My cousin, Leah, text us cousins wondering if we wanted to
help celebrate her 40th birthday somewhere fun.
You don't have to ask me twice!
You wouldn't think that finding a time and location for 6 girls would be super complicated.
Well, it was! Ha.
We went over all of the United States possibilities.
And finally landed a date.
New Orleans, here we come!
This is a terrible screen shot from the video I was sneakily taking.
They all thought I hadn't gotten to the airport yet and was going to cut it close.
What is the first thing you do after landing and getting your rental car?
Yes, head straight to the nearest Target!
I love the Zapp's Voodoo flavor, so I thought it would be fun to try
the cajun crawtators, since we were in Louisiana after all!
Our cute hotel, One11.
I love boutique style hotels.
It was right along the Mississippi river and really close to the French
Quarter and Canal Street which has the street cars and restaurants.
Perfect location.
We dropped our bags then headed out to explore!
Funny how our bodies take us right to exciting food.
Cafe Du Monde is probably the most popular stop for the infamous NOLA beignets.
With no line to boot!
We walked by the next day to a line a mile long, no joke.
The late nighters get the worm in this instance!
Most restaurants had already closed by this point.
Luckily a place on our restaurant list was still open!
We wanted to kick the trip off with authentic creole cuisine.
Boy howdy we got it!
SO, so good and authentic!
We all licked our plates clean.
Then got our night cap with some gelato!
Gotta stretch that stomach for the meals ahead:)
In the morning we were off for a BIG adventure.
I think a quarter of the group was a bit nervous for this, me being one of them.
Alligators are on my top freaky animal list.
Kayaking on the Bayou WITH alligators was getting me all hyped up.
I even called the kayaking company with my long list of questions to make SURE
I would come out alive and with all my limbs!
They assured me there have never been any instances of attacks, and that alligators
will not jump in boats or try to tip me over, lol!
Leah was our trusty driver during the whole trip!
We had to go about 45 minutes out of the city to get to the Bayou!
I am a dork, but pinch me.
A real life bayou right in front of me!
Look at how pretty!
There were even wild blackberries growing on the side of the highway.
I would have eaten some if they weren't covered in cob webs!
Yep, we ordered matching shirts.
Our kayaks awaiting us!
It was us, plus another couple, and our tour guide.
I want to say his name was Andy?
Anyway, you could tell that Andy is an earth activist and an extreme outdoorsman.
This was his jam. His passion.
Those type of people intrigue me.
Just like how Andy is intrigued by reality tv watching, acai bowl eating people like me:)
After our pep talk, and memo about not intruding on the alligators home and personal space,
this is their home after all ( no need to tell me not to get too close to them), we set sail on our journey!
Stephanie was my paddle buddy!
Here is Andy in the floppy hat and flannel, trying to show us some type of bird or plant.
He knew this water like it was his own backyard.
Our first alligator siting!
It had been super windy the day before, which blows water out of the bayou,
so it was on the lower side.
The trees had just barely started to get their green leaves back from the winter.
Another alligator
I really was surprised at how many we saw!
And tried hard to not think about how many were swimming underneath us.
Andy was determined to take us as far back as he could.
Which meant doing the limbo under a fallen tree!
We saw an owl!
Oh, Andy was excited about that.
Which gave us the major the giggles when Adele quietly said they shoot at
them back at home in Idaho because they pick up their chickens and eat them.
Andy would NOT approve of that, lol.
You can see it sitting on a tree stub.
Stephanie saw a big nest up in a tree and pointed it out.
The look on Andy's face was priceless.
We got some lengthy explanation about it.
After he was done sharing, he took a long pause,
then with a shake of his head with exuberance said,
that is just amazing.
Stephanie and I were dead!
Talking about the nest.
After a couple of hours we headed back to shore!
We went and changed then took to the streets for more site seeing!
We needed lunch, but I more importantly needed to get some Kilwins ice cream!
We found this back in Florida and I have dreamed of this toasted coconut
cone ever since!
We were walking by, so of course I went in!
Their caramel corn is bomb diggity as well.
So much so, that I took 5 bags home with me!
Lunch at Ruby Slipper!
It hit the spot, even after ice cream!
We explored the French Quarter.
Artwork went all up and down the fences surrounding Jackson Square.
The famous St. Louis Cathedral
Street performers outside of the Cathedral and in front of Jackson Square.
