New Orleans: Day 2

I had some questions on my recap of our first day in New Orleans about why Ian and I decided to visit this city for our first anniversary.

The answer is easy -- we wanted to go someplace FUN.  A true adventure.

I'd never been before.  Ian had been a handful of times, but never with a girl (I made sure of that, ha!).  He had gone in college for Spring Break and had also been back for work conferences.  He had visited plenty of the bars but hadn't really spent time exploring the history of the city or getting off of the beaten path.  We made that our goal for the long weekend.

Our second choice of anniversary destinations was Napa Valley, and we're hoping to end up there at some point in the near future.

Day two started by grabbing breakfast at our hotel, the Hilton Riverside.  We'd been upgraded to a floor with access to the executive lounge, so it was hard to turn down a complimentary breakfast.  Later we saw the line at Cafe du Monde, where we'd considered grabbing coffee and a beignet, and we were so glad we didn't have to wait in the heat for our morning meal!

After breakfast, we walked the Riverwalk and then went to Jackson Square.  This square boasts the St. Louis Cathedral, which is the oldest continuously active cathedral in the United States.  Mass was in progress, but I peeped my head in to observe a bit.  It was beautiful inside.

We spent the morning popping in and out of stores, mainly as a source of relief from the heat.  New Orleans had record high temps during our visit, and each day was in the 90s.  Any store that had an open door with chilly air conditioning billowing out was guaranteed a visit from us.

Ian was happy to see his alma mater represented in the hot sauce store.  While we didn't buy this $8 generic hot sauce just for the label, it was nice to see ECU represented.

We walked over to Frenchmen Street to check out that area, and while over there, we ate lunch at Port of Call.  I'd heard from so many people that the burgers were out of this world.  Ehhhhhhhhh.  After a 2+ hour wait standing in the hot sun, we finally were seated.  And we waited and waited and waited for our waitress to make an appearance.  The hostess brought us complimentary teas.  Finally our waitress came by, took our order, and that's the last we saw of her until she wordlessly tossed the bill at us.  Didn't bring our food (someone else did this), didn't come by to check on us at all (nobody did this once), and didn't clear our plates (someone else did this).  No "thank you for dining with us", no "I'm sorry, we're understaffed," no "I appreciate your patience," no nothing.  We'd had better burgers a mile from our home.  So, not a great experience there, unfortunately.

The one highlight of lunch was reading articles on our phones about the supposed atrocities committed at the LaLaurie Mansion which has earned it the title of the most haunted mansion in all of New Orleans.  We had to read the articles to each other in whispered voices because of how crazy the stories were.  They definitely were not "table talk," as we'd say in my family.  Read the link above if you dare, but be forewarned, it's graphic and disturbing.

LaLaurie Mansion entrance

We walked up and down Royal Street after lunch.  Ian had a special surprise in store for me.

He'd read about the Carousel Bar located in the Hotel Monteleone and he knew I would love it for a few reasons.  First, the hotel was the one featured in one of my favorite movies of all time, Double Jeopardy.  And second, the bar inside?  It it built like a circus-themed carousel and it actually spins slowly around.  There are only 25 seats, and as soon as two opened up, I was on them like white on rice.

I. LOVED. THIS.  It was truly one of the highlights of the trip.  And such a sweet surprise.

We headed back to our hotel around 4pm to start getting ready for the evening.  Sunday was our day to check out the live music on Frenchmen Street.  We caught a cab over that way.

I'd read that d.b.a. bar was voted the best nonsmoking bar in New Orleans in 2011 and that they were known for great live music in their all-cypress wood room.  A band called the Palmetto Bug Stompers was playing there from 6-9, and after listening to them play on YouTube, we knew we would enjoy the show.

It really was a great show, and we loved watching people dance.  We didn't partake in that -- I was out of my shagging comfort zone.  Dances like swing and the jitterbug were taking over the floor, and I was out of my element!

We had a bit of a wait for dinner at Three Muses, so we killed some time at The Spotted Cat listening to more music.

Three Muses was an excellent tapas dinner, and we shared feta fries, duck flatbread pizza, and crawfish beignets.  We were seated right next to the band.

                                       

This was easily one of our favorite evenings.  Listening to that great music off of the beaten touristy path, we felt truly in our element.  We'd accomplished exactly what we wanted to do!