Star Sighting in the French Quarter

So, while J and I were walking to dinner, we had a New Orleans star sighting. But before I tell you about our star sighting, let me take a step back.

It was the day before my birthday. I was feeling a bit of middle-age malaise, and the rainy day matched my mood. To cheer me up, J took me to lunch at Commander’s Palace where they have a 25-cent martini lunch special. However, there’s a limit of three. Why?  “Cause that’s enough,” the menu says.

Two bits

It was still raining when we left Commander’s Palace to check out Magazine Street in the Garden District. Unlike most places I’ve lived, the rain in New Orleans doesn’t wash everything clean. Instead, the rain leaves everything smelling dirty, and it feels like the ground may collapse beneath you. Maybe it has something to do with being below sea level. In any case, New Orleans shows best in the sun.

Later that evening, we walked through the Quarter to the Hotel Monteleone. The Monteleone is one of my favorite New Orleans spots because of the revolving Carousel Bar. It seems so quaint to have a revolving bar at street level instead of 30-stories up.

Carousel Bar at the Monteleone.

Truman Capote used to party here.

Walking down Decatur to the Hotel Monteleone, we saw a shaggy-looking guy hailing a cab. “Look, it’s Steve Zahn,” J joked because the guy was dressed in faded jeans, a plaid shirt, and tennis shoes, just like the character Steve Zahn plays on Treme.

The funny part: it was Steve Zahn.