New Orleans, October 4-11, 2022

We arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) on Tuesday, October 4th.  We were staying in the French Quarter, our first 3 days at The Quarter House which was an RCI property.  Once we got checked I. We went to our room on the 5th floor.  The room was small, and the only window was at the end of a long hall and looked out at the building behind us.  But the room had been updated, the bathroom was nice, and the queen size bed was comfortable.

We settled in then decided to look around. We were on Chartres and Bienville, which as two blocks from Bourbon Street so we decided to walk over to Bourbon Street.  First off, right to the left when we left our hotel was a couple seedy bars. The sidewalks were in terrible condition, so we really had to watch where we were walking. Cracks and bricks missing and uneven spots.  

 

We walked a couple blocks over to Bourbon Street, and even before we got there, we could hear the noise.  I wouldn’t even call it music, there were drums banging, herons playing and a whole lot of drunk people walking (some stumbling) about.  The first decent place we found was he Hard Rock Cafe so that is where we decided to eat our first night.  The food was good.  After dinner we headed back to our hotel for the night.  We arranged with the front desk to take a swamp tour the next morning.

 

Wednesday morning we were downstairs by 8:30 am or so and walked up the street to a little coffee shop called The French Truck.  The coffee and pastries were great! We walked back to our hotel to wait for our shuttle driver to take us on a Swamp Tour with the Louisiana Tour Company.

 

Since this was Doug’s first visit to NOLA I knew he would enjoy the swamp tour.  We were driven about 1/2 hour from our hotel to the Bayou where we boarded a covered boat with about 12 other people.  Our guide was very informative and took us to several areas to see different alligators.  He had a call that he used to get their attention and soon we were able to see several gators. He tossed out marshmallows near the boat, so they swam close to the boat.  We learned a lot about the gators and other creatures of the swamp lands.  Before we headed back, he passed around a baby alligator for us to hold.

 

After we got back to the hotel and rested for a while, we walked over to the Rib Room which I had reserved for dinner.  I had a salad and a bowl of gumbo which was seafood.  Only later did I find out it had oysters in it.  It was good but I was expecting chicken and sausage with okra, which I have made at home. Doug enjoyed his oysters and gumbo.

 

On Thursday we took the streetcar down to the French Market and walked through it, then to the Market Cafe for lunch.  Doug had a burger and I had a great greek salad which we listened to the jazz musicians that were playing in the cafe.  We walked to the waterfront Riverwalk then to the streetcar to get back to our hotel. Once there we got ready for our 3-hour city tour. 

 

Greg picked us up in a comfortable large passenger van, and after picking up more people from other hotels we were on our way.   He gave us a little history of the French Quarter, the #1 cemetery with a personal tour, the garden district and then we had a short break stop at the New Orleans City Park where we had beignets at Cafe Beignet for the first time this trip.  The fried dough dropped in powdered sugar were so yummy, but messy. We finished up our trip by going out to the area where the levees broke in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit.   Most homes were rebuilt but you could still see some of the devastation.  We headed back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. 

 

That evening, when we were walking to the streetcar, there was a marching band walking up our street.  It was fun to watch and after the band there were several people walking along, drinking and yelping and hollering, and throwing beads. It was fun to watch.  We made it to the streetcar and got off down ant the waterfront and walked up to Landry’s Seafood.

 

I had the cedar planked salmon which was wonderful, and Doug had the shrimp Po’boy which was huge. It came with fries, but the sandwich alone was too much for him to eat.  It was a good dinner, just too much.  Afterward we just went back to the hotel.

 

Friday, we had to move to the Royal Sonesta Hotel which was where Doug’s conference was.  It was on Bourbon Street, about 3 blocks total from our hotel.  We weren’t comfortable walking with our luggage, so we checked out but left our bags with the front desk.  We headed to the streetcar for a ride to Waffle House. Doug’s favorite place! It was a good breakfast, so I was glad we had the opportunity to go. It was only a mile or 2 from our hotel.  

 

After our breakfast we called Uber and got dropped off in Jackson Square. We went into the cathedral first then the history museum in the Presbytere, which is next to the cathedral.  Although it is not the Katrina Museum, the entire first floor is dedicated to the events that happened in Sept 2005 when Katrina hit, and the levees were breached due to the water surges in the days following.  It’s very moving to see what they went through back then.  This trip is just a little over a week since hurricane Ian landed on the gulf coast of southern FL and decimated several towns in and around Fort Myers, in some cases taking out their only access bridges.   It really puts things in perspective and gives me more reason to be thankful that we are not faced with those challenges.

 

After our museum visit, we called Uber and got the same driver we had earlier.  We explained that we had bags to move only a few blocks to another hotel and wondered if we could just hire her off the clock to help us out. She showed us how we now have an option on the Uber app to add a stop so we did then gave her an extra-large tip.

