Once Upon the Myers: New Orleans

Scott and I had a wonderful time in New Orleans. It is dripping with history and culture. There is so to see but we didn't have enough time to see everything we wanted. We did get to walk by the Mississippi River, experience "pre-Marti Gras", eat beignets at Cafe du Monde, tour St Louis Cathedral, enjoy all the wonderful creole cuisine, and walk all around Bourbon, Canal, and St Peter Streets. The only thing that wasn't fun was the weather. It was freezing! We had to wear all the clothes we brought - all at once and we were still cold. It was the one time I didn't bring enough clothing.

When we arrived in New Orleans, the streets were filled with party-goers and we were worried we had come at a bad time - haha we are so old now. We went out on Bourbon Street that night and listened to live music and had a great time. They had the streets blocked off so even though it was cold, they were filled with people and music. There were people playing jazz and other street entertainers on every corner. Everyone was carrying large bones of frozen cocktails and wearing beads. All of the buildings were covered in Marti Gras and Saints decorations. The next morning when we woke, they were washing the streets. We grabbed breakfast - seafood omelets - and walked around the city to do a bit of sight-seeing. We stopped for hot chocolate and beignets at Cafe du Monde and enjoyed the French Quarter and the French Market. Exhausted and freezing we went back to our hotel and took a nap and thawed out a bit. I don't remember the last time I was this cold and we even bought stocking caps. We went back out around 3pm and if it wouldn't have been daylight, I would have sworn it was 3am! The streets were again filled with people and some of the bars were packed with people dancing on the bars! We walked around a bit then went back in and got ready for dinner. We had dinner at an oyster bar and I enjoyed a delicious bloody mary. We ended up back at the hotel around 11:30. We were so tired that we decided we couldn't handle another night out on the town. The next morning we had jambalaya omelets. Then we went and got Cafe au Laits (coffee and steamed milk) from Cafe du Monde. This time we didn't have to wait in line. We went to the river - because New Orleans is below sea level, a lot of tourists never see the Mississippi river. You have to walk up a hill to see it. We packed the car and drove up to the Garden District to see the "American" Sector and all of the historic mansions. Canal Street separates the French Quarter and what was once known as the "American" Sector. I came back from New Orleans with a love for creole cuisine and a Saints fan. It was a wonderful trip.

One of the decorated balconies: (All of the balconies were decorated and for rent for the Superbowl and Marti Gras.)