Hi Jeff, Well, since others are suggesting some places to eat, I might as well mention my really up-to-date information on New Orleans' spots, fresh from the 1960's... hoping that some of these places I can remember right now still exist. Perhaps the most important restaurant memory is one I can't recall a name for. But it had a proprietary name, something like "Chez E___" I think. Maybe. It's on St. Charles, on the right as you head away from Canal Street, same side of St. Charles as Tulane, but a good many blocks farther out, in a section of older but well kept up homes. At that time many of those older homes had been converted to businesses. It's very hard to see the discrete brass plate name on this restaurant but as you drive out from the French Quarter, it was the very next structure after a bridal shop that might have been named the "Brides' Aisle" or something like that. I'd guess that it's probably a mile and a half past Tulane. Reservations were very much needed; they did a booming business all week long. If you can afford only one expensive French meal, this would be an excellent choice. The food was wonderful and the service was excellent. Attire is dress-up, with a butler to meet you and escort you to a plush anteroom for ordering/cocktails. Lovely everything inside this old house, lovely antiques, lovely china, silver, crystal on the table with more than a token of beautiful fresh flowers. The best breakfast I've ever had was at Brennan's. I usually steer clear from poached eggs because those are so tricky to get right... but they knew how to do them there, and to keep them perfectly warm too. I never would have thought to combine a poached egg with a slice of pink grapefruit on an English muffin, but my goodness, what a pleasant surprise that one was. Brennan's would be a good place for any meal any time of the day, assuming you're not looking for all your meals there to be reasonably economical. I kind of think I recall that Antoinine's closed, but if it's still open, you can get an excellent French meal there if you don't mind a bit of slow service. Pete Fountain has a place in the French quarter with a brick leafy courtyard that is oh, so pleasant to relax within to while away a bit of time while you rest up from all the walking. Felix's Oyster Bar is famous for oysters and they were wonderful too (and inexpensive). For really inexpensive but good food within walking distance of everything else: the Cajun restaurant, The Bon Ton Cafe. Things like gumbo and jambalaya are featured, as well as the whiskey pudding for dessert (tastes better than it sounds). A big open air market-like place that is near the center of things is the place to get your cafe au lait. If you like looking at scenery, then try the paddle-wheel steamboat ride up/down the Mississippi River. I wish I'd had a camera with me when we did that! And on the horse & buggy ride too. My very favorite place in New Orleans was Faneuil Hall. I wish we'd made a music tour, as I think there are many more good places to hear top musicians of every stripe there, but we never did that. I hope you have a wonderful time! Best wishes, Mary

Great idea, Shari. Are there any volunteers to start the box? We could start a new post, asking for people to email their addresses to the box initiator top make a "chain" list to go in box. John usually does this for us, but he's off to Oklahoma Monday. Second email from NOBG: "Things here will never be the same, but they can still be great. We are looking at this as positively as possible. We were very lucky to have a very generous donor step in and pay the staff, front money to replace some equipment, replace the hedges and some of our collection, and repair the infrastructure. Although it did take a lot to acquire our collection, most of it is replacable. We had a stand of 60-80 year old sweet olives that can't be replaced, which is what hurts the most. The oaks seem to have fared well, though, and there's no way that we could have replaced them, of course. It would be nice to know that our new collection will have been contributed from people all over the country. It also allows us to step back and 'fix' some things that didn't work and to upgrade/modernize our irrigation and electrical in ways we never could have otherwise. It is still very disheartening to see the scope of the damage, but many of us are hoping it's a chance for us all to start over not just in the garden, but everywhere, using all the knowledge that we have picked up along the way, making things they way they should have been all along. Thank you again, David"

Have fun!

The weather has been nice the last few weeks and I decided to work on the New Orleans garden some more. I really want to "finish" it this year, and I want it to be stunning! So I began digging out most of the plants that aren't going to stay here. I also moved out the whiskey barrel water garden and then dismantled the rock wall behind it. That was a real chore, busting up the rock wall and hauling the heavy rocks out of the garden. But it took up space that I had plans for. You see, in that spot right there is a concrete ramp that used to go into a storage building that was sitting where the guest bedroom is now. When we rebuilt the house, we couldn't get this concrete slab up and it has always annoyed me. There's valuable dirt underneath it and I wanted to plant it! But I follow the Marine motto, adapt, improvise and overcome. The slab was perfect for the whiskey barrel water garden. And now it's perfect for a couple of iron filigris chairs. I don't allow smoking in the house, so this area is now the new "smoking area". The chairs on this side of the "alley" are in the shade. And my brother can now sit there and smoke. And the unique "butt man" I bought for $3 at a yard sale is strategically placed next to them. And here's the new, improved, overall view of my "blank canvas": My plans are to fill this area with assorted herbs and a couple of tomato and pepper plants. I'll also have planters on the walls spilling over with assorted mints. All plants I plant here will be edible or useful in some way. I plan to put some kind of grid (sorta like lattic but a bigger pattern and sturdier wood) over the garden for an arbor-like roof. I also intend to use a similar grid pattern to enclose the open end and make an arched entrance to add to the elegance I have envisioned for this garden. Any suggestions you guys might have to further enhance my French/New Orleans theme would be greatly appreciated. Any ideas for plants would be great too. Any ideas on what to do about the ugly gutters? They've really got to go, but I need some kind of gutter system. Otherwise, this area floods and drains under the guest bedroom and can cause the floor to buckle. But the current system, altho effective, is just plain ugly. I've just bought some more trim paint so I can repaint all the trim on the house. As you can see, it definitely needs to be touched up.