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Old 8 Dec 19, 05:30 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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Bayous to Beaches. Oct 2019.Day 3 New Orleans. Garden District, Bourbon and Frenchmen Street

Thursday 3 October

Yesterday is HERE

As a reminder, we are now into the non Florida leg of this trip. We will return to the sunshine state in a week’s time

Another early morning both awake at 4.30, we dozed for a bit till 5.30 and then had a coffee around 6.

I did a bit more planning for the walking tour - basically writing a list of house numbers for the main streets and working out which order to walk around in and taking screen shots from the web site to help.

The guided tours all took around 90 minutes and were $25 to 30 per person and based on the last couple of tours we had here, we were both a bit doubtful about whether these were going to suit us. So its DIY time.

We picked up another coffee from the hotel lobby and headed out at 0830. The French Quarter was very quiet



We had to pick up transport from Canal Street but I wasn't sure exactly where. Once we were out of the shade of the buildings we could feel it was already heating up.

We also knew we needed the exact fare for the street car ($1.25). I had tried to buy the jazz pass on line but the RTA app wouldn’t work on my phone so cash it was.


Andy went into the CVS to get some change while I tried to work out which line we needed - turns out we were at the wrong stop and someone helpfully pointed out where we needed to be.



We caught the bus on Carrolton just by the footlocker store

These are the markers to look out for



The bus took us to Lee Circle where we got off and transferred to the St Charles street car.



People were very helpful making sure tourists knew they had to get off and change over.

I know when we set off on the bus Andy was looking at me like what are we doing on here but it all worked out ok.

As a side note , we passed by O’Keefe and Poydras on the way - I had noted both of these streets in case we made it to Willa Jean or Mothers. We didn’t in the end but I think these may be places I would take a taxi too rather than walk, some parts were quite run down as you got further away from the main tourist areas and possibly not ideal for ambling around on our own. We haven’t felt unsafe in New Orleans ( a bit nervous when we got lost in Algiers maybe) but we are careful to stick pretty much to the advised areas.

The street car ride was fun. We got off at Washington and headed down towards Magazine Street.




This was a great route as we passed Lafayette Cemetery on the right (noting that it was closed until further notice)



and Commanders Palace on the left




So two sights ticked off on the way to breakfast.

I was taken by two things.

Firstly the state of the pavements is shocking. There are big chunks missing - you cant quite see in the pics but in some places there a considerable drop from one pavement section to another and it definitely wouldn’t be wheelchair or buggy friendly.



You had to watch your step carefully.

Secondly the abundance of wild aspidistras.



Having managed to kill every single plant of this I have ever owned, I love to see the fact it just grows in the wild here.

We had a look at some of the lovely houses, some dressed for Halloween but not as many as I had expected.



As we reached Magazine Street we were briefly tempted by Ruby Slipper as we walked past but carried spying the preferred destination ahead



Now this is deceiving as the cafe sign is on the top floor so we thought it was up there but after trying several locked doors and successfully avoiding arrest for looking like we were trying to break in we found it.

We were confused but turns out it’s round the corner in the courtyard bottom left unit





Lovely place



I had a strawberry mimosa.



It was a speggtacular choice - all further yolks taken from the food trippy and are an homage to neilhd and his eggsploits.



I went for the eggcellent Strawberry Pound cake combo



Andy had the eggceedingly good brisket combo



It was a cracking meal



I couldn’t finish all the cake and had some for breakfast the next day.

I did then have coffee



The bill was not eggspensive at all




We waddled off for our tour very eggcited to have eaten here.

I think his are still the winners

It was considerably hotter when we stepped out and now I was also carrying the remaining pound cake with me that I hadn’t managed to finish.

We walked back up Washington so we had the cemetery on our left - where I peeked in through the closed gates



This sign made me laugh - its to the point



and then we took a right in front of Commanders Palace




Lots of lovely places




the only one I can outright remember is this is Benjamin Button House.



More nice houses.



See we found the " horse house"

Helpfully we kept running into the back end of some walking tours so managed to pick up a few things and it was useful to know we were in the right area.




the good thing is that it’s basically a giant loop to see the main sights so not too difficult to work out with good old google maps.


After about an hour we had really had enough of the sightseeing and I had ticked off most of the places on my list so we headed back for the streetcar - back to Washington where we had got off.



Some random dude came over and had a right old natter with us. We assumed he was waiting for the street car too but when it appeared he just said his goodbyes and tootled off.

Garden District is nice but I think the historic quarter in Charleston was the hands down winner for most beautiful homes this trip

Edited at 09:39 PM.
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Old 8 Dec 19, 05:36 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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We were back at Canal by 1130 and headed for the Hard Rock Café.



Happily we were seated and drink in hand about 10 minutes before a huge party of college kids descended - the place went from empty to overflowing in minutes.




Just the one drink here




and then a walk up to the top of Bourbon Street for my favourite, the Shark Attack at the Tropical Isle.




This is such fun and as it was happy hour, it was a triple vodka hit too. Send Help !




Good job we had that carb loaded breakfast earlier.


From there we went back to the hotel



and had another couple of hours at the pool. It was really hot again so it was nice to sit in the shade for a bit. I read for a while and we had some chips and salsa with some soft drinks.



No more of the dodgy daquiris today.

About 5.30 we headed up to get changed and I tidied up the stuff in the case so that there was minimal faffing about needed on Friday when we were leaving.


