We knew New Orleans wouldn't disappoint and would make for a relaxing, tempting, indulgent, vacay! Brandon took me on our first trip together to New Orleans a couple of years ago. We didn't do anything super special or go for any particular reason, but we had the best time just wondering the streets. We hand over our car to valet and never see it again until it's time to leave. The best part about staying in the French Quarter is just being able to walk out your door, not really knowing where you are going, but finding something fun and exciting around every corner.
This trip we stayed at Hotel Monteleone. I would highly recommend Monteleone to anyone wanting to stay in the French Quarter. It's newly renovated but still has a great "old European" feel. Being the vacation address of many famous Southern writers (Hemingway, Capote, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Welty, ect.) it has a very neat historical charm about it as well.
Our room was had a great view. Last time we stayed in NOLA, it was like a dungeon with no window. I made sure we had a window this time! We looked out over the Quarter and onto the Mississippi River.
Our first afternoon we spent just roaming around on the streets. Found ourselves on Bourbon with daiquiris in hand before we knew it. We don't spend very much time on Bourbon but its kinda the street we walk down at least once to see what's going on. There is ALWAYS something going on. I had to try out a Lucky Dog. Lucky Dog stands are everywhere and for some reason I just had the hot dog craving.
They're huge, so Brandon and I decided to split one. Yummy but super messy! Can you find the hot dog in there!?!?
After indulging in hot dogs, daiquiris, eventually dinner (Pier 424 on Bourbon), and more mixed drinks (thank goodness for all of the walking) we decided to call it a semi early night and go back to our room for some R&R. By the way Monteleone has some super comfy beds. I know a lot of people don't go to New Orleans worried about how they will sleep, but Brandon and I love to snooze and didn't miss our bed the whole time we were there.
The next morning (late morning) we woke up and decided to wonder on down the street for a little lunch (we slept through breakfast). There was this great little local deli called The Royal Street Deli. It had a very eccentric/bohemian feel to it. We were greeted by a10 year old who proclaimed that he would be serving us today because he needs some money. He's saving for a toy. He proudly brought out the $20 that he had already earned and stated that he hoped to earn $20 more. Unfortunately he only ended up taking our drink order (tea) and then he gave up his server duties to sit behind the bar and eat his turkey croissant and serve the other deli patrons and the one homeless guy who pretty much just mumbled to himself the whole time we were there. I would also recommend this place if you are looking for something not too heavy. It was very fresh and just right to fill you up for a day of adventures. I had the Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with candy walnuts. DELICIOUS!!! And very reasonable priced
After a yummy lunch, Brandon and I enjoyed walking and doing a little shopping. I don't practice voodoo and don't really wanna know anything about it, but I ALWAYS have to buy a voodoo doll when I'm in NOLA. I think I have a small drawer full of them at my mom's house. She has threatened to throw them aways several times. I hope she hasn't. Here is my newest addition.
She is the Goddess of Love :)
I also stopped in this great little toy store and bought one of my favorite books, Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood. Some of my coworkers introduced it to me at Pierce Street, and when I saw it in the store window I had to go in and buy a copy for my new 1st grade classroom. It's hilarious! You're kids will be very entertained listening to you try and read it, and it's great for teaching comparing and contrasting. (You can compare it to the original Red Riding Hood. Thanks Cathy and Evanglina for sharing this lesson plan with me!)
One also has to appreciate New Orleans street performers. There are many different ones. People who dress in costume, clowns, and hoards of great musicians. There are some that I see every time I go. Here are just a few. Do you recognize any of them?
This last one is my favorite. I don't know how he does it! He stays completely still in the position forEVER!!! He only moved when I dropped him a dollar and he said, "Thank you, nice legs." Hey, I'll take a compliment from him! He could only improve his act if this was a real dog on the end of that leash.
On our way to Jackson Square, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde.
I needed a little caffeine fix and this was my first visit to the 149 year old cafe. I just recently took a strong liking to coffee. I enjoyed the typical Cafe Au Lait and an order of beignets.
Ohhh my goodness! Shipleys doesn't have a thing on these simplistic, scrumptious, little French doughnuts. Of course I had to buy the "tourist bag" filled with a can of coffee, beignet mix, and coffee mug.
We were also entertained during our visit by this great little street band.
Next, we walked across the street to do a little people watching in front of St. Louis Cathedral. This is probably one of the most known places in New Orleans. It's a wonderful place sit in front of, find some relief from the heat under a shade tree, and enjoy the character of the city and of all of it's people. I'm never disappointed by the beauty and interesting things I see here.
