Eating

I am eating my way thru New Orleans, or so it seems.....Sunday was lunch with Marty at the Hard Rock Cafe.....Sunday night was dinner with the Crane/Martin staff at the Palace Cafe. 

Monday, I took the tour bus (alone) around the city.  Got off at the French Market stop and looked around awhile..then to Cafe du Monde for Beignets and people watching.  This outing would not be complete without a stop at Sally's Pralines (my favorite praline shop).  Hopped back on bus and took the entire tour through the Garden District, Superdome, Business District, Art District, Basin Street...etc.   Its the only way to see the city that you are visiting!!!!  Tonight was the welcome reception and ribbon cutting on the exhibit hall.  After was the Past President's Dinner in which Jim and I hosted at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse.  Finally made it back to hotel room a few minutes before midnight.

Tues was a guest outing - A Mississippi river paddle boat cruise.  It was wonderful.  Stayed in the salon (a/c) with some friends and had a great time.  Next was lunch at Antoine's.  No so great.  Food was wonderful, restaurant was beautiful, but wait staff was rude and left a lot to be desired.  I have made sure that the SAIA has left an unfavorable review of their restaurant.  There is no reason for an entire wait staff to be rude and unaccommodating.  Anyway...Next is dinner at Brennan's Restaurant with the Allied group.  A "by invitation only" event in a beautiful venue.  Food was fantastic and the wait staff was doing everything in their power to be friendly.  My favorite was served which is steak and chocolate cake.😀

Today so far, has been the SAIA breakfast ( this is daily) and a the guest outing today was a class at the New Orleans School of Cooking.  Oh My !!!!  The menu was Louisiana Meat Pies, Corn and Crab Bisque, Jambalaya, and Bananas Foster Crepes.  I was on the team to make the Crepes but also went table to table to observe the other dishes being made.  We were then served the food that we had cooked.  The chef laughed when we asked if we could light the crepes....said he liked his eyebrows..lol.   This was a great hit with all the ladies (and 2 guys). 

Tonight is the finale...thank goodness.  begins with a cocktail party, then goes into the GALA and awards ceremony, the into the after party.  I'm sure by the time all this ends tonight we will be ready to crash!!!