New Orleans: Recap 3

Swamp/plantation tour story time! Def the most relaxing day of the trip! We got to sleep in, were picked up in an air conditioned bus and taken on a swamp tour just outside the city.

We were surprised how pretty the swamp was. Neither of us had been to one and we enjoyed ourselves!

We decided to go with Cajun Pride Tours and overall were pretty happy with their company. My friend Tiffany works at SeaWorld and I was a vegetarian for a few years - so we're both animal lovers and we were hesitant to do the tour due to the treatment of the alligators. We found that while we didn't agree with everything they do, the company makes an effort to treat the animals properly and they do a pretty good job.

Upon getting in the boat, we saw alligators right away. Most of them were little guys, but we did see several large ones. They follow the boat because they know they're going to get fed (which we didn't like) but we also learned that the alligators know how to and have to find find food on their own, so they're not totally dependent on humans.

Toward the end of the hour-long (maybe it was 2 hours?) trip the guide surprised us with a baby alligator for us to hold. Again, I didn't like that the poor thing was kept inside an ice chest, but we were told that there are several of them and they are treated well and not overworked. Although I was hesitant to hold the little guy because I felt bad for him, I was glad I had the experience.

After the swamp we headed to Oak Alley Plantation. Unfortunately we didn't really have any free time here so we just went on a guided tour and managed to snap a few pictures. The place is gorgeous and may look familiar to you - it's been in Interview With a Vampire, an episode of Ghost Hunters, and even Beyone's music video for Deja Vu. The path of trees are stunning!

To end the night we headed over to Frenchman Street. It's right outside the French Quarter and has an up-and-coming vibe to it. There are several bars and restaurants and actual live music! We couldn't believe it was so tough to find live music!

After stopping by an artists street fair we headed to a speakeasy themed restaurant/bar, grabbed some serious cocktails inspired by the prohibition era and sat outside taking it all in. It was the perfect end to our trip!

I have one more recap left - the drinking tour! Unfortunately it's not going up 'til next week. So stop by on Tuesday to hear all our the alcohol tasting portion of of New Orleans trip. My travel mate, Tiffany is also going to do a guest post with her take on NOLA. To be continued...