New Orleans Rum Distillery
Eating and drinking is definitely on the list of things to be done in NOLA. You can get recommendations on everything from coffee to cocktails. New Orleans is also a good place to see things. There are all kinds of tours to take, from the usual sightseeing to haunted tours. I took a tour that sort of combined the two.
Last week I went to New Orleans for a few days. I wanted to see some things, take some pictures and generally hang out.
Eating and drinking is definitely on the list of things to be done in NOLA. You can get recommendations on everything from coffee to cocktails. New Orleans is also a good place to see things. There are all kinds of tours to take, from the usual sightseeing to haunted tours. I took a tour that sort of combined the two.
I visited the Old New Orleans Rum Distillery. It's just outside the French Quarter in an industrial area you won't find a lot of tourist attractions.
The piece of equipment was once used to make perfume. Now it's used to make rum.
Celebration Distillation, which makes Old New Orleans Rum was founded by artist James Michalopoulos. The back story on the distillery sounds like quite the DIY, 'let's try this and see what works' kind of business. It's small, only distributes to a few states, and the guys who work there do most of the work by hand.
Where rum becomes rum. But the fermentation process leaves the room smelling like beer.
The room where bottles are filled and labeled. Each label has work by the artist/owner on the reverse.
The tour started with a cocktail, was followed by a tasting of four rums plus a new ginger soda/rum drink product, (above) and concluded with a small slice of rum cake. If you like what you taste you can take some home, or have them ship it.
The tour was fun and interesting, and well worth the $10 cost. I'd suggest taking it next time you're in New Orleans.
New Orleans Jazz
I spent a few days on vacation in New Orleans. Now that I'm back home, I know that's not nearly enough time.
I spent a few days on vacation in New Orleans. Now that I'm back home, I know that's not nearly enough time.
I hadn't been to New Orleans since I was my daughter's age. My parents took my brother, me and two of our cousins to the 1984 World's Fair. One thing that hasn't changed is the feeling of a festival or a fair on some streets. I'm staying in the French Quarter. I went out to a concert at Preservation Hall last night, and it seemed like some sort of holiday celebration in the area.
The line outside Preservation Hall is long and forms early.
If you love jazz music, or music of any kind, you need to go to Preservation Hall if you visit New Orleans. Or look up the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and find out when they're coming to your city. Different acts play the Hall, but I made a point of getting a VIP ticket on a night the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was playing. I'm glad I did.
First of all, this is not your usual venue. The building itself is at least 200 years old. It's been the site of Preservation Hall since 1961. There is no stage. There's no mics or amplifiers or speakers. There's no seed. There is one room everyone goes into, with not a lot of seating. There are a couple of benches, some pillows for the floor, and the VIP seats are important for their placement, not the comfort level.
I took the picture above from my seat. I was right next to the musicians. When I say "right next to," I mean, I had to scoot back a bit when the sax player jumped up to sing. I could see every key the pianist played. It was fantastic. And this is all I can show you:
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band takes the stage.
I have never hated a "no photography" rule so much in my life. Once the performance started, photography had to end. Even if I was inclined to sneak some pictures, I was sitting so close there's no way I could have gotten away with it. I was too busy enjoying the music anyway. It's kind of hard to take pictures and clap at the same time.