Why I Love New Orleans

by Heather Graham

  We’ve mentioned the second oldest restaurant, so now the first—Antoine’s. Antoine Alciatore came from Marseille. In 1840 he opened a rooming house or pension, naturally, with food to please and attract the visitor. The restaurant has been serving delicious food ever since. President Roosevelt once came here for lunch—you can come for lunch or dinner. Antoine’s continues to offer fine dining that is still remarkably casual and friendly. You can see old photos on the walls and yet be charmed by the tablecloths and excellent service. It’s a lovely place to celebrate something special! Oysters Rockefeller are a specialty; they were first served here. (713 St. Louis Street)

  The Court of Two Sisters is an excellent choice for a jazz brunch (or other dining!) The courtyard is lovely, the music divine, and the buffet long and filled with choices. (613 Royal Street) It’s named for two sisters, Emma and Bertha, who once owned a “notions” shop here—current owners are not related. But, of course, it’s a beautiful, historic, and certainly haunted building!

  Arnoud’s (430 Dauphine Street) and Brennan’s (417 Royal Street) are both famed and elegant and offer wonderful food. A comparatively new choice among these long esteemed establishments is NOLA—Creole cuisine with a bit of a modern flair. (534 St. Louis Street) I’ve really enjoyed NOLA every time I've been.

  For a great sandwich? A shrimp po-boy or the like? I recommend the Acme Oyster House. There can be quite a line at lunchtime. That’s because it’s reasonable and the food is very good. You can find it at 724 Iberville Street.

  I didn’t set out to list restaurants—you can find a list anywhere and here’s something that’s great about the city—it’s actually hard to find a bad restaurant. I’m going to mention Napoleon House because it’s old and fun and in a building that was really erected with the hopes that Napoleon Bonaparte would come to New Orleans in his exile. We all know that didn’t happen—Napoleon remained on Elba where he passed away. Napoleon House remained-Napoleon House. Like many places, it has a great courtyard. It was really erected for Nicholas Girod in 1814-he was the man who sympathized with Napoleon and actually offered the deposed emperor the place if he came to New Orleans. The atmosphere here is fun and breezy. (500 Chartres Street)

  All of the restaurants in historic buildings are proud of their history—often, you’ll find it on the menu and if you feel that you aren’t getting the whole story, ask your server. He or she will be glad to help you.

  Muriel’s offers up just about everything, in my opinion. The food is delicious; there’s often a three piece jazz band playing. The building is charming and haunted. Once, for Writers, Helen Rosburg hosted a party here. Everyone came in antebellum dress and we had the entire second floor and used one room for old time photographs (taken by amazing mixed-media artist friend Lynn Sanders! Check out her work!) and we played charades in another room and set one aside for tarot and palm readings. The night was wonderful and I’m ever grateful to Muriel’s, and yes, I’ll always be partial. But, the wonder of dining at Muriel’s isn’t something you have to trust me about—ask anybody. Of course, it’s haunted. Balconies are beautiful and overlook Jackson Square! (801 Chartres Street)

  There are charming coffee shops, bars, little alleyway places, and tea shops just about everywhere.

  You could also check out Irene's (lovely old fashioned feel and delicious food!) Or the Alpine—bread pudding that melts in your mouth. Or...

  Like I said, hard to go wrong.

  The one restaurant I will talk about that’s out of the Quarter is in the Garden District. (1403 Washington Avenue) I’ve mentioned it before but it deserves a double-take. I’m referring to Commander’s Palace. Several stories, a garden, a terrace...wonderful salads, a bit of that amazing casual elegance that’s so charming, and entrees that are delicious. If you’re looking for a really nice afternoon, walk the Garden District and see some of the exquisite mansions, stop by the Garden District Book Store, feel the atmosphere of Lafayette Cemetery and marvel at the “city of the dead”—and then dine at Commander’s Palace.

  New Orleans truly offers so much in the way of dining. Name an ethnicity, and you’ll find it somewhere. But if you’re going for a real taste of New Orleans, you can check out a few that I’ve mentioned here.

