Grits and gumbo: the Big Easy a diner’s delight

I didn’t grow fins, but I made certain I ate seafood most every meal while in New Orleans recently. I also figured why I’m onto a new breakfast cereal, Grape Nuts Fit. Add milk and microwave and it’s a close second to bread pudding. Another NOLA staple.
The purpose of the trip was business. Newspapers must be multi-platform. Thursday’s snow brought home that message loud and clear. While we could not deliver a traditional newspaper, the news was still available on the Web and accessible through Smartphones, tablets and laptops.
The convenience and immediacy of the Internet puts a tremendous responsibility on newspapers. In rural areas like Allen County, we’re the only business that devotes its resources to hire skilled reporters to cover area news.
The conference down south reaffirmed that despite the myriad ways people can get the word out, it’s still newspapers that are seen as the most credible source of information — whatever their format.

THE MAINE lobster was the standout in an otherwise bucket of locally caught crawfish, shrimp and crab. We felt obligated to try half-dozen oysters, but were overwhelmed by the horseradish and ketchup. Give me grits any day over potatoes. Red beans and rice, jambalaya and chicory coffee, were musts. I had catfish and grits for breakfast at The Ruby Slipper. It was named after Dorothy’s “There’s no place like home” mantra after the restaurant rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
We walked and walked the city streets, including meandering through cemeteries where the graves are all above ground because of the high water table. These “cities of the dead” are filled with thousands of mini-mausoleums. Each tomb can hold generations of a family because after two years’ time the remains are bagged, the caskets destroyed, and more room is made for dear old Uncle Vinnie.
We rode a streetcar just for the heck of it. We ambled through the Garden District where the grand homes and their big porches made me feel as if a corseted dress and parasol were the more proper attire.
We made it as far as Houston Wednesday because of the storm, but came on in safely to Tulsa on Thursday. Another reason to pack extra. Just in case.