We made our flight from Los Angeles to Dallas, which was so overbooked the airline staff were offering people cash to take a later flight. We would have considered this, however we wanted to get the show on the road. We were ready to leave California. After arriving at the ‘hotel’ at 12:30 am, we slept fitfully and briefly before making the 8 and a bit hour drive to New Orleans.
Arriving in New Orleans was interesting. We had booked a room for the night on our lunch stop at Subway. Turns out, it was an old asylum and was more like a hostel than a hotel. Either way, we took food recommendations and ate ‘Poboys’ for dinner. The Blind Pelican turned out to be an exceptional recommendation and we ate far too much (as usual).
Day two was much awaited. Meghan Pinfold and Patrick Wilson were, slowly, making their way to New Orleans. They arrived just after the afternoon storm (it seems to start around 2:00 pm and last for anywhere up to an hour and a half each day!). From there, it was the real New Orleans experience. Bourbon street, traditional Louisiana food, Hurricanes (a rum based bright red alcohol), and beignets at Café Du Monde (a French doughnut without a hole in the middle covered in icing sugar).
Our last day in New Orleans was, once again, all about the food. We found a little breakfast place on Magazine Street, which was where we spent the remainder of the morning and the early afternoon shopping. There was an absolutely wonderful print that both Laurence and I liked (shock/horror – that almost never happens), however, due to the travel and cost of sending it to New Zealand we had to give it a miss :( Instead we had more ‘Poboys’ and ended up down a the Mississippi river just prior to sunset.
Overall, New Orleans would be a desirable place to visit again (if we could avoid the dirt, the humidity, and if it was a little cooler). One of the best places so far!