 

The Royal Sonesta is right on Bourbon Street, and later that evening we found out how loud it could be! It’s a freak show with drunks, druggies strung out, people in very little clothing, etc.  In 2018 when I was here with Ruth and Carol we went to a few restaurants and jazz clubs, and I don’t remember anything like that.  Think Fremont Street in Vegas on steroids! Fun to watch for a few minutes but way too loud!

 

We got checked into the hotel and we’re given a room on the 5th floor overlooking Bourbon Street.  Surprisingly, it was not too noisy so they must have good soundproofing.  Our room was small but had a king size bed, a chair, and a desk.

 

We had dinner at the House of Blues which was a couple blocks away from our hotel.  We ate in the courtyard and listened to their jazz band for a while then headed back to our hotel.  Later that evening we went to the hotel’s Friday night show in their Jazz Playhouse. It was a burlesque show that featured 4 dancers, and a female blues singer. The dancers each danced twice to individual numbers and teased as they playfully removed layers of clothes until they were down to thong undies, stockings with garters and pasties on top.  One of the dancers was a male dressed as a woman…. I wouldn’t call it a family show, but it was all done tastefully and not at all raunchy.

 

On Saturday I went to the pool after getting coffee at PJ’s in the hotel lobby.  I found a shaded area and spent a few hours their before it started to get too warm. The water itself was a little cool but it was refreshing.  Doug met me about the time I was going to move so we went over to the pool bar and had some lunch.

 

Saturday at 5pm we walked over to Preservation Hall to listen to a little jazz music.  We had front row seats which was great since several people were standing in the back during the performance, which was about 50 minutes.  We really enjoyed the band.   Afterward we walked over to New Orleans Creole Cookery for dinner, which was for MSPA board members and spouses. There were 24 of us.  Dinner was very good. After appetizers of hush puppies, calamari, and oysters, I had a bowl of jambalaya and Doug had crab cakes.

 

Sunday morning Doug’s conference officially started.  He went to a board meeting for most of the morning and I went back to the pool. It was a little cooler than the day before, so I didn’t swim.  Doug had an afternoon break so met me at the pool bar for lunch and to watch the Seahawks/Saints game (in NOLA).  After being ahead most of the game we ended up losing! 

 

After another early evening meeting I met up with Doug for a special event for the conference. It was a party with a stilt walker, juggler, tarot card reader and caricature artist, as well and dinner and drinks.  Dinner included all the Creole dishes including jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, sautéed green beans and seafood. Dessert was bread pudding, another southern dish.

 

On Monday, I got up early and started off with coffee and beignets at Musical Legends Park which was across the street from our hotel. The park has a bar and Cafe Beignet coffee stand, and lots of places to sit and listened to music and visit. They have musicians daily.

 

I walked to the streetcar and went to the World War II Museum.  I was there at least 4 hours and I’m sure I missed a lot of it.  In addition to the museum admission, I purchased a ticket for Beyond all Borders, a 45-minute film narrated by Tom Hanks, as well as a ticket for The Final Mission: USS Tang Experience.  I learned so much of what our country went through during that time.  It was a great experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone going to NOLA.

 

Dinner that evening was with some of Doug’s colleagues at the Bourbon House, a block from our hotel.  I had a great bacon, pimento burger and fries and Doug had oysters.  We both enjoyed it very much.

 

Tuesday morning, our last day. While Doug finished up at his conference, I packed up then roadie the streetcar to the waterfront to check out the outlet stores.  I bought a few shirts and pralines then just had a bite to eat in the food court before heading back to hotel.  We requested a late checkout so we could go straight to the airport for our 4:30 pm flight.  We ended up getting there about 2 pm.

 

We both decided that We have no need to go to NOLA again. I enjoyed the things we did but overall, it was just too much of a party town, especially staying in the French Quarter area.

 

Time to try somewhere new!

Alligator on Swamp Tour

Swamp Tour

We had front row tickets

Courtyard at Quarter House hotel

Dinner at Landry's Seafood

Musical Legends Park

Yum! Gumbo

After the Preservation Hall performance

Dinner at Landry's Seafood

Musical Legends Park

Jazz Club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel

Jazz Club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel

Musical Legends Park

Memorial to Hurricane Katrina

Saint Louis Cathedral

Saint Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

Courtyard at the Quarter House Hotel

Courtyard at the Quarter House Hotel

 

October 13th - 19th, 2018 Traveling Sisters in New Orleans

One more place marked off my bucket list!  New Orleans, I finally made it.  Carol and I flew in from Seattle and Ruth from Minneapolis, and we met up at the NO airport shortly after on Saturday, October 13^th.  We got our car and were on our way by 4pm or so.  We rented an Airbnb in the Bywater district which was about 30 minutes or so from the airport.  On the way we stopped at a local grocery store for a few things to have on hand at the house.

