Day 1 — A travel day (Boston, MA to New Orleans, LA)
We woke up really early and got on a plane to New Orleans. It was so nice and warm which was a much enjoyable change from the chilly Northeast. We headed to our hotel on St.Charles Ave in the Garden District and relaxed for a bit. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk to Magazine Street which was wonderful to walk down. There areso many boutiques and restaurants on Magazine Street. Dat Dog was our first meal which was pretty tasty. After this, we came back and spent the rest of the night in the hotel.
Day 2 — New Orleans, LA
A very rainy day in New Orleans. We were going to take the streetcar into the French Quarter but it was POURING so we ubered instead to Cafe Du Monde. The coffee and beignets were very tasty. This day was very tough because there was so much rain. Standing outside for even a couple of seconds meant getting drenched. Despite this, we walked around the French Quarter a decent amount and explored a lot of the souvenir shops. Please bring a raincoat and umbrella if you are making a trip to NOLA. We were supposed to go on a Mississippi River cruise but it got cancelled due to the rain and mechanical errors. The rain did clear up a bit as we headed back to our hotel. Dinner this night was at Lilette, a very cute French boutique restaurant on Magazine Street. This restaurant had the best desserts I’ve ever had.
Day 3 — New Orleans, LA
The sun was out on Day 3 which was spent mostly exploring the Garden District. There are so many beautiful houses that are fairly close to each other with a lot of history. It was fun to learn a little bit about the houses and past residents (many celebrities have lived in this area). As for food this day, we ate Mahony’s Po Boys for lunch and Blaze Pizza for dinner. The Mahony’s Po Boys location on Magazine Street is usually pretty crowded, but the Sugarbowl was going on when we were eating and the streets were very empty. If you have time to explore the Garden District, I really recommend it because it is very different from any other neighborhoods I’ve seen in the US. The architecture of the different buildings span many generations and the houses are so grand and beautiful.
Day 4— New Orleans, LA
We wanted to see the French Quarter on a sunnier day so we went back on Day 4. We decided to take the streetcar which was a really wonderful experience. I highly recommend taking a streetcar in New Orleans. We spent a lot of time walking around the French Quarter and enjoying the sights and sounds. It does feel very European and you really don’t feel like you are in the United States. It is clear that New Orleans has suffered damage from storms, especially Hurricane Ida. The infrastructure inside some of the buildings is falling apart but they have made a lot of effort to preserve the historical buildings.
Ruby Slipper Cafe was a fantastic little brunch spot in the French Quarter. The line is long so I would recommend putting your name down early if you want to eat here. We continued walking around and stood in line for a last minute concert at Preservation Hall which had been otherwise sold out. Luckily, we ended up getting tickets and enjoyed a beautiful intimate jazz concert. I would recommend getting tickets ahead of time, but if they are sold out, you can go there a bit early and stand in line and get in if there are no-shows.
It was really nice to explore the French Quarter on a sunnier day. We finished off our exploration by walking down Bourbon Street which is really fun. Since I was with my family we didn’t do a lot of nighttime adventures, but it seems like a very fun spot for a bar hopping night. We took the streetcar back to our hotel and ended the night with dinner at Le Petit Grocery. This is also a boutique French restaurant, like Lilette. In my opinion, Lilette was a teensy bit better. Both are expensive so if I had to pick one I would go with Lilette.
Day 5— New Orleans, LA
This was my favorite day because we got to go on a SWAMP TOUR. If you have the resources to do this, I would highly recommend it. I’ll link the one we did. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about ecological preservation and alligators and it was JUST SO DAMN COOL. They put us on an airboat and that thing absolutely FLEW through the water. We actually got pretty wet in the beginning but dried off over the course of the tour. We saw so many alligators and even a bald eagle. The swamp/bayou ecosystem is really interesting. I learned so much about how storms impact New Orleans and surrounding areas. A lot of the man made canals and levee systems have essentially ruined the future for the bayou communities. It is sad to know that many of the communities will be underwater if we don’t actively try to preserve the ecosystems.
My favorite part of the tour was getting to hold a little baby gator named Nubby who had lost one of his legs probably to a bird. Our tour guide, Jason was really great and I want to take this tour again at some point in my life. The environment will have probably changed drastically in the next 10 years so it will be interesting to see.
We came back to New Orleans and took the St James Streetcar all the way to the end. It snaked its way through the Garden District and Tulane University. It was really peaceful to sit on the streetcar even though it was very loud at times. Dinner was a really tasty tomato basil soup and grilled cheese from a pop-up shop called the Soup Garden on Magazine Street.
Day 6/7— A travel day (New Orleans, LA to Boston, MA)
Ugh. I don’t even want to talk about these two days. Our flight was cancelled so we spent a night in a hotel next to the airport. It wasn’t anything special but we ended up getting back to Boston safely which is what is important!
Some reflections
I love NOLA!!!!!!! I’ve always wanted to visit and I’m so grateful and happy to have gotten to visit. I had high expectations but they were truly surpassed. New Orleans has a very vibrant and rich culture which is apparent through its history, architecture and people. Everyone was really friendly and I felt quite at home there. I could tell within an hour of being there that I would feel comfortable living there if I had to. The swamp tour was my favorite part because I felt like I really got to see a landscape that I have never seen before in my life. It was also neat to learn about the environment and all the wildlife that exists in Louisiana. If you haven’t been to New Orleans yet, I would highly recommend visting. I will be back soon NOLA, hopefully for Mardi Gras!
