Left on Friday morning with @laceofbase to start our exciting and daring adventure into New Orleans, Louisiana. The drive was longer than we wanted it to be, filled with traffic, intense rain storms and the worst pedicure/eye-brow waxing of life.
We arrived in New Orleans approximately 9 hours later with plans to tweetup with @champsuperstar on Bourbon Street at about 8:30-9:00. Meanwhile @laceofbase and I checked into Hotel St. Pierre, which wasn't what we thought it would be. The building was older, not level and the room was a lot smaller than expected. The one aspect that made the hotel worthwhile was the security guard. Very charming person, more than nice to us and willing to help out any chance he got.
We then proceeded to change and go down to Bourbon Street, where the partying starts at 10 A.M. and is generally continuing from the night before. Our first meal was at a steak and lobster restaurant called "Sammy's." The food was tasty and the drinks were strong. Lacy was drunk before we left and Bourbon Street live up to it's legacy. Met up with @champsuper star at Pat O's, hopped around to a few bars checking out several karaoke joints. Enjoyed dancing, singing, laughing to the vocal and dance styles of Jackie; a middle-aged woman who knew how to work the crowd. We ended up in a small daiquiri place and took a window seat. Several Drunk guys came over to visit with us, knocked over a drink, then the bartender kicked @champsuperstar, @laceofbase and myself out. The bartenders reasoning was that if we weren't sitting in his bar, those drunk guys wouldn't be in there either. Made sense. But damn him! Toward the end of the night we met up with @champsuperstars bf, @the_eric and went to Chuck's. An awesome bar with nice people and FAR FAR away from Bourbon. :) We had a great time there meeting everyone, taking shots, drinking water :) and getting lots of photo's taken by Valerie Guerra of Feng Shui Design (pics of which I plan to retrieve from her soon enough.) @laceofbase & I decided we were tired and should start heading back, blowing off the idea of taking a cab (big mistake.) We walked to our hotel. Got lost on the way. 2 scared, drunk, vulnerable white girls on the streets on New Orleans in the wee hours of Saturday morning, not a good idea. However we did make it home, holding hands the whole way. Not to mention the pulled leg muscle from walking faster than I've ever walked in my life.
Saturday afternoon we awoke and attempted to recover from our hangover. Grab some lunch at the Market Place Cafe a few blocks from our hotel and felt much better.
Shopped around at some of the flea markets and shops around the french quarter. Really neat things to see, some of it became redundant after a while. We then attempted to make our way to magazine street for some shopping. Asking locals for directions on how to get there was a mistake. 6 different people gave us 6 different directions. One of the waiters at a restaurant waving us in to come eat, told @laceofbase to stop strutting her "cat" around like that. When she was merely holding her dress so the wind wouldn't blow it. You know in cartoons when a cute girl walks by and the guys mouth drops to the floor. That is what @laceofbase 's face looked like except her jaw dropped out of being appalled and insulted. Then she bought a pair of shorts to wear under her dress so this problem wouldn't pose itself again. lol We finally made it to the Garden District after the trials and tribulations of finding our way. If it wouldn't of been for the cute and charming girls on the Street car, who knows where we would have ended up.
The Garden District made our visit and struggle worth while. Beautiful homes, interesting people, affordable and unique shopping and above ground cemeteries.
We decided that for future trips to NOLA, should there be any, The Garden District is where we should stay. We went to a very charming coffee shop, "Still Perkin." Very inspiring and motivating for my coffee shop dream.
We ate at "Nacho Mama's," Mexican food; Delicious fajitas.
Shopped around a little more and decided it would be in our best interest to take a cab home. This might of been the best idea we had the whole trip. The cab driver was an artist, trying to get his work in galleries. He was from Ethiopia and did paintings with the alphabet and numerical system from Ethiopia. Very nice, personable guy.
After a much needed nap we went to an improv-comedy show at Yo Mama's. Cool bar, great show. The much needed laughing gave us the relaxation we needed from the stressful day. After the show we walked around, avoiding Bourbon St. as much as possible and enjoyed the scenery of Jackson Square and got a beer from Flanagan's.
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One of our favorite parts of NOLA is being able to walk around the streets with drinks. Pap's Blue Ribbon, love it. Purple Haze too. :) Went home and passed out early, around 10 or 11, after we got some tasty Boudin and took it back to the hotel room. It was delicious.