Tonight we were heading out to Frenchmen Street- we walked straight down Royal



but we went a bit too far as we passed Washington Square and missed the right turn we should have taken. It did get more dimly lit and more deserted the further we walked but we soon realised doubled back finding the turn we needed and coming out right by the Marigny Brasserie.

I think in future we would take the route along Decatur and turn left as it would be easier and busier. The back streets are most definitely not very well lit at all


Frenchmen Street was busy, there was a street market and load of cafes and bars.




Every kind of music that you could imagine, a real melting pot and quite different to Bourbon Street.

Quite a few places had a minimum drinks policy though so something to look out for if you just wanted to stop by and hear the music - you would have to get a drink too.

Our first stop was Café Negril



where there was some great reggae music playing.

The music was very good but the bar was a bit average and the seats not very comfortable so we just had the one drink and headed off. I know I only had a soft drink here so either they didn’t do cocktails or they were not to my taste.

From there we went over the road to Dat Dog.

Our plan is to alternate fine dining and fast food. Yesterday and tomorrow was about the fancy stuff so today was not


A really funky hot dog place . Very hipster.




Embrace your bliss indeed




I went for the burger. Thinking it would be a burger. But it’s not



I did briefly think it looked like something that “Dat Dog” at home would leave me on the lawn but it was very nice.
I had it with cheese fries.

Andy went for the Bacon Werewolf



I also had a Blackberry Mule, with Cathead Vodka. It was ok, but weak.





It was a fun place and the food very fresh




We had a wander along the Street for a bit and made our way back to Bourbon Street




stopping at Maison Bourbon to listen to a jazz band for a bit and then our final stop of the night was the Bourbon O Bar at our hotel for the resident jazz band.



Look its Cheryl Charming again



And that was it for the night, lots of music and lots of walking and a few cocktails. A fairly typical day for us

** I cant upload the various jazz videos nor of the shark attack being made( its such fun) as YouTube and I are not friends at the moment. The shark attack is on my insta account though and I will add Maison Bourbon shortly ****

Today's cocktail tally: 3
Holiday tally : 8

As a footnote.

Last weekend there were some shootings on Canal Street just by the CVS. It was 3am and a weekend of a big football game that has seen trouble in the city before. There were several other shootings that weekend elsewhere in the city.

We feel very at ease as visitors in NOLA but I have deliberately mentioned those points where we took a wrong route or places we wouldn't venture as a bit of a reminder that its easy to get carried away as a tourist.

Most hotels will draw a square on the guide maps for you to give you an idea of where to stick to and its good advice to take to have the most enjoyable time.

End of public service announcement

Tomorrow is HERE

Edited at 09:41 PM.
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Old 8 Dec 19, 10:43 PM  
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CrispyA
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The houses do look wonderful - I think we’d like NOLA but maybe more fun as an adults only trip?
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Old 9 Dec 19, 01:19 PM  
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KarenG
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Amanda, am I right in thinking you’ve not eaten at Commanders’s Palace? We are headed there for the 25c martinis

Fabulous day though, filled with exploring and good food, drink and music
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Old 9 Dec 19, 10:04 PM  
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Those pavements look lethal!

A good day on the drink front! Plenty of relaxing which is a good thing on holiday!
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Old 9 Dec 19, 11:16 PM  
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mossyflossy
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Very much enjoying your NO trippie. The food at "Dat Dog" definitely doesn't look like a burger, I had a chuckle at whjat you thought it did look like!
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Old 10 Dec 19, 07:18 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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Originally Posted by CrispyA View Post
The houses do look wonderful - I think we’d like NOLA but maybe more fun as an adults only trip?
Yes our kids would hate it The Garden District was very nice to walk round and had quite a few beautiful places but Charleston was breathtaking in the historic quarter. Every house there was amazing.

Originally Posted by KarenG View Post
Amanda, am I right in thinking you’ve not eaten at Commanders’s Palace? We are headed there for the 25c martinis

Fabulous day though, filled with exploring and good food, drink and music
Ha Ha no we have never made it as Andy is always in shorts so doesn't meet the dress code. Ditto we have never made it to Antoines either.

Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
Those pavements look lethal!

A good day on the drink front! Plenty of relaxing which is a good thing on holiday!
They were in a shocking state Not for the faint footed for sure! It was so hot that we just didnt want to venture out in the afternoons.

Originally Posted by mossyflossy View Post
Very much enjoying your NO trippie. The food at "Dat Dog" definitely doesn't look like a burger, I had a chuckle at whjat you thought it did look like!
Thank you It did look like a Dat Dog doodoo didnt it
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Old 10 Dec 19, 08:25 PM  
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KarenG
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Originally Posted by WileyCoyote View Post

Ha Ha no we have never made it as Andy is always in shorts so doesn't meet the dress code. Ditto we have never made it to Antoines either.


:
Jon will wear trousers if he can get three martinis for under a dollar
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Old 11 Dec 19, 08:37 PM  
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Love all the houses, lots of great photos, they are beautiful. Shocking pavements though, I'd have been tripping over or twisting my ankle every 5 minutes.

It sounds like a really interesting day and you both seemed to really enjoy it.
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Old 12 Dec 19, 04:22 PM  
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Lovely day Amanda. I just love the style of houses over there, they seem so grand!
Knowing me though I would have definitely given myself an injury walking along those pavements, shocking that nothing is done about them.
It was a much better idea to do a DIY tour as I remember the one you did last year not being particularly great, at least you get to see everything you want for free 😬
After getting over what your burger actually looks like I’m glad it was nice 😉
Good info on the safety of NOLA, will try and remember that if I end up on a day trip there next year
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