It's just as pretty on the inside. When we were ready to cool off for a minute we went inside and had a seat on a bench hand enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful stain glass windows and art. There were probably about 20 or so other people inside doing the same thing we were. There were also several people there for prayer and religious purposes.
We capped off the afternoon by the rooftop pool at Hotel Montelone with Strawberry Daiquiris and a cool swim. This was my first visit to a rooftop pool and I have to say that it was pretty neat. It was like a small piece of tropical paradise in the middle of a concrete jungle.
That night we had reservations for dinner at Emeril Lagasee's restaurant, NOLA. We ate there last time we visited and it was memorable enough to bring us back again.
Go to their website and take a look at their menu. ( http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/2/NOLA-Restaurant/) Shrimp and Grits (one of my faves) has a spot there and it is a dish I would highly recommend. Brandon and I shared the cheese plate for an appetizer. I had a bowl of gumbo in place of a salad. I haven't eaten much gumbo in my life, but I will say this is THE best gumbo I have ever had. I can't imagine it getting much better. Shrimp and Grits for my entree, and capped off my bottle of Pinot Noir for dessert.
After dinner we went back to the hotel, put on some comfy clothes, went back out and had one of those stay out until 4 in the morning nights. I don't think Brandon and I have had one of those nights since our early days of dating. We had lots of fun and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
The next day we were understandably not feeling very well and a little drained of energy. We were craving just a good ole cheeseburger. You know how it is when you wake up from a long night/morning of drinking. Well at least for me, bread and grease are typically on the mind of my stomach. I'm a little ashamed to say that because we knew we could get what we were looking for, we knew exactly how to get there, and it was only a few blocks away; we ended up at Hard Rock Cafe. Hahaha!!! Hey, we got what we wanted and we got to sit next to some pretty awesome Beatles and Pink Floyd memorabilia. :) It was a good cheeseburger. Huge, we both had a half of a burger to take back in to go boxes. It began to rain so what's a more perfect idea then going back to our big comfy king size bed with 40 pillows, drinking coffee, and renting a $15 dollar movie from the hotel t.v.!?!? It was a good relaxing afternoon.
Once we had rejuvenated ourselves again we got ready for our last night in New Orleans. Seeing that the night before had been a wild one, we were looking for a bit more of a low key night. We started it off at the Carousel Bar off of our hotel lobby. Now this idea seems interesting, but I had not so much gotten my seat warm and two drinks of my glass of wine down before I was hopping down and heading to a normal non spinning table. Maybe I have a sensitive equilibrium because everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, but spinning (even if it's slowly) and drinking are not for me!
We set out on the town and decided to walk over to the River and walk down the River Walk. The rain had really cooled things off and it was a very nice, breezy, cool night. We took a seat on a bench and watched the Natchez Riverboat float down the river. We took one more look at St. Louis and Jackson Square and then decided to make our way to our last dinner in the Big Easy (you would think we would be tired of eating at this point).
This night we ended up going to Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. SUPERB!!! I had the best filet that I have put in my mouth in quit a while. It came a la carte but Brandon and I shared a side of Stone-grind brie and corn cheese grits. Yum, yum, yum!!!!
After dinner we went on back to the room, and settled in for one last night in our comfy, 40 pillow bed! haha! Really, it's not typical to not miss the good feeling of you're own bed, but this one felt like home. We slept in right until about an hour before checkout time, walked down to Cafe Beignet, had some coffee, checked out and proceeded to wait 45 minutes for valet to get our car to us. FORTY FIVE MINUTES!!!! Why is it that I always have trouble with valet in New Orleans. I mean when you haven't physically seen your car in 3 days and it takes them 45 minutes to get it to you, one can begin to worry. Luckily it all turned out fine and we left New Orleans and the monsoon that hit that day with BIG SMILES on our face and very full bellies.
Back to the real world and the lovely town of Oxford, I now how have 2 weeks of summer left. I plan on taking these two weeks to bring myself out of la la land and apologize to my body for being so bad to it. This is my public promise to myself to begin back my DAILY (no less than 6 days a week) workouts and no more than 1600 calories a day! While I'm working off these extra summer pounds, I will do it with a smile on my face because I will be remembering how much fun I had putting them on and how good it will feel to fit comfortably back into jeans! :)
Be looking for my plan/road to training for my next half marathon. I'm gonna get in one before Christmas. Think I may have some running buddies lined up for this one! Hint Hint Lindsay Pollard and Katie Stigler!!!
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