, I'd recommend steering clear of this hometown favorite. As far as Italian sandwiches go, I personally prefer the Godmother w/the works at Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica, but the muffuletta isn't bad.

After lunch, we went back to Cafe Du Monde to try the hot cafe au lait (we got iced last time) then tried to walk things off by walking around the city. Then, since we only took the streetcar to the Garden District yesterday, we got back on and rode it to the end of the line and back, passing Tulane and Loyola University, which happen to be next door to each other, located on St. Charles Ave. I think I'm in love with the architecture here. The mansions are all so grand, and look nothing like what you would find on the west coast (unless you're at Disneyland).

To cap off the afternoon, we stopped by the On Trois lounge at the Ritz Carlton for early afternoon cocktails. I got the Pontchartrain Punch (raspberry vodka, Chambord, lemon/lime juice, splash of house champagne), while Joel got the Pomegranate Martini (vodka, Pama liquer, lemon/lime juice) and Hemingway Daiquiri (light rum, Maraschino liqueur, lime juice, grapefruit juice), of which the latter prompted our server to bring up Sex and the City. I don't normally blog about mixed drinks, but I'm doing so to remind myself of what I should be ordering in the future. All three drinks were quite tasty, and I didn't feel like the alcohol flavor was overpowering in anyway. That said, they must have been quite strong, because we were buzzing for a couple of hours.