I went with the "Taste of New Orleans" option – "A Tasting Dinner of seven Creole/Cajun Favorites" – at the Upperline Restaurant, sitting under this painting of Willie White by Gene Rogas. Aunt Pat also tried the full Taste, while Mom went with the Drum covered in some kind of shrimp sauce that they were offering for their Fish of the Day. Dinner conversation was light, fun, and pretty much what I expected: their first impressions of New Orleans after the city bus tour they took today, and questions (mostly catching Pat up to date) about my teaching position here at Loyola.

As to my dinner, the "Taste of New Orleans":

Duck Etouffée with Corn Cakes and Louisiana Pepper Jelly
Turtle Soup
Duck and Andouille Gumbo

The Original Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade
Spicy Shrimp with Jalapeño Cornbread
Roast Duck with Ginger Peach Sauce

Pecan Pie

Oi. I have to go with the Turtle Soup and the Duck with Ginger Peach Sauce as my favourites of the first two courses. Gonna visit those again!

Finally checking out The National World War II Museum tomorrow with them. Since I got into history originally as a kid by devouring all the histories of World War II written in the 1950s for younger readers that littered our (beautiful and much-loved) Oregon Public Library shelves (as sort of an extension of playing with "Army Men"), and since a lot of that still is rattling around in my brain, I'm quite looking forward to the visit.