Our house at 629 Louisa Street

I loved our place.  It was a “shotgun” style house which means it was long and narrow.  It was actually a duplex of which we were renting one side.  We entered into the living room which was small but nicely furnished with a chair and sofa and a few tables.  From the living room we entered two tall French doors into the first bedroom, then from there into the 2^ndbedroom.  Through the 2^ndbedroom was a small hall with the bathroom and coat/linen closet, then another door into the 3^rdbedroom.  The final room beyond the third bedroom was the kitchen.  There was no formal dining area, however the kitchen had a small table.   Our host had said that one of the rooms was converted to a bedroom but not sure which one.  It worked very well for the 3 of us.  The beds were comfortable so I didn’t have any trouble sleeping each night.

That evening we went to a neighborhood restaurant called Bywater American Bistro.  It was less than a mile from our house in an old rice factory building. The food was amazing and was inspired by local culture and cuisine.  Great atmosphere and service also.

We were all tired from a long day of travel so after dinner we went back to the house and I think we were all in bed asleep by 9pm!

Sunday morning we went on a 2.5 hour City Tour which was informative and gave us ideas of places we wanted to be sure to check out later. So much history in this town!  We drove through the French Quarter and the Garden District, saw the St Louis #3 Cemetery and saw some of the areas that were most affected by hurricane Katrina in 2005.  We stopped for a little while at City Park and walked through the sculpture garden.

  

After our tour we walked over to Petite Amelie in the French Quarter for lunch.  They have great soups, salads and sandwiches.  We walked around the French Quarter for a while before heading back to our car which was parked on Canal Street where we started our bus tour.   Once back in the car we drove back to the Garden District to look at the stately homes and Skeleton House which we had passed on the bus tour.   We ended our day by walking over to Pizza Delicious which was immediately behind us on the next street.  It was a busy place but we were able to get a table and have a great pizza and salad for dinner.  I love how our neighborhood has a lot of little stores, bakeries, restaurants, etc. tucked in with all the beautifully painted houses.

Monday we had breakfast in our house then stopped at the Bywater Bakery for coffee to go.  It was just a few blocks from our house.  Their espresso machine was down but they were serving cafe au lait which is basically milk and coffee rather than an espresso shot and steamed milk.  I have been making my coffee at home by using ½ hot milk and ½ coffee and flavoring so this was a good way to go.  

We planned to spend our day visiting two of the many Plantations in New Orleans.  We started with Laura Plantation which was a sugarcane plantation with a sugar mill on the property.  We learned about the slaves that lived and worked on the Plantation and all about the family that owned the land (and the slaves).  The grounds were beautiful and it was interesting hearing the history of the property.  Next we headed to Oak Alley Plantation which was just a few miles away.

We ate lunch at Oak Alley and I got the Gumbo (which was delicious!) and small salad.  Ruth and Carol both had Po’ Boy sandwiches.  Then we toured the big house and once again learned about how the plantation was run and how the slaves were treated both when they were owned and after they were freed in 1865.  Many stayed on to work the plantation and they had no education or means to make it on their own.  Although they were free, they were paid so little that they had to borrow from the landowners which left them indebted to them with no way to leave. 

We stayed in that night and had leftovers from a couple of the places we had been.

Tuesday we got up and took Uber to the French Quarter.  We stopped for coffee at Café du Monde for coffee and beignets.  A beignets is like a fritter or donut, basically fried dough but then coated with powdered sugar.  Sweet, messy but yummy!   For some reason they didn’t have flavored coffee so I went about a block away and got my café au lait from Café Beignet which of course was also selling beignets. On Sunday during our bus tour we had seen a long line of people waiting for hot, fresh beignets at Café du Monde so we were glad we could walk right up and get them quickly.

We headed to Jackson Square for a walking tour of the French Quarter area. We selected Free Tours by Foot which is a company that is operated in several cities.  The tours are free and you pay your tour guide what you believe the value is for what was provided.  Sean was informative as he walked us around and talked about several places in the French Quarter including Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, St Louis Cathedral, the museums, and several businesses.  He gave us tips on places to eat, have coffee and listen to music in the area.  We each gave him $15 which was comparable to the other walking tours in the area.

After our walking tour Uber’d over to Willa Jeans for lunch.  We had wonderful warm artichoke dip and I had a pimento grilled cheese sandwich which came with tomato soup.  It was a great place for lunch, with large portions.  We took our leftovers but later we determined we were out too long in the hot weather to safely eat them so they got tossed. 

After lunch we Uber’d back to Canal Street and hopped on the St Charles Streetcar and rode it to the end of the line and back.  For a $3 day pass and an hour or so of resting we got to see a lot of the city that we may not have seen otherwise.

