New Orleans is known for fun, food, voodoo and music – and you can focus on whichever is important to you. I joined a great group of friends for the next part of my journey – Kelly and Alyssa from Boise and Liam & Alan from Spain.
I should give you a primer on the geography of the New Orleans. The city sits in a crescent along a bend in the Mississippi, so has a mainly northeast-southwest orientation. The French Quarter’s eastern boundary is the river, Esplanade to the north, Canal Street to the south and Rampart to the west. The Garden District begins is about ½ mile to the south of the French Quarter and is serviced by the trolley system ($1.25/ride, $3 for a day pass). In between The French Quarter and the Garden District is the Business District, where you can find many fairly reasonably priced hotels. Immediately adjacent to the Quarter on the northside is the Faubourg Marigny district, which contains Frenchman Street – an extremely popular area for restaurants and bars (for fans of NCIS: New Orleans – the exterior shots of the Tru Tone is the R Bar on Royal and Kerlerec St).
Liam and Alan had not had the pleasure of exploring New Orleans before, so they were off to check out the history and took some tours- the Grayline City & Cemetery tour (which did NOT go to the St. Louis Cemetery 1 which has the grave of the infamous Marie Laveau) and a paddleboat river tour on the Creole Queen, meeting with the rest of the group to enjoy the evening full of music and food (which is what New Orleans is really about).
We rushed from Galveston to N’awlins on a Friday to join up for a brunch at The Court of Two Sisters Café – last seating for the Jazz Brunch is at 2:30 ($33 pp, includes coffee and tea but not alcohol). A really great spread of classic southern favorites – cheese grits, poached eggs with a perfect hollandaise sauce, biscuits and gravy, an assortment of meats, cheese, pastries and cakes. While eating, a jazz band plays classics, but most patrons are too busy tucking into to their mounds of excellent food to really appreciate the musicians. The 2 Sisters sits in the heart of the French Quarter, close to Jackson Square.
We waddled away from the table to walk from the French Quarter toward Frenchman. We caught the 4 O’Clock band at 30/-90 (a reference to the city’s longitude/latitude), and started making the rounds, back up to Bourbon Street for a good country band at The Honkytonk, and finished the night at BMC where we caught Lil Red and her band, finishing up the night.
Food is serious business in New Orleans, including breakfast – but even breakfast can be expensive in NOLA. We found Café Envie (1241 Decatur) for a more reasonably priced start to our day (it’s a good sign when a lot of the local buskers join you in line to place your order) – eggs and a coffee or juice will still run about $15+ dollars per person, but most other places are $20+ (from previous visits – The Ruby Slipper, which has several locations – is a great choice, as is Huck Finns, but if you arrive after 8:30, you’re likely waiting for a table). If you get to Café du Monde (800 Decatur) by 8:30, the line isn’t bad (they stopped table service during the pandemic), you can get your morning sugar rush for $3.40 for 3 beignets and $2.94 for a small coffee or hot chocolate.
Silly me had somehow managed to forget to pack a bathing suit for a cruise vacation, so Alyssa and I headed along the waterfront toward the Outlet Mall, John and Kelly went next store to Harrah’s Casino next to the mall, and Liam & Alan were on their paddleboat tour. In wandering the mall, of course I found a couple of other things I didn’t actually need, but they were on a “great sale” – so how could I resist! I did find a suitable suit at Nordstram Rack for less than $50, and overall left the mall spending less than $100 (and John walked away from the tables ahead $10).
We met our friends for dinner at one of our favorite New Orleans restaurants – Coops on Decatur Street. John was ecstatic – lamb ribs were back on the menu! (at almost twice their previous price – but they were back!). They have a sampler menu worth trying – giving you their shrimp creole (my favorite offering), red beans and rice, Cajun fried chicken, and rabbit and sausage jambalaya for $15.95. There’s limited seating, so arrive early (or go between normal lunch and dinner times).
We sampled music from many venues, and headed up Esplanade to Buffa’s. They have a very good restaurant, and almost constant music in the back room. Alyssa and I couldn’t resist the blue cheese cole slaw – and discovered, yes, blue cheese dressing goes very well on cole slaw). We also ordered desserts, which included a King Cake cheesecake – which incorporated the cinnamon, sugars and flavors very well.
The next morning we packed up and readied for the cruise on the Carnival Glory. All Aboard!