Hubby had a business call this morning and with having the big Plantation tours yesterday, we decided to take advantage of the late start to window shop at the antique stores on Royal Street. We had been forewarned by Clarence (see day 2) that everything was pricey but we wanted to check it out for ourselves.
We stopped in at Huck Finn’s for lunch to enjoy Turkey Po-Boys and Shrimp. Pretty tasty and not too far from the condo/hotel. Portions were pretty sizeable and staff was friendly.
Leaving Huck Finn’s we took a left and walked 2 blocks before taking a right onto Royal Street. There was music in the streets today and we enjoyed the festivities and sunshine but not the humidity. It didn’t take too long before we found the first antique store we wanted to have a look around in. It helped that they were getting delivery of a beautiful piece of furniture as we were passing by. Inside they had some really fabulous antique furniture and some gorgeous jewelry. Most impressive to me was a cameo pendant that Mom spotted. It had been created during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and featured a painted portrait of her shortly after her coronation which spun around to feature a painted portrait of her from her Jubilee year. What a wonderful piece of history. The gal in the shop said that there wouldn’t have been too many of them made back in the late 1800’s and Queen Victoria would have handed them out herself as personal gifts or remembrances. Given the price for this piece was around $13K, I opted not to ask the price of the variety of cameos that I thought might have been the right time period for Civil War reenacting.
We wandered further and looked into several other shops before arriving at the “target” shop for the expedition. Coming home from dinner one night, we saw a shop that specialized in antique weapons (particularly firearms) and on the wall we believed we had spotted a Colt Revolving Rifle. Today we wanted to verify that piece of information and check on the price. It was an 1855 Colt revolving rifle although they called it something different…the price, $28K. Too rich for our blood but definitely glad we stopped in to check on it. They had plenty of other pieces of military history but we needed to move on. 
While we had seen plenty of the outside of St. Louis Cathedral, we had yet to look at the inside. Since it was in the middle of the afternoon (no mass) and we found ourselves nearby, we ventured inside. Absolutely stunning! This had a different kind of beauty from the churches we had the good fortune to visit in England. Although there wasn’t the stone carvings or wood carvings we had seen before, there was beautiful stained glass and exquisite paintings.
The church was named to honor Louis IX who died in 1270 and was canonized after his death. The 
stained glass windows, according to the docent, tell the tales of his good works. Also in the church was a reproduction of a 13th Century bible. It appeared to my untrained eyes to be hand done.
Since we practically raced through the French Market on our way to the Mint on Sunday, and we had some afternoon to kill, I wanted to go back to do some shopping. There weren’t as many vendors there today, but there also was not as many shoppers. This gave us the opportunity to truly shop and see what was there. Our purchase was for pre-packaged Red Beans with seasoning and instructions to cook so that my hubby can have his Red Beans & Rice when we get back home.
Heading back toward “home” walked us right by Cafe Du Monde again. What luck that we get to enjoy some more beignets! It was less busy this afternoon and we took the liberty to sit for a bit after enjoying our mid-afternoon treat.
We had further luck in finding a small musical parade making their way through the streets as we meandered and shopped on our way back to the condo/hotel. What a lively group and they appeared to be having a great time.
We rested for a bit once we reached the hotel, waiting to recover our appetite for dinner. After much debate, we selected McAllister's in Harrah’s for our dinner destination. This restaurant choice provided a variety of choices with evening entertainment built in. I haven’t decided if it is a blessing or a curse that Harrah’s is only 2 blocks from the hotel. It was a good choice for tonight!
Tomorrow we are off to ride the trolley, see the WWII and Confederate Museums and possibly visit Audubon Park if there is still time.
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