New Orleans: Recap 1

Where to begin? As many of you know, about a week ago I traveled to New Orleans for a vacation with one of my good friends. We were there for five nights and about six days so we were on the go the whole time. From tours, to dining, to music, I am happy knowing that we did everything we wanted to!

The first night we had dinner on a patio, listened to live jazz, had local food and beers. Then we headed off to a ghost tour of the French District organized through Magic Tours. It was very informative - from creepy to historical stories! As you'll read, I have an obsession with ghost tours. They're great ways to learn about the city and be a little spooked at the same time. I highly recommend ghost tours when on vacation!

The next morning we were up and off to Cafe du Monde as suggested by everyone. The line was long but went by really quickly. The beignets were good but not as amazing as I expected. I think there was just too much hype from everyone. The one tip I will give is: have cash and know what to order before or quickly after sitting because they take your order right away and require cash upon the delivery of food.

After walking around and then finding the street cars we headed to the Garden District to sit on the porch at The Columns Hotel with Pimm's Cups in hand. It was refreshing since neither of us are used to humidity and we were both so hot. It was a nice calm before the storm because we then went on a two-hour haunted Garden District tour offered by Haunted History Tours.

This may have been my favorite part of the trip! Yes, it was humid, and we got sunburns, and our feet were blistering, but it was fun to hear ghost stories and get locked in a Layfayette Cemetery #1 with our guide (during the day - nobody is allowed in the cemeteries at night). Plus we walked around the neighborhood and saw amazing homes, some of which belong (or belonged) to Sandra Bullock, Anne Rice, Nicholas Cage, and John Goodman.

Sandra Bullock's home

Anne Rice's former home

Since we were in the area we headed to Magazine Street - which had a very cool vibe - and had dinner at a new place called Ignatius. Again we sampled local beers and for food I ordered the crawfish etouffee. It was the best meal I had on my trip. So good!

I'll be back tomorrow with my second recap! Stay tuned ;)