FOR RAIL — The Weekly Opine

By the time we hit Greenwood, Mississippi, anticipation was at a fever pitch. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

N’awlins delivers

In 1996, I visited New Orleans while attending my first McDonald’s worldwide convention. I remember enjoying a beer while sitting on one of the omnipresent second story balconies. I was supposed to be at the convention center helping with set-up but couldn’t resist taking an afternoon “break” to soak in the French Quarter. New Orleans felt like a cool place that I would surely visit again. Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would take 27 years to return to the Big Easy.

Quoting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, from when he was a WWE superstar and would return to wrestle in a city he’d not been to in some time, “Finally, Douglas has come back to New Orleans!” Last weekend’s trip was splendid in every way, starting when we climbed aboard Amtrak’s City of New Orleans train Thursday night to depart Chicago. In New Orleans, daytime highs reached 75-80 degrees with clear blue skies.

Although we stayed at a different hotel than where I stayed decades ago, we did make a pilgrimage to my 1996 digs, The Royal Sonesta Hotel, to check out the Jazz Playhouse that’s located on the ground floor of the hotel.

Food & Music

It’s an understatement to say we ate well - Superior Seafood, Muriel’s, Dooky Chase’s, Commander’s Palace, Cafe Du Monde. And in New Orleans, where there’s food there is oft times music. The Crescent City did not disappoint and joins Washington, D.C. and Palm Springs as one of my “go to” places to visit. Trust me, it won’t take 27 years, either.

Check out these pics that sum up what was a perfect trip, notwithstanding watching the Chicago Bears lose to the New Orleans Saints at a raucous outdoor sports bar in Mid-City.