Updated 10/18/23 to add trip details (at the bottom of the post)
My mother, my oldest nephew, my nephew’s boyfriend, and I went to New Orleans for a long weekend. We left Florida on Friday, October 13th, and came back on Monday the 16th.
I went on a tour of the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 by myself. It was deliciously gothic and I took a million pictures. (Click a photo to see the larger version plus my comments, if any.)
We went on a bus tour as a group.
We took the public ferry across the Mississippi and back.
And of course there was the French Quarter. There are a few other pics in this album too.
Updated to add pics by my traveling companions. Pics by my nephew and his boyfriend, including some awesome ones from the aquarium:
And pics by Mom.
Okay, so I’ve been home two days and it just occurred to me to write an account of the trip. I’ll keep it fairly brief.
Friday we drove from Florida to New Orleans. It’s about a 9 hour drive, including stopping for a meal and bathroom breaks. On the way, Nephew decided to get a Friday the 13th tattoo once we arrived. I thought this sounded like a brilliant idea. Mom and I decided to get them too. But when we got to town about 5pm, there was a line at the tattoo shop that went out the door and down the block. Nephew found another shop doing it, but Mom and I didn’t like their art as much so we skipped it.
(We are going to get tattoos together soon, though. Again. Mom and I got our first ones together, along with my younger sister, when I was 21.)
We checked into the AirBNB, then headed out for food. Dinner was at Clesi’s on Bienville. We originally tried to go two other places; one was closed for repairs and then second was a bar that didn’t have their full kitchen running yet. The barman suggested Clesi’s. It was delicious and pretty quiet. I had blackened redfish over dirty rice and a local wheat beer (Canebreak). Our group split some crawfish rangoons. Yum.
The kids (Nephew and his boyfriend) went to get tattoos. Mom and I stayed in. I’d done all the driving so I was a bit tired.
Saturday we took the hop-on hop-off bus tour, and got off in the French Quarter. (We skipped breakfast.) The kids went off on their own. Mom and I wandered around a little. Had lunch at the French Market. I had crawfish etoufee and an Amber Abita, and we split a white chocolate praline bread pudding that was to die for.
Yes, I’m mentioning food a lot. it was New Orleans.
Mom, Nephew, and I are taking a rock wire wrapping class next month, so I popped into a gem shop that we happened to walk past. The owner, Rusty, was really sweet, and helped me pick out a few good pieces for wire wrapping. (I also got a pair of small tektites. I’d always wanted some.) I also went in the New Orleans Playing Card Company and bought a print from an upcoming card deck.
We had a snack at the Cafe du Monde, then took the tour bus back to where we were parked. The kids met us there. We went back to the AirBNB to relax. Mom was worn out so we stayed in and ordered dinner delivery from Heard Dat Kitchen. I got the shrimp and grits. They had a drink called Dat Shyt that I was tempted to order just for the name, but I’m not a fruit punch fan. The kids went off to meet a friend, and I spent the evening with a book.
Sunday we had an amazing breakfast at Another Broken Egg: Tiramisu French toast for me, and a lemon blueberry mimosa. We went down to Riverside and took the public ferry across the Mississippi and back, because the kids had never seen the river. They went to the aquarium after. Mom and I drove around the Garden District to look at houses and so I could see Anne Rice’s former residences. We were going to drive around the French Quarter, too, but I happened to find a parking space right in front of Lafitte’s bar at Bourbon and St. Peter. I left Mom behind while I hunted down the stationery shop on Royal Street, Papier Plume. I got a bit lost because their sign is tiny and terrible. I found it, eventually, and bought a fountain pen and some ink as my souvenirs. I went back to Mom and we had voodoo daquiris at Lafitte’s.
Everyone but me wanted to go to Harrah’s to do a little gambling. I’ve lived in Las Vegas so casinos don’t impress me. So they went there, and I went on the cemetery walking tour. It was a 45 minute tour. Afterwards I picked everyone up at Harrah’s, then we had dinner at Clesi’s again. (I got a po’boy and an Old Fashioned. We split some crawfish queso with chips. For dessert I had waffle iron bread pudding.)
Monday morning we packed up and had breakfast at the Ruby Slipper Cafe. (Bayou shrimp Benedict. Nom.) Drove back to Florida, dropping the kids off at Nephew’s place about 8:30pm and getting home ourselves about 9:00.
It was a really good trip. I’d have liked to visit the Pharmacy Museum, and hit up a cheesy souvenir shop, but overall I’m happy with the places I went. It was an excellent long weekend.
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