NOLA

Sigh..... I loved New Orleans.  Really, really loved it.  Spike and I had such a fantastic trip that we didn't want to leave!  We explored the French Quarter and the Garden District, we rode on the St. Charles Streetcar, we took a ferry on the Mississippi, we enjoyed a horse drawn carriage tour, oh and we also ate and drank our faces off.  Here are some of the highlights:

When we first got to New Orleans, we checked into our hotel and hit Bourbon Street immediately.  We had traveled all day, it was Easter Sunday, we were so glad to finally arrive after so much anticipation.... and then this happened.

Bourbon Street was just so overwhelmingly awesome with all of the people, the excitement, the Easter Parades, the beads.  I got a little carried away when I saw the rows of daiquiri machines lined up in all of their splendor, churning their icy delights.  My first one was Crawgator and boy did that pack a punch.  Spike and I had an interesting evening and then retired to the hotel before meeting up with his cousin later that night.

The next day, after taking a walking tour of the Garden District and the Lafayette Cemetery, Spike and I arrived back in the French Quarter thirsty and hungry.  We went to the Cafe Maspero, which I had read had good muffalettas.  Did they ever.  This was Spike's sandwich, which totally blew both of us away.  Him because he finished the whole thing and me because of the extreme jealousy I felt watching him eat it.

After another exciting evening full of hurricanes, hand grenades, and po'boys, we ventured out the next morning to visit the Cafe Du Monde and sample their beignets.  Holy hannah did we sample.  Besides getting sugar all over our faces, hands, and clothes, they brought extreme happiness to our lives.  We took another walking tour that morning and then it was time for my veggie muff.

Central Grocery is supposedly the originator of the muffaletta, so of course we had to try it out.  After our French Quarter walking tour and walking around the French Market, we needed some sustenance to keep us going.  The guy behind the counter said he could make a veggie muff and, although I'm sure it was nowhere near the same, with the amount of cheese he put on it to make up for the lack of meat, I didn't event notice.  It was amazing!

I haven't even mentioned the Bloody Mary's yet.  I had a few of these during my time in NOLA, but this one was the best.  Almost all of them feature a pickled green bean, some pickled okra, and olives, but the fact that they use Zing Zang bloody mary mix makes them even better!

After a relaxing afternoon on Bourbon Street and in the hotel pool, Spike and I took the ferry across the Mississippi and back just in time to watch the sun set over New Orleans.  We spent the next morning showing my mom, who had flown into town for her cruise leaving on Saturday, our favorite parts of the French Quarter.  We had visited Pat O'Brien's three times during our stay, so of course we ended there with one last hurricane.  Sigh.... I'm already looking forward to our next visit!