A Quick Trip to NOLA (Part One)

Any opportunity we have to scratch our travel itch we try to take. So when Memorial Day approached we knew we wanted to seize the opportunity (and days off) to schedule a quick getaway. We considered a few locations but ultimately settled on a brief visit to New Orleans, Louisiana. Want to see what we got into?

We arrived to our hotel in the French Quarter on
Thursday afternoon and immediately set out to find a Po-Boy, the first of many that we would east throughout our time in New Orleans. In case you are not familiar, po-boys are one of the iconic NOLA foods. They were first popularized as cheap and delicious stomach-filling sandwiches for streetcar workers and laborers during the 1920s but quickly became a local favorite. From our experience there seemed to be two favorites: (1) hot roast beef po-boys slathered with gravy and (2) fried shrimp. And of course the po-boys are generously stuffed with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. My favorite was the beef po-boy -- the mix of beef gravy and mayo with all the meat, lettuce, and tomato was purely satisfying (and belly-busting). Plus, anything that makes a mess while you eat it is always fun. We learned quickly that if you're going to enjoy a po-boy be sure to grab some extra napkins! 

After our po-boy palooza we waddled to Jackson Square to visit the Cabildo. It was the site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803(!) and now it's a museum focused on sharing the history of Louisiana. It overlooked Jackson Square and you can *almost* see to the Mississippi River if it weren't blocked by trees!

It also gave me an appreciation for the geography of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, and just how LOW New Orleans is to sea level. In some areas it's 8 feet under sea level! Luckily, the French Quarter is safely above sea level, which is why it didn't have as much flooding after Hurricane Katrina.

After learning about the city's various neighborhoods and the Mississippi River we wanted to see for ourselves. So we walked across the park to see the mammoth Mississippi River. There were some people swimming and a lot of boats.

It was considered "high river season" and the water was 17 feet above normal when we visited. When we looked at the tree line across the river we noticed that you could not see the trunks and could only see the leafy tops!

We then walked to Pat O'Briens for some hurricanes.

They were by far the strongest drinks I've ever had. Phew, one was enough for me! And yes, mine was not the traditional hurricane drink.

Then it was off to Bourbon street for dinner.

We went to Felix's and ordered a few go-to southern dishes.

Red beans and rice for my husband and gumbo for me. All I can say is....yummmm. I need to find an authentic gumbo recipe pronto so I can enjoy this All. The. Time. 

Having eaten all the food we walked back to our hotel and called it a night! Of course, we didn't go to sleep before deciding on what we would eat for breakfast....beignets! If you have beignets in New Orleans (and how could you not?!) you have to try them at Cafe du Monde. Mmmmm, fried dough served hot and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar?? Sign me up!

 It was a very satisfying start to our day and fueled us as we walked to the Jazz Museum.

We saw Phats Domino's piano (which had to be restored after it was damaged in Hurricane Katrina) and an entire exhibit on Louis Prima, who was not only a jazz musician but also voiced King Louie in The Jungle Book. You know the song. Go ahead, sing it to yourself: "Oh oobee doooo, I wanna be like youuuuu, I wanna walk like you, talk like you, toooo". I also didn't know that Louis Prima and Keely Smith won a grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for their song That Old Black Magic at the very first ever Grammy award show! So cool! So that's one of the oldest Grammy awards in existence!

I highly recommend the Jazz Museum even if you aren't totally into jazz. I was not but it was still neat to learn about all the various instruments, musicians, and New Orleans culture.

After that we were feeling kind of hungry so we walked to Central Grocery Co. for one of their famous Muffalettas. It's a sandwich (on round bread which I was surprised to see) made with meat, cheese, and an olive spread. Not gonna lie, the meat, cheese, and bread was fine. The olive spread? Not my fave.

We also went for a cruis on the Steamboat Natchez up/down the Mississippi River.

Soooo many ships travel the Mississippi River, ranging from small to large.

They played some jazz music and told us all about the history of New Orleans and the Mississippi River. They also pointed out some cemeteries...which have to be above ground because parts of New Orleans is below sea level.

We visited a cemetery briefly during our walk around the Garden District...which I'll talk about in the next post. I'll stop here because this post is getting SO long and there's still so much I want to share. Part Two will be posted soon!

But first, a few questions:

1. Have you ever been to New Orleans?
2. What is your favorite southern food?
3. Do you have any trips or vacations coming up?