  Oh, one last! Feel like a peanut butter hamburger? Stop in at Yo Mamas located at 727 St Peter.

  Day Ten - Meet Susie Q and the NOLA of Anne Rice

  One of the best things about the city of New Orleans for me has been people! In the time I’ve spent there I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the most intriguing and talented people in the world—and people who love the city, the culture, and bring it to others.

  Suzie Quiroz is delightful—and has done something special in the city for years now. If you come at Halloween, there are a variety of things to do and amazing balls to go to. But Suzie introduced a very special ball years ago and it continues to grow. Now, she also does a writer’s con to go with it and pulls in some of the top names in the business. So, I’d like you to meet Suzie Q. And if you’ve a hankering to go to NOLA in October, she has a very special treat set up for 2013.

  I’ll let her explain in her own words. (Mostly!)

  H: Suzie, you're a master at the city! I've been to your ball and con and both are wonderful. (Suzie's NOLA Halloween Ball is legendary!) When did you first come to NOLA?

  S: I came to NOLA when I was 13 years old. My mom was born in N.O. and grew up in the Irish Channel. She met my dad during the war when he was in N.O. before he went to Korea. My dad was born in Lancanster, Ohio. My brothers and sister and I were born there, and Melanie was born in N.O. Coming from a small town, I thought N.O. was huge. I saw my first movie at the Saenger Theatre with my cousin Cindy after my first ride on the streetcar. The movie was Love Me Tender with Elvis. I was in heaven!

  H: You were Anne Rice's assistant for years. What was that like—and is that how you got into doing your wonderful ball?

  S: My sister Melanie said I had to read Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. I met Anne Rice at the Queen of the Damned booksigning in Oct. 1988. Melanie Scott, Susie Miller, Teresa Simmons and I asked her if we could start a fan club for her. She said Lestat would love to have a fan club so we got about 35 people signed up. Anne invited us over to her house and we were given some names to call. It was usually me who would call when we needed things to print. When I lost my job at a law firm, I asked Anne if she needed a secretary so that is how I got the job.

  It was the greatest job because I never knew what I would be doing. It was very challenging. One day when she was on tour she called with my assignment. Pack some clothes and catch a plane to meet her in DC for the Memnoch book tour. I did the bus tour too for Servant of the Bones. In 2000, the fan club ended and in 2002 I started holding the Ball again with my own funds. Things went well and Anne came to the Ball again in 2004. Then Stan was diagnosed with cancer. After Stan's death, Anne moved to CA to be closer to Christopher and I was out of a job. Katrina hit soon after that and I had to start over. When I finally found a place to stay and had access to a computer again, I restarted the fan club so I could afford to hold the Ball in 2006. It has grown since then with authors like Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton coming to be the Queen of the Ball. Then in 2010 I wanted to expand and have authors come to take part in panels to talk about their books, to tell us how they got started and about publishing in general. The first year, Heather Graham, Dacre Stoker and Gabrielle Faust were my headliners and each year we added more authors to our panels like Sherrilyn Kenyon last year. There are many stories of my job that were so memorable, and I guess you could say for 15 years, I was in my dream job. I learned so much from Anne and traveled all over the world. I cannot thank her enough so it was just logical for me to continue the fan club and expand it into a way to bring more people to New Orleans. And all who sit in the panels get to know the authors whose books line the shelves of the book store. These authors who aren't yet as well known as the top NY Times best sellers,
will be better known when they leave.

  H: What's your favorite thing about the city?

  S: I actually like taking people from out of town around the city showing them, not only the French Quarter, but the Garden District, and the big, beautiful houses along St. Charles and Carrollton Avenue. I show them the streetcars, the restaurants, the festivals.

  There is always something going on here. And much to see in certain areas; so many places in the city that are still not rebuilt after Katrina. I show them all of it, good and bad, because this is where I always want to live.

  H: What's going on with you, your con, and the ball for this year—that’s special to you and many, many fans of a particular author—one who helped NOLA become even more famous?

