Tales Pre-party

By pinklady on Wed, Jul 16, 2008 12:24 pm

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Before dinner MiMi, Em, and I (Pink Lady) head down to the Carousel Bar for Vieux Carres and to meet up with Hanky Panky and Barbara West. The Carousel Bar spins in the center of the room, so to chat with these seated gals, we have to march slowly around the room with them. We're doing the "Carousel Crawl." It looks impossibly silly. The bar is crawling with famous cocktail types, many of whom Hanky Panky & Babs know. I have a total OMG I LOVE YOUR BOOK Movie star moment when I am introduced to "David", but manage to keep it together.

There are nine Bostonians we love to hang with in attendance. The good lot of us head to Jacques-Imo's in the Uptown Neighborhood. For this Northern girl, it was a real treat, featuring the kind of Cajun-Creole fare I've only ever read about. Highlights of the menu included: shrimp and alligator cheesecake, a multitude of "smothered" items (smothered chicken, smothered cabbage), and the piece de resistance: the Fried Roast Beef Po' Boy. As in the entire sandwich was battered and fried. Truly a site to see. With it we drank -- what else -- some bubbly!

After dinner, we head next door to the Maple Leaf Bar to danceand listen to the Rebirth Brass Band. We dance and drink PBR & bourbon (I tried to order a double Malibu splash pineapple, splash sprite with a lime wedge but John Collins dissuaded me) 'til 2:30 a.m. before calling it a night.

Impossible to find a cab, we hopped on the last trolley of the night and it was one of those perfect, truly magical decisions. Imagine a pretty, old fashioned looking version of the green line. With all the windows down we cruised through the gorgeous garden district with all its antebellum looking houses, then walked down remarkably quiet Bourbon Steet to our hotels.

G'night, NOLA! Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.