New Orleans, has gone down in history. I LOVED this place. I had some doubts because I don't really like dirty party places, which Nola is known for of course. But this city is SO MUCH MORE than that. The people, the architecture, the music. It is just a total package.
And I have to say, I am not a Halloween person, but holy cow was Halloween fun in Nola!!! Everyone was so excited for life and into it, it was such a pleasant surprise.
I always think I take such good notes on vacations, for this very reason, to blog them. But looking back on my notes from this trip, I can't help but think, really, I thought this would help?
But what can you do, at least I have some notes!
Day 1
I used to be a super high strung traveler. I would plan every minute down to the second. To get here we do this, to go there we do that. But I have let some of that go. Mostly because I don't have as much free time to research, but also it's been good for me to let some of that control go.
However, knowing how your getting from the airport to the city is probably a good thing to know. The day we flew into Nola, there was a huge storm coming. It was Halloween day and everyone was taking it super seriously, but our flight wasn't cancelled, so we thought, oh well! When we landed, the sky was getting darker and darker. The line for a taxi to the city was 40-50 deep. We didn't really know what to do, we disagreed a bit on a plan of action, but ended up just taking a hotel shuttle to our airbnb (or close to I should say). It was hot and crowded, and in the long run more expensive than a taxi. But we made the best of it, and the driver ended up being pretty cool! With our luggage, we stopped at a random place called Monas Café for a snack. It wasn't' awesome, but good enough for our hungry bellies. We checked into our airbnb room, which was the coolest check in yet, since it was just a coded door above the owners apartment below. Super slick and turned out to be convenient for the rest of the trip since we never needed a key or anything.
We weren't exactly sure what Halloween night would look like. We heard around the city that they even cancelled trick or treating, and had had it the night before in preparation for the giant storm that was coming. It ended up being the best night ever.
We got our costumes on, John as Prince, me as a Princess. Note: Credit to me goes to finding a perfect purple rain womens jump suit for $6 at a garage sale weeks before! It rained a bit as we walked towards Mimi's, the local bar that our hosts recommended. We wanted to stay close, since paranoid mom (aka me) was nervous the storm would actually live up to its expectations...it did not. We had so much fun wandering the streets. We ended up staying on Frenchman street, which is known as the local/artsy alternative to Bourbon street. It was so fun! SO many music venues and awesome people. Everyone was so excited about costumes and drinking, and life in general. They shut down the whole street so everyone is just wandering around in crazy get-ups. It was really great. The furthest we walked was Gene's Poboy for a Sammy! They are definitely delicious. I really wanted to wander to Bourbon just to see what it was like, but we were so content near Frenchman that we just walked back.
Our airbnb location was really great too, it was about a 15-20 minute walk to Frenchman, and then another 15 to the center closer to Bourbon. But since we spent most of our time on Frenchman, it was perfection.
Day 2
We walked to Who Dat for breakfast. It was super yummy and adorable, but so busy and the service was crap. The people were cranky too! I could tell the hostest was just getting beat up, so I looked at her and just said you're doing a great job, I'm sorry people suck, and I could tell she almost cried right there. Ugg, people sometimes. Then we napped! Next was Café du Mont to get the famous Beignets. And I do have to say, these little guys were perfection. Probably one of my favorite types of dessert I've ever had. I have a love of donuts and sugar...so it's pretty much perfection. We wandered around a bit, saw the city center, walked down Bourbon. It was definitely already crazy, and it was only like 1 when we walked down! John hated when I strolled us down the street, but I cant help it, I'm intrigued! It's not like I actually want to hang out there, but it's definitely and interesting place to see. We headed back to Frechman and went to the Spotted Cat for some live music and an afternoon drink. It was 3 soulful women singer and it was perfection. That night we went to Adolfos on Frenchman. It had super high reviews and like a 2 hour wait, but we were seriously let down by the food and price. But it didn't matter because during that 2 hours wait we hung out at the bar downstairs called the Apple Barrel where there was a live music and chatted with this cool couple the whole time. Win! We wandered around and caught some more music after that.
Day 3
St. Roch Market. This was just a couple blocks from our place, and was pretty neat. J really loved it, I felt so-so. I'm kind of a more classic breakfast person, so I wasn't a huge fan of the set up. But we still were each able to get something we wanted! Next , we took our time walking to Canal street. We wandered through some shops, the cork store, walked past tons of talented musicals on the streets, i loved that part! What an awesome thing. Once we got to Canal street, we found the Trolley stop we were looking for, and caught the Trolley to the garden district. It was so fantastic! A nice breeze, and adorable traditional street trolleys. Plus a day pass was like 5 dollars. We got off close to the Lafayette graveyard and took our time wondering through the streets with amazing houses and the beautiful gravestones. I felt a little weird being in the graveyard, but it was still a cool thing to see since it's so different. Once we took the trolley back to Canal, and walked back towards our place, we stopped to get Daqauries which were SO strong holy cow. It was so weird seeing people just stop to get a huge drink in a styrofoam cup, and then just hop in their car. Like it's just a freezy at the gas station. So different, and a little terrifying! For dinner we went to Buffas which was a place between our place and Frenchman street. At first we walked in the front door, and it was super awkward, but the waiter there just up front told us we were probably looking for the back. So he led us through a dark hallway, and again, it was a little awkward. Kinda looked like a dive cafeteria, with old couples hanging out. But then the service rocked, and amazing live music started, and we were hooked. The food wasn't spectacular, but we were pleased to be in the place. After dinner and music, we walked down to Bourbon and then to French 75, which is a classy bar that J had been to before and wanted to hit up again. Not really my kinda place, but still fun to go there for J.
Day 4
We walked to a little restaurant called Elizabeths for brunch which had rave reviews. It had a cool little atmosphere, but i got something a little too weird for me to judge the food. I ordered the french toast burrito, but the candied bacon was definitely to die for. We wandered around all day, and then went to Cane and Table for cocktailes and apps. It was a more hipster joint but super cool inside. We sat on this back patio and had crappy service, even though it was slow, but it was still a cool place that I would go back to. Next we went to a place called Eat for dinner. There was a really long wait, but it was a really cool little place. Great service and it's BYOB! So that was super interesting. We just hung outside and waited for a table, J picked up some wine while we waited and we had a great meal! This was the night we planned to go to Preservation Hall, so we got there super early just like the internets said. There's a show every hour. So we waited in the line and finished off our wine on the street, prepared to wait for the next show, but we ended up getting into that hours show! That was a pleasant surprise. I went back and forth a lot on the decision to do the hall or not, but in the end I am glad we did. It's pretty pricey, but it's just too much of a must see to miss. The guys are so talented and adorable. And it's just kind of a cool touristy thing to do. One tiny room, no chairs, no photos. I think you can actually spend more to get chairs, and i would maybe consider that if someone was deciding to do it or not, but then again, it's such a short show that it's fine to just stand. We were in the very back by the wall, which was nice because we could at least lean on the wall.
Day 5
We packed up and went to the Ruby Slipper for brunch. Nothing exciting, but a great wholesome meal to start the day with. We took a cab to the airport and headed out for the day.
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