Alligator Soup
We yodeled back at our cowboy homies in Texas and cast our lassos towards Louisiana…New Orleans, to be specific. But before we made it to the big bayou land, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a cheap dinner. Mmmm, biscuits.
We arrived at our hotel (booked through Bookit.com) to find out that although the online special reflected free parking, they were out of spots in their garage and we were out of luck. Bummer. Then, for some reason, we were charged twice (by the website and then by the hotel) which meant our first night in the Big Easy was spent on the phone trying to get a refund for our cute but moldy and damp hotel room. And, the streetcar wasn’t yet functional near our hotel (though it said it was on the website). We decided to shorten our stay from two nights to one.
We checked out of the hotel the next morning and headed over to the French Quarter for a free morning tour led by a National Parks Service docent. The tour was fantastic and taught us a lot about the early New Orleans settlers and the beautiful historic buildings that line the streets. We also stumbled upon a house (an old Spanish style cottage) that was for sale for a measly 2 million dollars.
Next it was over to the famous Cafe du Monde for beignets (french donuts with tons of powdered sugar on them) and a chicory cafe au lait. We also bought a batch of beignets to bring to my mom, but they get stale pretty fast and then just taste like sweet rubber. As we chowed down, Nick ran down the street to catch up with a parade of Ferrari’s driving around (yes, he’s a dork). After our coffee and sugar kick, it was time to walk around and check out some neat stores (the Nawlins Cookery School, a voodoo store, and a few Bourbon Street souvenir shops).
All that shopping worked up an appetite, so we headed to The Gumbo Shop, a NOLA eatery popular with tourists, for lunch. We ordered a shrimp po boy and a bowl of seafood gumbo…both were pretty bad. We probably just didn’t spend enough time looking for a place to eat. Lesson learned.
Our last stops in Nawlins consisted of a cemetery visit (but, alas, it was a Sunday and the place was closed) and a candy shop visit where we bought some pralines and one of the best caramel apples I’ve ever had.
Altogether, despite our bad experience with accommodations, New Orleans was a vibrant city with a ton of history and culture to offer. We didn’t see much damage left from Katrina since we didn’t really visit the areas that were most affected by the storm (the poorer, non-tourist areas were hardest hit). We originally planed to try to help with some rebuilding efforts while we were there, but didn’t end up with enough time or planning far enough ahead. Despite that, it was amazing to hear how much our tour guide loved the area and we know people like her will help Nawlins continue to be such an amazing place.
Jeff, Nov 28, 02:25 PM:
Hey guys. Thanks for stopping by on your way home through NJ. Sorry Luna slobbered all over you.
Please tell me you have a picture of the Ghostbusters costume you saw. Oh, also I’d like to see that picture of Liz and me and our pets!