  S. I am still in the process of forming the author panels with some authors who have not yet confirmed. I was told that some publishers are not so quick to commit due to the writer not being as huge as Anne Rice. It was exciting to hear that Anne Rice confirmed she would be at the Ball and after we found the place for the Author Social on Thursday, she confirmed not only that she was coming, but that her publisher Vicky Wilson would attend as well!

  A lot has to be confirmed when holding a four day event. We are using the same hotel and venue for the Ball but with the New year, Mardi Gras and the Superbowl all within weeks of each other, it was hard to get everything confirmed. More clubs and big charity events and huge music festivals are held on the same Halloween weekend than before so it all has become more difficult to get what you want at a venue big enough for your group on those dates.

  The good news is that there are interesting authors who can make it and one is coming all the way from South Africa! Another is stationed in Afganistan now after completing tours in Iraq and will get out in September. Really the best part of this is meeting all the authors and hearing their stories. I could not ask for more. I am thrilled to meet them all.

  H: How do people reach you if they want to become involved in any or all of your projects?

  S. Our website is www.arvlfc.com and I can be reached by emailing me at admin@arvlfc.com. I answer the emails and send out the memberships and have had local people help with this. It is a big job and without our webmistress and many extra helping hands that work tirelessly and contribute ideas and solutions, I could not make these events happen. We also communicate on Facebook and will be posting when we meet in case local people want to become a part of our staff. We can always use a blood infusion!

  More about the Ball:

  The theme for the Ball this year is Lestat's Reunion Ball celebrating the return of Anne Rice to New Orleans and her participation in the festivities. There will be special presentations and a Q&A at the Ball. Our musical entertainment will be planned and hosted by violinist Paul Mercer with Jill Tracy as Master of Ceremonies. Costumes are encouraged but not required, 18th century theme this year. We will also have our signed book raffles that will benefit St. Alphonsus Church. The Author Meet and Greet titled "An Evening with the Angels and Saints of St. Alphonsus Church" will highlight the historic church's need for our help to save the art and history of this Church of the Irish that is directly across the street from the German Church, St. Mary's Assumption. You can read more about the history of these two churches at www.stalphonsusneworleans.com.

  Please visit our website, www.arvlfc.com, or our facebook page for more updates on our festivities and participants

  H. Thanks, Suzie. I can tell people with all my heart that your ball and con are great! I did have the pleasure of being a speaker and I’m one of the people trying to fix their schedule to get back this year. Our Slushpile band played the ball one year and it was a great time!

  Now, if you can’t make October and you can make December, there’s another con I’ll tell you about, Writers for New Orleans.

  But that’s for another day!

  Day Eleven - The Myrtles (Day Trip 1 from NOLA)

  While I’ll cover more plantations tomorrow, I’m going to start with the Myrtles; a plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, near and dear to my heart.

  We all know that authors do whacky things for promo and that book trailers are all the rage now. To introduce the Krewe of Hunters series, we decided to do a trailer at a plantation. A haunted plantation, of course. My friends, the Peace River Ghost Hunters, were also able to come up to do a “ghost expedition.” All these things collided in a wonderful weekend at the plantation.

  To film we had to have the crew, Bridget from the PR company, and family and friends who were willing to play ghosts, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

  So, I’m going to back track now. “Plantation” as a word really refers to a farm. We’ll get to more of that tomorrow when we do big, little, grand, and mostly work farm.

  The Myrtles is beautiful. It’s not the biggest or the grandest, but it’s on that scale.

  Building on the plantation was first begun in 1796. Judge David Bradford—a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania—fled south to this beautiful spot in Louisiana and built the north wing of the house. It the early 1800s, his daughter and her husband added a “gallery”—a first level porch that runs 107 feet. When the sun is falling and dusk is coming, it’s an especially lovely place to sit and enjoy one of the rockers kept there. The house was sold again in 1834 and the south wing was added on.

