Weekly Wrap-Up: New Orleans, LA!

Honestly, I sat down to write this and got a little sad thinking about how I'm no longer in New Orleans.  It's probably my favorite city that I've travelled to as a tourist, and I feel like I could go back over and over again.  Bonus: it was Lil Miss' first time in New Orleans, so she'll be making an appearance.  :)

Here are a bunch of my favorite pictures in the city, with a little bit of my commentary in between.  Really, the pictures speak for themselves!!!


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  Bourbon Street, Cemetery Tour, Garden District, Jackson Square, French Market, World War II Museum
• Eats:  Mother's Restaurant, Jacques Imo's, Cafe Beignet, Mother's Restaurant #2, Morning Call, Antoine's, Cafe du Monde, Meals From the Heart, Stella!, Cafe Adelaide

Hiya Lil Miss!

This was one of the clues in my crossword puzzle on the plane.  What a coincidence!

Welcomed to New Orleans (from my Instagram feed!)

First thing to do after checking in?  Eat a roast beef po' boy with debris and bread pudding at Mother's.  Getting it started off right...

Went for a little walk, then dinnertime came around quick!  We went to Jacques Imo's, which was cute inside and out!  They served us yummy cornbread (unlimited!) to start and baby spinach before the main event.

I had the shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake (top left) and the fried green tomatoes (top right) instead of a main course.  Well worth it!  Others at the table got the fried chicken and catfish.

Here was a side of corn maque choux, a fish dish, and cute shoestring fries.  I should mention that the others at the table all had huge watermelon mojitos.  Well, they weren't driving anyways!

On our way back, I stopped to admire a few cute manhole covers, cracks in the sidewalk, and The Mellow Mushroom!  If only this place wasn't so filled with great restaurants, I would have had a pizza, in honor of my years in Nashville.  :)

The next morning, we popped into a sweet shop where we ended up buying pralines as souvenirs later on.

More importantly, we stopped at Cafe Beignet for a breakfast of beignets, obviously!  :)

More walking through town, including Bourbon Street.

Lunch was at Mother's again.  This time, I had a shrimp po'boy.  In my opinion, it was better than the roast beef!

Then, we headed out on a tour.  Although I had been to all of these spots before, no one else had.  Still, there's so much history that I learned more about the city from the tour guide!  Here's one of their beautiful above ground cemeteries.

We stopped at Morning Call in the City Park and had beignets again!  Before you think that all we did was eat, I did take lots of pictures of the places we saw all along the way.  I just happen to think that the food pictures are more fun to look at anyways.  :)

Here are a few homes in the Garden District.  I love the architecture and the crazy tree below.  It's just so New Orleans!

For dinner, we went to Antoine's, the oldest restaurant in New Orleans and originator of the Oysters Rockefeller.  I kinda had to get those.  :)  Other appetizers at the table were shrimp cocktail and a Roquefort salad.

For dinner, we had fried oysters, speckled trout, and Chateaubriand.

Dessert HAD to be the baked Alaska.  This doesn't capture just how huge it was, and for only four people!  The massive portion on my plate was less than 1/4 of the entire thing.

The next morning, we somehow fit into our clothes and went to the French Quarter for beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  They were the best and definitely worth the wait.  Last trip, we had Cafe Du Monde multiple times, but this time our taste test revealed that these are truly the best.

We went around Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the JAX brewery, and checked out the Mississippi River!  Isn't it as pretty as a postcard?

Amazingly, there are real banana plants in the middle of the square!

Then, we strolled through the French Market, taking in the sights.

For lunch, some of us got food from Meals From the Heart.  I'm sooo glad that I found this because I had some really good gumbo made with turkey sausage!  Score!  The black bean burger was apparently really good too.  And of course, someone ordered a classic muffaletta from the place next door.

More walking through the buildings, enjoying the scenery.  I loved the detail of this turquoise door.  Apparently, it's a perk if your apartment is "Not Haunted."  Good to know...

Lastly, we headed to the World War II museum.  I don't want to spoil the inside with too many pictures, but it is definitely worth a visit.  I can see why it's one of the best museums in the country!

Dinner was at Stella!, which I had been to before and was expecting good things from.  Unfortunately, it is a fancier place, so I had to ask my tablemates to take pictures of their food quickly, and there are shadows all over the place.  Too bad because the plating is exceptional.  Oh well!

1nd & 2nd Courses (from top left, clockwise): Foie Gras Torchon, Spanish Octopus, Beef and Radish Tartare, Deviled Egg

2nd and 3rd courses (from top left, clockwise): Duck 5 ways, Butter-Poached Lobster, Barbecued Chinook Salmon, Spicy Asian Chili Prawns

By the way, I ordered a cocktail called Freedia's Fizz with a housemade cherry bounce.  So good AND cute!  For dessert, we ordered different items of French Toast Bananas Foster and the simply put Alabama Peaches.  A selection of Petit Fours was somehow eaten as well!

The next afternoon, we had to leave.  :(

Before we did, we hit Cafe Adelaide, which is owned by the ever-present Brennan family.  I didn't want to eat too much, but the food was pretty impressive once it came!

I will definitely have to be back soon.  One of my gym buddies was telling me about all of these places that I have to go to and see, and I still haven't made a dent in the list.  Well, it's settled then, I'm planning a longer getaway next time!

Until then...

Laissez les bons temps rouler!