Sunday, we woke up before noon and searched for breakfast. After about an hour of no success, we settled for a cafe on the corner near the Market place we had eaten the day before. The worst service I've EVER had at a restaurant and the food was not even close to being impressive. We then made our way to "New Orleans Gem & Lapidary," a charming jewelry store. Filled with one of a kind trinkets, gems, stones, pendants, charms, beads and so much more. The staff was wonderful and everything was more than reasonably priced. Got a cool Bracelet there.
Stopped and had beniets and coffee at Cafe Du Mond, of coarse. After that we went back to the hotel and got washed up and dressed to go on our swamp tour.
The Swamp Tour was something that we should have done the first day we were there. The drive there was very informative and we met some really cool people that were visiting from Wyoming. They informed us of a tour they had taken the day before that took them through the devastation of NOLA and gave information on where things were. We were jealous. The Swamp tour of Honey Island was fun and relaxing. Even got a jar of Honey to take with us. Love it.
It seems that the informational tours and the more we were able to learn about the area, the more we enjoyed our trip.
After the swamp tour we went to our hotel, packed up our things and decided to leave that evening. Not before stopping at Luke's Restaurant for the best meal and experience of our entire trip. The waiter made our night and the food was more than amazing.
All in all, our trip had more than downs than ups. I really feel that if we had 1. Flown to Nola instead of drove, 2. Stayed in the Garden District and 3. Stayed for a longer period of time, we would have had a much better experience.
The things that made our trip worth while was without a doubt: @Champsuperstar, @The_Eric and Friends, The Garden District, Still Perkin Coffee House, The Cute Girls on the Street Car, The 4 guys from Wyoming on the Swamp Tour, The Bus driver for the Swamp tour and Honey Island Swamp Tour itself, The cab driver from Ethiopia, New Orleans Gem and Lapidary, the street artisits around Jackson Square, All the amazing art galleries and architecture around the french quarter, our security guard at the hotel, and without a doubt our charming, adorable waiter at Luke's Restaurant outside of the French Quarter.
Had we taken the Swamp Tour sooner and known about the other educational tours available I feel that we would have understood the city and it's people more. Not to mention having more of an understanding of exactly how much Hurricane Katrina truly devastated the community and is still in effect today. There is so much we don't know about NOLA that I would love to further explore in years to come. All in all, our trip was not a success. However, I feel that I walked away with a greater appreciation for Texas and Ennis. Not to mention a new found love of life. I am SO lucky to have the opportunity to travel, experience new places and things and come home to an even more amazing boyfriend.
Where to next year? Who knows. But it's been decided that another vacation is in order before the summer is over to South Padre! Bikini Beach, here I come! :)
Shopped around at some of the flea markets and shops around the french quarter. Really neat things to see, some of it became redundant after a while. We then attempted to make our way to magazine street for some shopping. Asking locals for directions on how to get there was a mistake. 6 different people gave us 6 different directions. One of the waiters at a restaurant waving us in to come eat, told @laceofbase to stop strutting her "cat" around like that. When she was merely holding her dress so the wind wouldn't blow it. You know in cartoons when a cute girl walks by and the guys mouth drops to the floor. That is what @laceofbase 's face looked like except her jaw dropped out of being appalled and insulted. Then she bought a pair of shorts to wear under her dress so this problem wouldn't pose itself again. lol We finally made it to the Garden District after the trials and tribulations of finding our way. If it wouldn't of been for the cute and charming girls on the Street car, who knows where we would have ended up. 
We decided that for future trips to NOLA, should there be any, The Garden District is where we should stay. We went to a very charming coffee shop, "Still Perkin." Very inspiring and motivating for my coffee shop dream. 
We ate at "Nacho Mama's," Mexican food; Delicious fajitas. 
One of our favorite parts of NOLA is being able to walk around the streets with drinks. Pap's Blue Ribbon, love it. Purple Haze too. :) Went home and passed out early, around 10 or 11, after we got some tasty Boudin and took it back to the hotel room. It was delicious. 
Stopped and had beniets and coffee at Cafe Du Mond, of coarse. After that we went back to the hotel and got washed up and dressed to go on our swamp tour. 
It seems that the informational tours and the more we were able to learn about the area, the more we enjoyed our trip. 
