New Orleans Jazz Fest 2016
It's festival season and for us, the one that kicks it off is New Orleans Jazz Fest. We take the bumpy Amtrak from Memphis to NOLA. We always meet interesting people. The food, though........
The festival starts around lunch and ends at six or seven at night so there is plenty of time to enjoy the great city of New Orleans!
Our first night we used our Happy Hours app and found $5 martinis at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse not too far from our hotel.
They also had a few snacks on the happy hour menu. Truffle fries are never a bad choice!
We loved the atmosphere and the service so much we booked a table for our last night.
After drinks and a stroll, we went to our dinner destination, Cafe Amelie. It was a cute place with a lot of tables in a cozy courtyard.
For our first night, we wanted to stick with the classics. Oysters......
These were Amelie Oysters in creamed spinach.
Chicken and Andouille Gumbo
Ahi Tuna (not exactly traditional)
And the fish of the day that I started eating before realizing I hadn't taken a picture. Still looks great, though, right? Can't mess up fish with pecans and butter.
I so feel for you, honey......
The next day we got up at the crack of noon to get to the festival. The festival is at the fairgrounds and shuttle passes are under $30 for two people per day. The shuttles leave from the Marriott on Canal Street. There is another pickup point if you aren't staying in the French Quarter.
The weather the first weekend was perfect!! We didn't want to mention it because we didn't want to jinx it. Last year we were out in the middle of the thunderstorm and were soaked to the skin.
Sky-writers had fun on a clear day.
Even brought a tear to our eyes.
Along with the big outdoor stages, there are smaller tents with chairs.
The crowds are pretty much like all festival crowds but with a larger older (i.e.over 55) attendance.
There was a good representation of classical jazz, blues, and gospel but they are trying to bring in the money with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, Flo Rida, and Nick Jonas.
The food is a big draw to the festival. There are crayfish, greens, beans and rice. We went to the shortest line and ended up with BBQ.
My favorite stand, though, was this one!
The second night we hit The Pelican Club. It was pretty fancy and had the best oysters we had the whole trip.
But tops marks go to Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. Everything was obnoxiously old school. I don't mean that is a bad way. Everything was so comfortable and the white coated waitstaff treated us so well we couldn't help but have a good time.
The Chateaubriand for Two knocked our socks off.
It probably could have stretched to 3 or 4 people.
The New Orleans Jazz Fest is a great weekend getaway. They do a really great job moving people around and the line-up is varied for all different tastes and age groups. You can bring the whole family!!
To check out the schedule for this year and to bookmark for next year check out New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Travel with Amtrak
Make reservations for Cafe Amelie, The Pelican Club, Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse.
