Kaveri, Ivory, and I were excited to spend the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend in New Orleans, more commonly known as NOLA. What a great way to start off the new year!
Ivory and I first flew to Houston on Saturday morning to meet Kaveri there. Kaveri picked us up from Houston Hobby airport and the three of us embarked on a five hour road trip to New Orleans. Kaveri’s friend, Carol, drove from Arkansas to join us on our New Orleans adventure. I spent the earlier part of the week worrying that our flight to Houston was going to be cancelled (there was a winter storm this weekend and Chicago got over 6 inches of snow), but our flight remained on time and we made it there safely. NOLA was cold as well – when we first got there it was in the low 40’s, high 30’s. Later in the trip, temperatures rose to about 50 degrees; it was disappointing that it wasn’t much warmer.
We all stayed in an Airbnb in the St. Claude neighborhood, which was a ten minute drive from the French Quarter. The French Quarter is the historic heart of New Orleans. Anyone who visits this vibrant city should not miss the action here! Our host was gracious and accessible, and our home for the weekend was comfortable. Kaveri brought a step stool from her home that I was able to use in the Airbnb. The setup of the house was shotgun style where all the rooms were on one floor. There were stairs that led up to the front door and out in the back.
After reaching NOLA on Saturday evening, we ate dinner at Dat Dog. It’s a local counter-serve chain restaurant serving many different types of hot dogs with various toppings. The location we were at was right outside the French Quarter. I had the smoked apple sage vegan dog, which was probably the tastiest hot dog I’ve ever eaten. We then dropped by Bamboula’s for some live music and a quick drink.
Our Sunday started off with brunch at the Ruby Slipper Cafe. It was very busy so we stopped at Who Dat Coffee Cafe for masala chai while we waited for our table to be ready. The phrase “Who Dat” is a cheer used by fans of the New Orleans football team, the Saints. In fact, the NFL NFC championship game was playing this day, and the city streets were bustling with Saints football pride. The Saints fought a hard game against the St. Louis Rams, but it was the Rams that ended up going to the Superbowl. After brunch, we accompanied Kaveri on an excursion of getting her first tattoo! We then munched on beignets at Morning Call. A lot of Saints fans were here watching the game. The cafe was located in a public park called City Park. We enjoyed watching the sunset and taking pictures of the park’s scenery and the wolf moon. To avoid the dinner crowds, we decided to pick up Vietnamese food and have a quiet dinner back at the Airbnb. I had a shrimp banh mi, which is the Vietnamese version of a shrimp po-boy sandwich. It was quite fresh and delicious.
The first item on our list for Monday was brunch at Elizabeth’s. My yummy entree was their fried chicken and waffles. The waffles were made of cornbread doused in cane syrup instead of maple. After brunch, we swung by District Donuts for donuts and drinks and headed to Slidell, Louisiana for the Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour! To get in the boat, you would have to step from the dock down onto the floor of the boat and take a seat. What I did was take a step onto the seats and then I sat down and positioned my legs towards floor. The 2 hour tour took us through the Honey Island Swamp. It was very breezy along the river so we bundled up with our winter jackets and huddled together. Though we didn’t see any alligators, we did get our fair share of wild pigs, raccoons, and herons in. Following the tour, we got dinner to go again and headed back to the Airbnb. I delighted in crawfish etouffee from Oceana Grill. After dinner, we went to the Pirates Alley Cafe, a bar in the French Quarter known for its absinthe. Absinthe is a highly alcoholic beverages with wormwood and has a reputation of causing hallucinations if taken in high amounts. I was perfectly content with my mojito and hurricane drinks. We then strutted to the one and only Cafe Du Monde for a late night snack and coffee. The thick beignets were drowning in powdered sugar. One bite and you best be careful not to get it all over your face and clothes.
We woke up early Tuesday morning for the drive back to Houston. But first, we made sure to pick up some Cafe Du Monde beignets for the road. The weekend flew by in a flash. Though I wish we were able to immerse in more of its culture and history, we really had a good ol’ time in New Orleans.
Just a Little Traveling... 