New Orleans – Day 2

Today’s plan was to take the walking tour of the courtyards in New Orleans’s French Quarter we had booked with Le Monde Créole, so we got up early and headed out to Café Du Monde for the obligatory beignets and coffee. It was really crowded, but we managed to shark a table and get our order in. The beignets were really good, as was the coffee. And to make things better, we had a some great people watching opportunities thanks to where our table was. Unfortunately, it also gave us a good view of the rain that decided to start coming down.

After breakfast, we made our way to the starting point to meet up with our guide. It had been raining off and on by this point, but was getting to be more on than off, so on the way I picked up an umbrella. The tour was interesting, though we did have to deal with some weather related disruptions. But none of that interfered with the stop at St. Louis Cemetery #1. That was the high point of the tour for me, and I used the time to take a bunch of pictures of the tombs. From there, we walked back in to the French Quarter and finished the tour off.

By this point we were both soaked, so we made our way back to the B&B, with a stop for lunch at Port of Call. It had been highly recommended by our hosts, and it was pretty clear why. The burgers were excellent, and instead of french fries, they came with baked potatoes. That was different, but pretty tasty and filling after all of the walking we’d been doing. The bar was packed, standing room only, and more soaked people kept arriving. It definitely lived up to its name today! With full bellies, we headed back to get out of the wet clothes and relax for a little while.

Dried off and feeling a lot better since the rain had finally stopped, we went back out to do a little shopping and get some dinner. We ate at the Crescent City Brewhouse, which was pretty darned good. I ordered a flight of their current offerings and really wasn’t disappointed in any of them. The waitress tried to talk us in to dessert, but we had a recommendation from one of the locals that we wanted to try out, so we walked down to French 75 to finish stuffing ourselves.

The desserts definitely lived up to the recommendations we’d received, with Heather having a crème brûlée and me having a bread pudding. I got talked in to ordering a cocktail, not usually something I like all that much, and asked the bartender to surprise me. He asked me a few questions about what I liked and then went to work. What I got was something like a Bobby Burns, but with Ardbeg, and with some amaro added in. It was delicious, and has made me re-think cocktails.

This was the end of our night, and we were beat, so we took our wiped out selves back to the B&B and crashed out.

New Orleans – Day 1

We left Tennessee early this morning and drove down to New Orleans, where we’ll be spending the weekend. We’re staying at the Banana Courtyard B&B, a nice, old house right on the edge of the French Quarter. Our room is located on the second floor, and is decently sized, with its own bathroom, and a full sized bed.

After getting checked in, our hosts took us on a short walking tour of the area, and then left us to our own devices. We wandered around for a little while and then stopped for a delicious dinner at The Old Coffee Pot. The po boys were tasty and the service was excellent, though they didn’t have the red velvet cake we were hoping to have for dessert. The chocolate cake was excellent, so it wasn’t all bad.

From there we did a little nosing around, and some shopping. I found some great hot sauces and a seriously strong horseradish. That stuff will clean your sinuses out from about a city block away. Before heading back to the room, we caught the first of the Southern Decadence parades. It was small, but a lot of fun. We’ve got a walking tour booked for tomorrow, so we wanted to have an early night tonight.