New Orleans

We arrived at our hotel on Friday about 11 am. We stayed at a really great place, the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter. It had a pool we cooled off in while there and it was close to everything so we were able to walk every where. After we settled at the hotel we headed to the French Quarter to look around and find a place for lunch. We ate at the Central Grocery, the home of the Mufaletta. It was a little bitty place. Your only menu option whole or half mufaletta. Once you have your food you can squeeze into a little place in the back to eat. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around looking at things in the French Quarter.

The rehersal dinner Friday night was orginially scheduled on a Riverboat Cruise but was cancelled at the last minute becuase of a large oil spill in the Mississippi River. The Coast Guard closed the river to all boats so they could work on clean up. Despite the last minute change we ate at a wonderful historical place called Tujaques. Everyone is served the same thing, 3 appetizers, then a choice of Beef, Veal or Fish and then dessert. The food was amazing! After dinner we had some drinks with people in town for the wedding at the Omni rooftop. Aaron and I thought we would have a drink on Bourbon Street on the way back to our hotel. We quickly realized we were out of our element. Most of the people were college age. We did get to see a person pulled out of one of the bars and we couldn't help but snap his picture since he was so drunk and thought it was super funny. He captured quite a few looks from passerbys. We didn't stay on Bourbon Street very long and headed back to the hotel.

Saturday morning we decided to eat at Cafe Du Monde, the line was out the door and down the sidewalk so we decided to skip that and just eat somewhere else. We walked down the River Front to the downtown area and stopped at Harrah's to cool off since it was incredibly hot. We gambled a little while and walked away with a profit of $5. The street car stop was just right outside of Harrah's so we jumped on and rode for a little while.

Saturday night the wedding was held at the historic Napoleon House. It's a three story building with a bar/cafe on the 1st floor, the 2nd floor was reserved for receptions/parties, and the 3rd floor is an apartment. The Napoleon House is known for their Pimm's drink, which is Pimm's Liquor, Sweet & Sour topped with a cucumber. I thought we would be able to pick up some Pimm's on Sunday at a liquor store to bring home as a souveniour. It turns out you can only purchase that at the Napoleon House.

Our flight didn't leave until 7 pm Sunday night so we had time to catch the Street Car again and ride down St. Charles Street, famous for their houses. Loyola and Tulane are both located on St. Charles as well. We wondered around the French Quarter the rest of the day and then headed back to the airport.

I drove through New Orleans when I was about 12 years old, so it's hard to compare what it looked like pre and post Katrina. I can tell you the French Quarter is rebuilding and lots of construction is taking place. On the outskirts while riding the street car, we saw lots of vacant/abandoned buildings or places for sale.

We enjoyed our New Orleans vacation and of course very happy to see our little Conner again!