In years past, I've done such things as go to see Britney Spears and the Grand Canyon in Vegas, or run Bay to Breakers in San Francisco and then tour the city afterwards. Typically, my adventures involve going somewhere and doing something dumb. And without a doubt, costuming and shenanigans are involved whenever possible.
Of course, 2018 was no exception. With nothing in mind, though, when planning this year's adventure I basically licked my finger and threw it to the wind, waiting to see what would fall into my lap. After lots of thought and some digging around (such as pricing airfare with frequent flyer miles and buy one get one free coupons), I found a pretty sweet deal and decided to check off another bucket list item - a visit to New Orleans.
Yes, I chose New Orleans despite the fact that I'm by no means a spring chicken anymore, and have basically exhausted my liver having gone to UW-Madison - a consistently rated top 10 party school from the 90s to today. I full well realized prior to booking my trip that NOLA is known for it's debauchery and drinking culture. HOWEVER, it is also known for it's unique creole heritage, long established history, and many other things. Those "many other things" have drawn my curiosity for years. And finally, this was the year for me to seek them out!
Today's post below is part 2 of my New Orleans travel recap. You can read day one here. In the future, after they post, you can read day days three & four here.
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Day Two - More Touring & Sunshine!
Since we had booked a room at the Omni Royal, we were blessed to be staying somewhat off the beaten path and away from the higher traffic areas of the French Quarter in New Orleans. This helped with obtaining a somewhat peaceful night's sleep, although I almost never sleep well on my first night of traveling (does anyone, really?).
This is not to say that I was rearing to go when my son started stirring at 6:30 am ... but, at least I can say I did get some sleep. I'm sure many others in the French Quarter that morning couldn't say the same *ahem - Burbon Street partiers - ahem*.
Taking advantage of an early wake-up call, we headed straight to Cafe Du Monde for breakfast.
I had heard that the lines here can be obscene, but being that we were traveling to the city AFTER Mardi Gras, and ready to eat around 8 am on a Thursday morning, getting a table was no issue at all. In fact, we had our pick of several empty spots.
Fair warning - the menu here is simple, the servers expect you to be ready to order as soon as you sit, and the payment is CASH ONLY. Be prepared when you visit.
And also ... be prepared for some seriously delicious, but seriously messy, beignets. I heard the pro tip is not to wear black when you go there, so I dressed accordingly. LOL!
Despite the guilt you may feel eating only fried dough for breakfast, one bite into these guys and any reservations you have about breaking your diet will be gone. Guaranteed. My only word of advise is to request your coffee in a to-go cup, simply so that you are able to take your coffee when you're done eating ... and so you're not tempted to hang around and order a second round of beignets - heh!
Tacking on to our early morning advantage, I had scheduled a 9 am horse drawn carriage tour (ok, ok - technically MULE drawn) of the French Quarter and St. Louis Cemetery #1.
Prior to our visit I had done some research, and learned that Royal Carriage was highly recommended. I have to say after my experience, I agree with my initial research. Not only were the booking agents incredibly friendly and helpful, the tour guide we had was excellent as well.
Our tour started with a carriage ride through the French Quarter, which my son was enthralled with to say the least. As we rode, our driver served as a guide, speaking to historical facts as we passed various buildings. About 10 minutes or so later, we arrived St. Louis Cemetery #1.
A brief intro regarding this cemetery - New Orleans is famous for the above ground tombs (they cannot bury below ground due to the high water table), the most famous "resident" in this cemetery is the so-called "Voodoo Queen" Marie Laveau, and this cemetery is private so you must have a certified tour guide with you in order to enter (due to ongoing vandalism issues).
Having started our carriage ride at 9 am, even with the short journey to the cemetery we were still the first visitors to arrive that day, which was ideal. Without anyone in our way, we were free to roam and have a very relaxing tour. Not to mention, the heat of the day hadn't picked up yet, so the temperature was amazingly perfect. Even our tour guide was in awe with our luck; he remarked that he didn't think he had ever been in there when he was the only one visiting, especially on such a beautiful day.