From there we decided to walk to a cemetery.
I loved looking at all of the buildings and brightly colored houses.
We walked into a "boutique" in the Quarter just to see what is was like.
It wasn't even a voodoo store, but I swear the devil lived there himself.
It. was. CREEPY!
The weird thing about it was that is wasn't a haunted house type of place.
It looked "cute", like a normal boutique.
There were 2 girls working inside.
Both seemed to be, how do I describe it, like modern day witches??
They had crystals, and wiccan type of jewelry for sale.
But then on the wall was a dried up bat with it's wings stretched out.
I think what weirded me out the most was a dead, hairless cat sitting in
a jar of preserving liquid.
I asked them what the deal was with it.
They said they find dead cats in the attics of these neighboring houses
so the preserve them.
By that point I was out the door.
It was so strange to walk into a building and feel the spirit immediately leave.
I was shaking off the bad heebie-jeebies like nobody's business.
The shop was the door with the gray shutters and white sign.
See? You never would have guessed it would have been like that inside.
Or maybe it was Dark Matter?
Seems fitting!
On to happier, bright houses!
All the heart eyes for the drooping flowers!
We made it to Bourbon Street!
The street that never sleeps... or stops serving alcohol.
It was a party in the early afternoon hours!
A big thing NOLA is known for are their pralines!
We found a place that made some pretty darn amazing ones.
This wasn't it, just a fun picture to pose in front of.
We finally made it to the cemetery to find it CLOSED!
And I think you could only go in with a tour group?
They had strict rules since with covid, homeless people made cemeteries their home.
They were trying to clean it up.
Plan B- the Mardi Gras muesum.
Strike 2, also closed.
Plan C, beignets!
Another popular spot to get them.
We went up to the boardwalk to check out the Mississippi River.
They do dinner cruises on this steam boat.
Looked just like the one at Disneyland!
After some freshening up, we went out to get some dinner.
First I wanted a glimpse up on the rooftop of our hotel to see the River at night.
Dinner...this was my favorite restaurant.
Creole House on the bustling Canal Street.
Sarah ordered the best things.
When you can't decide you order them all.
All 3 were top notch.
Gulf Shrimp Ya-Ya, crab cakes and crab claws in the BEST sauce I have
ever eaten!!
She has a big smile for a reason.
Good stuff right there.
NOLA is also known for Muffaletta's.
Stephanie ordered that.
I had been wanting to try an authentic Po-Boy sandwich.
It was money once I got a side of that shrimp sauce to dip my sandwich in!
We were rolling out of there.
I wish we could go back!
During dinner we made plans to go to St. Peters Street.
It's very popular and known for its Jazz music.
It was a good 20 minute walk, so we ordered an Uber.
Which we didn't know we still needed masks for those!
None of us had any, and the driver would NOT let us in without them.
We almost gave up when Stephanie volunteered to run into the hotel
right next to us to see if they had any.
We waited for a good minute thinking all hope was lost when she came
bolting out waiving masks like she had the winning lottery ticket!!
Hooray!!
We went to the Spotted Cat!
Nothing like being ID-ed.
A life style we are not used to. We stuck out like sore thumbs.
Or at least we felt like it!
Mormon moms hitting the night life, ha!
We made it inside!
Covid 6ft apart what?!
We were smooshed in there like sardines!
There was a 1 drink minimum, so we pushed our way to the bar to order our mocktails!
I can't say it sounded like Jazz, but it was fun getting groovy to their
electric keyboard!
Time to change it up and head to BOURBON STREET!
The crowds sure picked up since early that afternoon.
A bride and groom!
We started walking.
There were people everywhere. High and Low.
Mardi Gras beads everywhere!
So many bars, live bands, singers on top of counters... it went on for what seemed like miles!
We would walk and pick a mellow (as mellow as you can get on Bourbon Street) place, dance for a bit,
then head to the next one!
Not going to lie, it was a blast!
My favorite part of the night.
While we were walking, we would dance to the music blasting from the different buildings.
I looked back to see a homeless man dancing with Stephanie!
He was copying what moves she would do.
She had no idea he was behind her!
Her face when she figured it out!!
So funny!
Bourbon Street can be fun sober!
We walked back to the hotel with sore feet and big smiles and ready to wash
the smell of weed out of our hair!
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