Preservation Hall on Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street just coming to life
Gator!
Laura, a Creole Plantation
Oak Alley, a French style plantation
Tomorrow marks our 7th Anniversary. I can hardly believe that it's been that long! Time seems to be on fast forward these days. To celebrate this year we decided to go away. Eric and I haven't been away on vacation with just the two of us since Joshua was 21 months old. Needless to say, it was time! We are very fortunate to have Eric's parents here in town and willing to take on our two kids, two dogs and crazy cat. Eric had a possible trial coming up on the 20th so we weren't able to make plans until we knew if the case was going to settle ahead of time or not. About 6 weeks ago it settled and our great search for a get away commenced. We looked into air fare and immediately decided it had to be somewhere in driving distance. It's become so expensive and such a hassle to fly these days! We finally decided on New Orleans. I had never been there and Eric hadn't been in about 20 years.
We had a great time and it was WONDERFUL to be kid free for a few days. New Orleans was certainly different. I've decided it's somewhere to visit once and say you did it but probably not a repeat destination. For starters, the city is dirty. We saw more nasty things lying in the street or on the sidewalk than I care to think about. We walked down Bourbon Street just to check it off the list and I realized what a sheltered life I have led! It was such a random assortment of businesses all mixed together without making any sense. There were very nice looking restaurants next door to strip clubs or adult content stores. The people working in the clubs didn't stay in the club either! We saw more eye opening things than I have ever seen walking down a street and police officers were everywhere! The open containers were also a little shocking. Everywhere in the city you could walk up to the bar and walk around with your drink. Definitely not something we see here. We stayed on the edge of the French Quarter to be close to everything and our hotel was pretty nice but we discovered that southern hospitality does not extend to that area. Everyone seemed perpetually pissed off or maybe they were just hung over? It was like we were in New York!
We did the usual touristy things in the Quarter. Cafe Du Monde was mouth watering with their fresh beignets and Cafe Au Lait. We walked along the Mississippi River, went to the Audobon aquarium, went to the WW II museum, the Louisiana State history museum and Preservation Hall. We also ate a a couple of restaurants owned by Chef John Besh and they were fabulous! In fact all the food was wonderful. So much yummy seafood to be had!
Two of the days we were there we ventured out of the Quarter and out of the city a little. The first day we took a swamp tour and saw some alligators. I must say, I really enjoyed the swamp. It's not at all like I thought. Hollywood has certainly painted a grim picture of the swamp...giant bugs, nasty smells, ravenous gators. I never knew that true swamps had tides. The only bugs we saw were dragon flies and it smelled a heck of a lot better than the city! We saw quite a few gators but they stayed hidden until baited with marshmallows or hot dogs. Our guide said they have kept track of all the gator attacks in Louisiana since 1942 and there have only been 12, non of them fatal and all of them provoked by humans. Crocodiles are agressive but alligators are docile for the most part. I would definitely recommend a swamp tour and would do it again!
Our second outing was to two plantations. One was a typical Creole plantation and was still a working sugar cane plantation. The second was also a sugar plantation but was French. Both were fascinating and very pretty. The French plantation was more of what comes to mind when I hear the word plantation but we really liked both tours. They were so different and just a few miles apart. The Creole plantation, Laura, was also where the original stories for Brer Rabbit were told and recorded.
Our last night in town we drove an hour over to Gulf Port, Mississippi to see one of Eric's cousins for dinner. We kind of wished we had split our time a little differently so we could have seen more of Gulf Port. New Orleans was fun but we don't like to gamble and the bar scene has never held much appeal...and that's pretty much what New Orleans is all about. NOT a family friendly place by any means. IF we ever go back it will be a stop on the way to somewhere else and the kids will have to be MUCH older...like maybe college!
All in all it was a great trip. We were able to remember what it was like to be just us...no schedules, nap times, bed times or crankiness. The kids had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa Millner so a good time was had by all.