For some people, having no one else in the way would be ideal due to photo opportunities inside the cemetery. Out of respect to those buried, I chose not to take any pictures posing at tombstones myself.
However, I would like to point out that Nicolas Cage purchased a 3 plot wide burial site here that is incredibly garish and unoccupied (which makes me feel less guilty about posting a picture of it) ... and somehow people have decided to kiss the damn thing; when we walked by there were lipstick prints all over the front marker.
This kissing business was particularly disgusting to me because just a few minutes prior, the tour guide had explained the "natural cremation" process that occurs in these tombs. It had never occurred to me that with New Orleans being so hot, burying a body inside a cement tomb would essentially "cremate" a dead body within a year's time. So basically, all those tombs serve as body cookers. Then, whenever the next family member is due to be buried inside (as long as 1 year has passed), they push what's left of your remains into the back cavern of the tomb. This is how they continue making room for the next burial in this cemetery, which is around 300 years old.
I think the exact quote of our tour guide was "I sure would like to be here, seeing what the tour guide says that makes these ladies kiss that tomb ... because it just seems like a good way to get sick if you ask me."
Not going to lie, I kind of loved our tour guide after that.
I loved him even more so when I realized I could get a more honest narration from him, and asked him his thoughts on Delphine LaLaurie - meaning, how much of her story that we heard on the previous night's ghost tour was true, and how much of it was sensationalism in his opinion. The Royal Carriage tour guide was obviously more versed in the true history of New Orleans, and confirmed my suspicions. (Side note: after the ghost tour, I had discovered that the current LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans isn't even the original building, as the "real" one burned down in the late 1800's - so, many of the stories where ghost tour guides say "X" happened in this or that room are simply not true.) The Royal Carriage tour guide said that essentially: the most reliable historical documents stated that Delphine owned a handful of slaves that tattle-tailed on her for being abusive, and in a round about way they were all removed from her possession but rewarded back to her care. In the end, she locked all of said slaves into a private room and left them to basically starve/dehydrate to death as payback. Though her actions were obviously still incredibly wrong and cruel, it is much less horrific than the rumored abuses of sheer torture and abomination that many of the ghost stories folks like to tell.
Anyway - after a cemetery tour, which our guide politely asked if we would like to cut short based on my son starting to get antsy (I was much appreciative of his observation and adaptability) - we finished the second half of our carriage ride and headed off to an early lunch at Johnny's Po-Boys.
FYI - this establishment is also cash only. Apparently New Orleans likes its paper. Either way, I recommend this as a cheap, down and dirty, homestyle lunch.
Also, another side note before I move on - I would highly recommend Royal Carriages for a tour, with one caveat: take a carriage tour and a cemetery tour separately. Obviously, booking a mule and a tour guide together is much more expensive, so you may as well benefit from both for the entire duration of your tour ... and THEN take a foot guided cemetery tour before/after.
Moving on.
With a full belly after lunch, my son laid down to nap. Meanwhile, what else was there to do for me? When in New Orleans ... get drunk on hurricanes at Pat O'Brian's and then wander around the French Quarter window shopping, of course!
And you thought I was weird?!
After nap, we decided to venture out of New Orleans' French Quarter just a tad, and hopped on the public street car to check out Frey's Smoked Meat. I had found this place via some sort of "nation's best XYZ" article ... I don't recall if it was a Food Network promo or what. Either way, the menu looked good, so I thought it was worth a chance, and it was easy enough to get to via a 20 minute ride and a short walk.
The outside of Frey's is unsuspecting, so I was worried I might have made a bad choice - or even lead us to a defunct business.
But I have to say - once inside, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was really good! Obviously they knew how to BBQ, and I had zero complaints about the sides I had ordered: Brussels sprouts and mac & cheese.
My son on the other hand, couldn't have been happier at the end of the meal.
Cookie Monster - nom nom nom! (Don't worry, we all shared the shake - he basically just had a few bites of the cupcake and that was it.)
Then, a quick street car ride later, and with big plans for an excursion the next day, we were back in our hotel once again for an early night's sleep.
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