A New View of the Big Easy

 I was a bit hesitant to visit New Orleans prior to our cruise out of Port Nola the end of January 2025.  I had only been there once many months after Hurricane Katrina to help with relief work and felt very uncomfortable by the crowds, loudness and general "free spirits" that roamed the streets.  Bruce had never been, so I made arrangements to have 2 days in the Big Easy.  We had done a food tour in Florence and loved it, so I thought it would be fun to try the local cuisine.  I had done a ghost tour in Gettysburg and loved it, so I signed us up for that too. 

Surprising to us our flight arrived on time and we were in New Orleans by 12:30 p.m. with the whole day ahead of us.  We had booked 2 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn near the port.  We had an Uber pick us up from the airport and drive us the 25 minutes to the hotel.  To all of our surprise, he tried to drop us off in the middle of a residential street, not the hotel.  We double checked the address and it matched the address we were given, but obviously there was not a hotel outside our car windows.  We looked the hotel up on google and clicked directions and continued on our drive for another 10 minutes.  It was very strange that it was listed as the same address we had originally given, but the second time was a charm and we arrived at the hotel. 

We arrived at the hotel early for our 3 p.m., but they graciously held our bags so we could explore.  It was a short walk to Fulton Street in the Warehouse District.  It was early afternoon on a Thursday and we only encountered a few people.  We stopped by Ernst Cafe and sat outside and enjoyed the sun and a beer. They suggested Pepperjack Boudin Bombers.  They were delicious!!  We asked and took the food suggestions of every waitstaff member we encountered while in New Orleans and were never led a stray. Our east coast 5 a.m. wake up call was hitting me hard and I needed to stretch out and lay down so we returned to the hotel for a rest before conquering the evening.  After a rest, we returned to Fulton Alley.  We were thinking we would go to Fulton Alley, an upscale gaming parlor and cocktail bar for food, bowling and darts.  Once we arrived, we decided we needed more food than they offered and crossed the street for dinner at Grand Isle Restaurant. Our waitress, E, set us up with her recommendations beginning with a Watermelon & Basil Lemonade Cocktail that hit the spot for beginning a vacation. We also tried the char grilled oysters recommended by our daughter, Samantha, and E.  Who would have thought we would both love oysters? That was followed by the Hot Shrimp Boil.  I was already full and we hadn't gotten a main dish yet.  Bruce and I split a Seafood Po-Boy.  Very full and extremely tired, we decided to skip the bowling and head back to the hotel to sleep.  And did we ever sleep - 12 hours.

Our second day in New Orleans was spent exploring the French Quarter. We took an uber to the heart of the French Quarter, Cafe De Monde. We walked the area stopping in Jackson Square waiting for our food tour to begin. We enjoyed the street performers music as we soaked in the sun.  We were greeted by another Ohioan on our food tour.  This is not surprising, we always find people from Ohio when traveling.  We enjoyed red beans and rice (my favorite on the tour), cheese grits (our least favorite), and fried gator at our first stop, Oceana Grill. At our second stop, new Orleans Creole Cookery, we enjoyed delicious jumbaya and the famous hurricane cocktail.  We drank the category 3.  We continued our walk through the streets taking in the New Orleans views of color, sounds of jazz music and the various celebrations around the city, including the Super Bowl that was to be held a little over a week after our visit.   Our next stop, Cornet Nola served us Chicken & Andouille Gumbo that we enjoyed so much we came back a few hours later for another bowl before our Ghost tour.  It was time for our last stop,  dessert at Leah's Pralines, the candy shop that Richard Simmons worked at as a child.  It was here that we tasted our first praline and boy was it sweet.  It reminded me of the peanut butter fudge we made when I was a child.  I was surprised that our stop didn't include beignets, but the crowd at Cafe De Monde was always so large it wasn't time friendly.  While on our tour we had stopped by to see how they were made. After our tour we returned to enjoy them.  They were better than I remembered.  The packs of  three were perfect for the two of us to share as we sat on a bench over looking the Mississippi river.

It was several hours before our evening ghost tour around the city.  We came across the French Quarter National Park Visitor Center.  It was then we discover 2 National Park site in New Orleans - Jean Lafitte National Historic Pak and Preserve and New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park. Bonus! We walked Bourbon Street and stopped back into the Cornet for a cocktail and another bowl of gumbo before meeting our tour guide. The ghost tour was one of history, legend and ghostly stories.  The tour itself was good, though our tour guide was easily distracted by our a bit tipsy travelers in our group.  Still, we got a nice history of New Orleans and some ghostly tales of the Ursuline Convent, Lafitte's Black Smith House, The Andrew Jackson Hotel and the LaLaurie Mansion.  The stories had some lasting effect as I returned to the hotel and looked up podcasts on the various locations. Along our walking tour route, we came across a parade under the night skies around Jackson Square.  We believe it was a vampire parade.  Seemingly, New Orleans has a parade for everything.  We were also able to see the St. Louis Cathedral all lit up for the Super Bowl.  We thought that it was odd, but it was very cool to see. We walked past the location of the terrorist attack that had occurred less than a month prior to our visit and said a quiet prayer for the victims and their families before taking an Uber back to the hotel. We walked over 7 miles between noon and 9:30 p.m.  That is the most walking I had done since the winter began.

"Touchdown Jesus"

Andrew Jackson Hotel

Dining with a ghost at Muriel's Restaurant

St. Louis Cathedral lit for the Super Bowl

Vampire Parade?

Reflection:  I was surprised how much I enjoyed New Orleans. I was already writing off New Orleans from my previous memories. I am glad I planned a couple tours.  First off eating my way through New Orleans was fantastic!!  I do not remember my 3rd grade history so getting the history of the area was also a plus.  The hidden gem of 2 National Park historical sights was also a delightful surprise.  Two more stamps for my passport!  Life isn't always what you expect.  Sometimes you need to branch out and create your own adventure!