After Ubering back to the house, taking a break for a while we drove to Elizabeth’s for dinner.  It was less than a mile walk but we were all tired and had walked quite a bit in the last few days.  Elizabeth’s was not busy at all, and was quite dark inside. Ruth and I both had hamburgers with small salads (great!) and Carol tried the catfish which she said was very good.

Wednesday morning we stopped at Satsumas Café which was about two blocks from the house.  It’s a little neighborhood coffee house/café.  I had a piece of quiche which was warm and fresh and Ruth and Carol both had pastries.  We left there and headed to Westwego to go on a swamp tour offered by Ultimate Swamp Adventures. That was a fun experience!  We got to see lots of alligators (I actually held one!) and learned a lot about the Louisiana bayou.  Our guide was entertaining and had a deep Cajun accent.   One of his co-workers was featured on the show Swamp People, which I hadn’t seen but will need to check out.

After our tour we headed back to the French Quarter and walked over to 9 Rose's Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant, for lunch.   We shared the egg rolls and I had a great chicken Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich), Ruth had a Vermicelli bowl and Carol had Steamed Bun Sliders.  We ate outside on the patio and really enjoyed it.  

After lunch we went to the Presbytere Museum located in Jackson Square.  The upper floor was all about Marti Gras and the lower floor was about Hurricane Katrina. Very informative on both floors.

Before we went to dinner we went across the street to The County Club.  It was a beautiful building and we really didn’t know much about it.  We had only seen a few people now and then go into it. We were told there was a pool and that we could get drinks, so although we weren’t going to swim we wanted to check it out.  They actually had a full service restaurant and a bar, as well as a large pool in the back. We took a quick tour then sat in the bar and had a drink.  The décor was a little different but the drinks were good. We didn’t end up having a meal as we had other plans.

That evening we had dinner at Shaya, an Israeli restaurant that Carol had read about.  I shared several things including ghanoush, tabbouleh, assortment of hummus’s, roasted cauliflower, salad and glazed lamb shank. Not my typical food but it was all good and fun to try something different.

After dinner we went back to the French Quarter and went to Fritzel’s on Bourbon Street to listen to some jazz music.  We hadn’t looked at the times for the music so when we got there the band was not playing for another 20 minutes or so.  That worked out great because we got a great place to sit and by the time they started the place was standing room only.  We only stayed for the first set but they were good and we all enjoyed it.

Thursday, our last full day in NOLA.  The time has gone fast.   We started out the day walking to the Bywater Bakery for coffee, then went across the main street by our house to check out Crescent Park which was along the Mississippi River.  From the street you cannot see the river due to the levee, but once up over the levee there was a great view of the New Orleans skyline and the Mississippi River. 

We took Uber to the Voodoo Lounge where we were to meet to take a walking tour of St Louis Cemetery #1 which is only open for tours or visiting family members.  We learned a lot about the history of burials and why the tombs are all above ground, which was due to the water table and how the caskets and the deceased would start to float.. gruesome!  Our tour guide explained how whole families for generations would use the above ground tombs.  There is a real science to the burials including the type of casket that is used (pine because it breaks down over time), the fact that the deceased person is not embalmed, and the period of time that has to pass before the tomb can be opened for the next family member (1 year).  After that time, if needed the tomb is opened and the remains are pushed to the back of the tomb where they fall to the ground, making room for the latest deceased family member.  Most of the tombs had at least 3 separate openings, or more.  If a family member passed away before the time period had passed to be able to open the tomb then they could “rent” space in another area of the cemetery.  It was all very interesting.  Nicolas Cage had a tomb built for him in this cemetery in the shape of a pyramid for $300,000.  

From the cemetery we Uber’d back to the French Quarter and had a quick lunch at Café Beignet then went on the Riverboat Natchez tour.  As we made our way along the Mississippi River the tour was narrated with the history of the area, then on the way back there was a jazz band playing.  The weather was hot and it was hard to find a place to sit that was not in the direct sun, but otherwise we enjoyed the two hour tour.

That evening we were all tired so we ate what was left of our food and ordered a couple salads and rolls from Pizza Delicious.  

Friday morning we packed our bags and left the home for the last time.  . We had enough time to go to the Backstreet Cultural Museum which was in the Treme neighborhood and was all about the African American culture including the jazz funerals and the second line parades sponsored by the  Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs.  

Then it was time to head to the airport. Ruth and I were flying home and Carol was meeting Mike to spend another week in the south.  I had a salad for lunch at the airport then took the first leg of my journey to Chicago. My 1.5 layover stretched into 4 hours so I finally got home close to 11pm which made for a long day. 

Once again, a great sisters trip and I can’t wait for the next one.