Let me preface this by stating that we had absolutely the most wonderful time. I love travelling with my husband. You never know what we're gonna do -- but it's always fun!
So here we go:
Day 1: Leave Houston at 3pm and arrive at Louie Armstrong Airport about 45 minutes later. That was amazing -- we barely got in the air before we were in the final approach. They practically threw our free beverages at us! Once we landed it was time to navigate the airport to pick up our bags and find our car rental company.
With that task accomplished, we hooked up Mavis (she's our GPS and we take her on every trip) and were on our way to the hotel in Metairie. We were only about 15 minutes from the airport and about 15 minutes from all the action in New Orleans. HINT: Metairie is a great place to stay to avoid all the crowds and the high prices of the hotels around downtown New Orleans (especially when you have a frugal husband).
The first night was spent walking around the French Quarter, booking our tours for the next day, and eating a FANTASTIC dinner on Bourbon Street. The restaurant of choice was Pier 424. They gave us the best seat in the house: right in the open windows on Bourbon Street -- the view of the people walking up and down was unbelievable. My choice for dinner was Blackened Mahi Mahi, fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and Crab Boiled Red Potatoes....OMG.....delicious!! Paul's choice was: Blackened Redfish, Boiled Red Potatoes, and I think rice. His fish was also fabulous. Truly, this was one of the BEST seafood restaurants we have ever eaten at!
Well after walking around and drinking some beer -- we called it a night! There was a Mardi Gras parade our first night there, but there was just too many people to get a close look -- so we just moved on.
Day Two: Day 2 began with a hearty breakfast buffet at the Shoney's in the parking lot of our hotel. We knew we had a long day and our first tour of the city was scheduled at 12:30pm -- so that meant no time for lunch. We stuffed ourselves with bacon, ham, fruit, eggs, gravy, biscuits and anything else they had available and then we loaded up our rental Toyota Corolla and were off for our drive into the city!
We took the VIP New Orleans tour, which was a small bus that took you on a 2 hour tour of the city. We learned so much while on this adventure. Some of the places we visited were the French Quarter, the French Market, the most devastated areas from Hurricane Katrina, the cemeteries of New Orleans, and the Garden District. This city has an extremely interesting history. Here's some pics of what we saw!
After the water from the flood receded, every house in New Orleans was inspected for survivors or bodies. Each house was marked with a code to indicate when it had been inspected, by whom, and if anyone was discovered. This was a house that never was rebuilt and was still abandoned. We toured a couple of different neighborhoods and it was really sad to still be able to see the water marks on the buildings after all this time.
The cemeteries in this city are very unique. Because the city is below sea level -- all bodies are buried above ground in tombs. We toured one of the cemeteries and learned the fascinating history of how the bodies are stored in these places. We also were warned not to visit these places by yourself or after dark because of the criminal element and how the tombs shield you from view. Glad we were there in the daytime!
We saw the famous old trolley on St. Charles Street:
And we saw the magnificent mansions in the Garden District. Some of the residents in this area include Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Nicolas Cage, and Anne Rice. The houses were spectacular and charming!
The tour ended.....but we still had a full day ahead of us! But can't fit it all onto this blog...........so to be continued tomorrow. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment