Yesterday is HERE

Monday 12 March , New Orleans : Algiers and Harrahs

After several nightmare hours when the room refused to keep still and I began to think it would never end, I did fall asleep sometime before midnight - so sound asleep that apparently I missed Andy being ill.

My notes tell me I did wake up around 2 and texted home to make sure that DS was up and about for getting to school and I managed to go back to sleep till 5

I woke up feeling tired and a bit wobbly but no hangover headache

A bottle of water and couple of coffees later and we set off for breakfast - I was definitely in need of toast.

It was really cold outside - Andy went back to get changed into the warmer clothes he had picked up in Sawgrass mills.

I carried on ( but did decided to go and change after breakfast, bare legged in that chill wind just wasn’t working for me ).

A quick walk to St Peter Street to the Old Coffee Pot ( its next door to Pat O Briens)

It's a very small place so we were lucky to get a seat straight away.









No breakfast cocktails today !
Lots of strong coffee.

I had the Lost toast and lots of toast with it.



Very sweet !

Andy had one of the muffin/ egg/ hollandaise combos



Full on 50s Prime Time in here with servers disagreeing (loudly) over who had the table in the corner .. And another scolding some young college students for not finishing their food. Toast and a show .. Great start to the day



I still felt a bit rough so that ruled out a trip on the Paddle Steamer.

We decided to take a walk to the Riverfront along Canal Street - In the sunshine, it was lovely. In the shade, it was freezing.

There were lots of bands and street performers out already and there was such a nice vibe - very different to our visit in September - we didn’t see as much of the street music then, it was great as each corner you turned, there was a different band.





We browsed in a few shops and it took us about half an hour to get to the Outlets at the Riverfront where we decided to get the ferry across to Mardi Gras World.



Its only a couple of dollars each and is every 20 minutes or so.

I started off sitting in the main cabin trying not to feel sea sick -



Andy persuaded me to sit outside - thankfully it’s a very short crossing ( and note there are NO loos on the boat)

See this sign that tells you where the sights are ?



Yeah, we missed it -

we only saw it as we were waiting for the ferry back - its high up on the wall as you exit off the boat




Anyhoo, we set off for Mardi Gras World, following a group of others who we thought must be heading to the same place - only they weren’t as they stopped at the first pub they found.

We carried on , pretty streets but totally deserted and not a tourist sign in sight.




After about 15 minutes it was clear that we were way off the beaten track and I did get a bit nervous - we must have looked so obviously lost and the couple of people we did see, didn’t know where MGW was either.

We were now half way between the ferry and the bridge and I thought maybe we could just head to the bridge and walk back into the city across it ( I have no idea if it’s pedestrianised or not).

We came across some warehouses by the railway line and it looked hopeful but there wasn’t a soul around and absolutely no signs at all.

It had been a nice walk but the novelty of being lost was wearing off so we climbed up the riverbank and walked back to the ferry along the river path.

This obviously being the path you are supposed to use to get to Mardi Gras World in the first place.

We got the ferry back and went across the road to Harrah’s Casino



We were in need of some food after our yomp around. I have never been in a casino before so I don’t know what I was expecting . It was quiet with it being around 1.30 but it wasn’t completely empty. We settled on having Fuddruckers.


I needed full on carbs so went for loaded fries.
Andy had a mahoosive burger and wedges






And then we hit the slots and tables. Not literally you understand. That would be painful

I made a loss on the slots but Andy had a small win on the tables so not so bad.

Clearly the trick is to set your spending limit and stick to it. It was a fun thing to do for a while.

By 4pm we were ready to go back to the hotel and got a cab - traffic was really slow now , all the roads were heaving.

A quick old persons nap and watching tv and we were ready to go out again at 8pm .

The hotel bar was packed and we ended up doing a complete loop around Bourbon Street and back to the hotel - everywhere had lines waiting and those that didn’t, weren’t very appealing !

We ended up back at the Grapevine where we got a seat at the bar straight away .

No cocktails today, just Diet Coke.

We had enjoyed the baked Brie so much , we had that again and then shared the beef medallions and crab cakes appetisers.



And the key lime pie to go







This place is so great. The food is totally delicious

We were back at the hotel by 10 and sat watching Criminal Minds until midnight

The next day exploring the riverfront is HERE

All the food looks so good, those burgers at the casino
Nice boat, good job you didn’t need a toilet!

We did have some nice food today
And after me saying I didn't fancy being on the water we end up on a boat with no loo. Good job I didn't feel sea sick !

What a cool boat! Though no loos 😬 - thankfully it wasn't a long trip.
And why are useful signs never that obvious

Glad the carb overload helped the errrrr hangover 😜

Considering you were well and truly hungover you managed to have a productive day. No sitting about for you two in fact you hit the casino! Go hard or go home they say. Your boys would be impressed. Very brave taking a boat trip too. Must have been that awesome breakfast. Let's see if the diet cokes continue into day 4. Surely not... x

Shame you didn't find Mardi Gras World (I can see us doing the same!) but still a good day 😎

Glad you had a good day and well done on managing the boat!

Great day, shame about the hangover though! You managed to do lots despite that. The boat looks lovely, as does all the food

I'm so impressed you even managed to leave the room today! I had a TERRIBLE hangover in New Orleans (we made friends with a couple on the haunted history tour we did and went for a LOT of drinks with them) and could barely lift my head off the pillow!

That food at the casino really does look so good. I could just eat those loaded fries