New Orleans




About a month ago, I took a trip to New Orleans with my friend and I absolutely fell in love with this city. It was filled with history, cute shops, food (that I can't stop thinking about), jazz music, and beautiful views. This was the perfect city to do in just a weekend, my friend and I were on our feet all day and always found something to do and somewhere to go. I am going to start encouraging everyone I know to go visit this underrated city, and in this post I'm going to list what we did and my recommendations! 

 FRIDAY
The best decision we made was to stay in a hotel right downtown by the French Quarter since we were easily able to walk everywhere. We arrived at our hotel around 7 PM, freshened up, then headed out to dinner. For dinner we went to Creole House, and it was honestly one of the best meals I have had in my life. We ordered the Shrimp Ya-Ya, Spicy Jambalaya Pasta, and Bread Pudding. Our goal for this trip was to make sure we tried every NOLA classic and we definitely accomplished that.


SATURDAY
Our day began at the famous and NOLA classic, Cafe Beignet. It was breakfast time so we got our lattes and plate of beignets. There are a few different locations around the French Quarter, and each one was very aesthetically pleasing. We then strolled around the streets of the French Quarter and noticed how each street had a different vibe going on from jazz musicians to random antique shops. The architecture and colorful vibes of the buildings were mesmerizing to look at, and of course...good photo backgrounds.


We found ourselves at Jackson Square which was probably one of our favorite spots. It was a beautiful park with music playing and people just relaxing. It was right by the water with the big ship and everyone walking along the water. We stumbled upon a random bar called Rampart Treehouse, which had flowers covering the ceiling and skulls all over the walls. For dinner that night we went to Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar where we tried their Seafood Nachos - which I thought sounded kinda weird, but were actually really good. We ended our night walking along the water and watching the sun go down.


SUNDAY
We began our second day having brea breakfast at PJ's Coffee - a NOLA cafe chain where we enjoyed our chocolate croissants and lattes. Since the French Quarter has so much going on, we decided to stay in this area again and explore more of what this historic district had to offer. We went in a few shops (hot sauce store of course) and walked through our favorite park again. 

For food, we had NOLA's classic Po' Boy sandwiches from Mambos (the buffalo chicken one...oh my gosh). We then went to a very elegant bar, The Carousel Piano & Bar Lounge for some virgin drinks. It was really cool - an actual carousel circling the seats around the bar. Then for dessert we went to another cafe called the Palace Cafe and ordered the chocolate hazelnut tart and white chocolate bread pudding (SO good). 
MONDAY
Our flight was in the afternoon, so we spent our last morning at our favorite cafe again...Cafe Beignet. It was the one right by the water so we were able to walk by the water again one last time. 

Overall, I never thought I would have enjoyed this city as much as I did. New Orleans is not just a city revolved around drinking on Bourbon Street - there is A LOT more to it from history to art to food. It was the perfect weekend getaway. 

Always,
Ainy













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