New Orleans

We have been eating our way through NOLA!  Hopefully I can include some pictures of sites as well.

Thursday we drove about an hour away and toured a creole plantation.  It was a really good tour and mostly private because it is their slow time.

Laura Plantation

Live Oaks

Wine Cellar

The houses were pre-manufactured by the slaves in the swamp and then taken piece by piece to the site.  They used wooden pegs in place of nails.  This house is about 3000 square feet.

Slave quarters

We had a recommendation to eat nearby at a local restaurant.  It was SO good!  I had the chicken & sausage gumbo and shrimp po boy.  Joe had seafood gumbo, homemade andouille po boy and we shared hush puppies.  Everything was amazing!

We also stopped by Oak Alley Plantation.  We didn't take the tour but saw some of the grounds.  The live oak trees were really pretty!

We checked in at our B&B and were upgraded to a room with a balcony.  They also have local beer on tap which Joe has been enjoying and wine & cheese for an hour each night.

We stopped by the Columns Hotel and Joe got a pre-dinner drink.  Then we had a nice French dinner and came back for an early night since we were tired from traveling.  

Red fish on crepe and coq au vin

Friday morning they cooked us a southern breakfast of eggs and grits.  We headed out to some excellent massages and then to a restaurant I'd been to with my friends called Mothers.  It was just as good as I remembered.  This time we split jambalaya, the original po boy (ham, beef, gravy) and a catfish po boy.

We spent most of the day on Magazine Street.  This street has really cute shops and lots of antiques.

We made it back to our B&B to rest before the wine & cheese and then went to an amazing place for dinner.  I forgot to take pictures of our entrees but it was SO SO good.  I had mushroom bisque, artichoke ravioli with lump crab and Joe had poached oysters and leg of lamb.  I don't like lamb but had a bit of his which was so tender he barely needed a butter knife.  It was excellent!  We didn't want dessert but got creme brulee since we knew it had to be delicious.

We ended the night at The Spotted Cat on Frenchman Street.  The music was awesome and all of these locals were doing some serious swing dancing which was fun to watch.  The singer was playing a washboard with cans and a bell attached.  We might make one of these for Louis when we get home!

Local Art on Frenchman

That brings us to today!  I have to say it was hard to really enjoy yesterday with the horrible news out of Connecticut.  Just like everyone else, we are really shocked and saddened by the news and thinking of the families.  It seems a little wrong to have a blast on a vacation when so many people are devastated.

We fly home on Sunday so we've got some more neighborhoods to visit and food to try.