Visiting Louis Armstrong's House

Roar! Today I went to out to Queens to visit my last Key to the City location in the borough, Louis Armstrong's house! I love jazz and Louis Armstrong is one of my favorite Jazz performers! I can't wait to see what this site has to offer!

Here I am outside of Louis Armstrong's house in Corona, Queens. It sure is a nice looking place! He moved here with his wife and lived here for most of his life up until his death in 1971. It was the only house he ever owned. The tour of the house was really cool but there were no pictures allowed. Apparently Louis made recordings of himself and his wife doing things around the house and they played some of these recording for us on the tour. It sure was spooky to stand in Lousis Armstong's dining room and listen to him and his wife talk about Brussels sprouts!

We were allowed to take photos in the gallery part of the home. Here is one of Louis's sweet trumpets! Roar!

The Key to the City location was also in this part of the house. Here I am in front of a special door only my key can unlock! I wonder what will be behind it...

Oh my gosh, it's another one of Louis's many bathrooms with a photo of Louis's behind! I never thought I'd ever see that!

Outisde of the house there was a sweet Asian inspired garden! They like to have jazz concerts here during the summer. I had planned to come to one the previous night but unfortunately got rained out!

Roar! Look at all those sweet Koi! They sure were surprised to see a T-Rex! Don't worry guys I'm not going to eat you!

Across the street from the Louis Armstrong house is this sweet mural all about jazz!

Roar! When I got back home I decided I should pick up my trumpet and do a little practicing. I was never very good at it on account of my short arms and claws but I bet Louis Armstrong never let excuses keep him from playing! I decided to try my claws at an old jazz favorite of mine, Ja-da! I hope you enjoy my Louis Armstrong impression in the middle! Roar! 

Exploring Eastern Queens part 2: Let them eat Tortillas!

Roar! After my adventure in Flushing I headed back down Roosevelt Ave to Corona to visit the Tortilleria Nixtamal, one of the Key to the City locations.

Here I am outside the Tortilleria. It looks like a pretty neat place! I can't want to see what waits for me inside.

The owner of the Tortilleria took me to a door in the back.

Ok... Let's see what is behind it!

This is getting a little weird now. I've got to go down into the Basement.

Oh, it's the kitchen where they make all the tortillas, it looks like I'm going to get to see how they make them first claw.

The owner told us about how they make the tortillas - apparently they still grind the corn fresh each day. Most places haven't made tortillas like this since the 30's when they industrialized the production of Masa in Mexico.

To make their tortillas, first the Tortilleria Nixtamal buys whole white corn--

--and soaks it in quicklime over night--

 --then grinds the whole kernels into a meal. 

Next, they press all the tortillas by hand. Here they let me press my own by claw. Roar! 

Finally they grill each tortilla. Oh my, it smells so good!

ROAR! THIS IS THE BEST TORTILLA I HAVE EVER EATEN! 

After that amazing tortilla I went back upstairs to order some other food! First I got this amazing chile relleno. Instead of a poblano it was a large jalopeno stuffed with tuna, roasted, then served cold in a tortilla with crema on top. YUM!

Next, I tried the sausage and pepper tamale. The neighborhood of Corona where the Tortilleria is located is an old Italian neighborhood and this was their tribute to their Italian neighbors. It was delicious!

Today was really fun, the Tortilleria was great and being able to see how they make the tortillas was a rare treat. It sure is great to have the Key to the City.