  Needless to say, in the two centuries-plus since the house was built, there has been war and calamity and mayhem—and murder. The Myrtles oozes with ghost stories. Whether you decide to go and stay and just stop and explore, you can take a few tours. One, see the house. Two, wait until the daylight is gone and listen to all the tales about the ghosts.

  Staying here is an absolutely charming thing to do—whether you are or aren’t into ghosts. The house and the grounds are lovely. The house is filled with antique treasures from furniture to decoration and standing in the midst of it all, you can get a real feel for antebellum life in this gracious mansion.

  There’s a full service restaurant right there, too, if you want to take a tour and stop for a bite to eat. The restaurant is the Carriage House, and everything I ate there was wonderful.

  The Myrtles can be taken for weddings, receptions, and other parties—or rented by crazy authors to create book promo videos!

  I started off with Dennis, my husband, in the Judge Clarke Woodruff Suite. It’s upstairs above the foyer in the main house and you reach it by a handsome staircase. That’s the only room that allows you access to the foyer after the tours are over for the day. There’s an extra bed in a passage room there, and a private bath and it’s really nice.

  It’s grand and sweeping, and really wonderful and I loved it. It’s truly a suite—and if you take it, that space is all yours! But—if you happen to be of the cowardly persuasion—it’s lonely, too. So, when dusk fell and darkness swept around, I really thought about that. Just the two of us...that whole upper floor. And Dennis is well aware that I’m afraid of anything that goes bump in the night.

  I wound up spending most of my time on the ground floor, with Connie and my daughter, Bryee-Annon, in the General David Bradford Suite. It has a sitting room and two of the verandahs adjoin the suite. It’s gorgeous. Hey, the costumes were all down there. And there’s safety in numbers, the way I see it!

  There are four more rooms available in the main house, and then more rooms and cottages and even two bedroom facilities available, too. No matter where you stay, the view is beautiful. And the tour is charming and enlightening and really takes you back to a different era—even understanding that a lot of work with trying to appear so elegant and as if you didn’t work! The ghost stories we heard were both chilling and sad. I won’t give those away—you’ll have to get to the Myrtles.

  Of course, we were there to work. There was costuming, and filming, and lots of fun involved. And then Scott and Sprout and the Peace River Ghost Hunters went to work. Now I love them because they’re never out to prove something is haunted—they’re quick to tell yo
u when you’re seeing a shadow or when a thump, thump, thump is just someone’s phone on vibrate. They take pictures; they record, and they leave cameras for when the house is quiet and all are sleeping to see what appears in the wee hours. All I know is that at one point, I’m sure I did hear something. Am I impressionable? Yes. But, writing books and doing the amount of things I do in pursuit of them, I am a skeptic. I want to know why a ghost would haunt a property.

  Well, there are many reasons at the Myrtles!

  The Myrtles is one of the Upper Mississippi River plantations. It’s at 7747 Highway 61, St. Francisville, Louisiana, about two hours from NOLA. Just hop I-10 to the 110 in Baton Rouge and then on to highway 61 and it’s not a bad drive—112 miles from the city.

  There’s a gorgeous brick courtyard for sitting and reading, enjoying coffee, a soft drink, or a cocktail. A gazebo looks over a lake and there’s an absolutely charming bridge there—and ten acres to roam filled with towering oaks.

  The owner and the management are friendly and helpful—it’s like a lovely past-life home away from home, a wonderful place to go to find history, peace, tranquility, beauty—and maybe a ghost or two!

  I'm very proud of the film we did during our stay at the Myrtles. Let me present The Krewe of Hunter Series.

  Day Twelve - More Plantations

  Some of the most beautiful and/or intriguing plantations you’ll ever see can be found in Louisiana, and while I’ve spent the most time at the Myrtles, there are others, some smaller, some larger, each with their own little piece of history in the greater scale of things.

  Remember, plantation means farm, so some are huge, others are modest, but all have something special.

  The Myrtles is an Upper Mississippi plantation, so we’ll look at a few more of those plantations today.