My first trip to New Orleans was in June of 2021. It was for a bachelorette party with a bunch of ladies. It was a great time and we did so many cool things, for a bachelorette party. There is great food, a bicycle bar crawl, a ghost tour, and a drag show. There were still so many foods that I did not experience, and shopping and history. Some things were harder to do with COVID precautions still in place. I could not wait to come back and experience more of it again, and 2024 was the year!
For spring break this year, our family friends invited us to join them and it became a family affair. We traveled up by car, with a quick overnight break in Tallahassee with other friends. Then continued our drive the next day, with a stop at Bucees. It is a required stop on all of our road trips out of Florida if we are lucky enough to pass by. They have the cleanest bathrooms and it’s fun to shop around for the perfect road trip lunch and snacks. On this trip, we met the mascot as well and took our first picture with the beaver.
We arrived in New Orleans at dinnertime, which was later then we planned. If possible, get there before the later afternoon, when roads start to close. We were staying right in the center of it all in the French Quarter, at an AIRBNB on Dauphine St. We had to park in a parking garage and wheel all our suitcases to the home and then up 28 flights of stairs. Not exactly, I think it was 5, but it felt like 28. There are not a lot of elevators in those old buildings. If you cannot climb stairs, then do your research. There are more elevator options on the outskirts, but you may want to stay out of many of the old French Quarter residences.
Despite the stairs, our place was amazing and right in the action, on our first night we watched the St Patrick’s Day parade from our window. There were floats, music, dancing and of course lots of beads. We even scored a hula hoop.
The driving around let us explore the party from the car too. We drove past the iconic Bourbon Street before it became packed.
The one thing that was determined to do this time, because we did not the last time, was visit Cafe Du Monde and get the Beignets. The popular location by Jackson Square does have a long line, but I did not care. I was getting them and bought extras. Evie greatly dislikes donuts and was determined that she would not touch them. I am glad that I bought the extra because, as it turns out, she was definitely into them. We all enjoyed them and left a great trail on powdered sugar wherever we went.
We spent time walking around Jackson Square and looking at the art. When we were ready to eat again, we walked up the road to the Shops of the Collendade. It is filled we tons of street food vendors as well as various art, fashion, and trinket vendors. We ate so much and shopped for souvenirs. It was great. I know the girls ate crepes, I had jambalaya and bites of everyone else’s food. Everything except their fresh oysters. I was not about that life.
For dinner, we ate at Deanie’s Seafood. Everyone ate more oysters, but I was there for their potatoes! I took them home for my evening snack too, with threats for anyone who might steal them.
The first full day continued with a bar crawl ghost tour. This is something we have never been able to do on a family vacation, go on an adult night. We were lucky to have a volunteer stay to watch all the kids on different evenings. Perhaps because our kids were older, we benefited a couple of times. It was great.
For this first night, we were taken on a foot tour through the city with a variety of ghost stories and history to perk our interest. We stopped in at various bars along the way, that had stories of their own. Each bar had a special drink to get for the crawl if you choose.
The next day was the highlight of the trip. It was the whole reason that this trip was planned. My best friend was going to be proposed to and she did not know, however we all did. The kids all wore their matching shirts from our shopping trip. They are the cutest adopted cousin/siblings gang. They did so well at keeping the secret too.
We packed a picnic to spend the day at the New Orleans City Park. The proposal happened on a cute little bridge in the park. When it happened and it was confirmed that all was well, we all could relax again and continue our fun. I don’t know if I was to keep another proposal secret again. It’s a lot of work and I wasn’t the one doing it. This park has another Cafe Du Monde, so of course I bought more beignets to start.
We explored the Art Museum’s sculpture garden and took lots of pictures with the art.
The children’s museum was closed on the day we went, however, we did get to visit a very cute place called Storyland. It is a play area where everything is fair tale themed. There was the 3 little pigs’ home, a castle, a ship, and even Jack’s giant beanstalk. There was so much more to get lost in for a while. The kids had so much fun, and I even went down a few slides.
For our celebratory dinner, we went to Arnaud’s. It is a fine dining experience with lots of history in the building, as it has been there for over 100 years. After a very delicious dinner, they also had a Mardi Gras museum on the floor above the restaurant. The museum houses a variety of Mardi Gras costumes and ballgowns from decades prior. It was a unique addition to a fancy dinner. I will add that I continue my love of potatoes with their souffle potatoes. I am not about their seafood, but I fell in love with the potatoes.
We all clean up quite nicely for a special dinner when we have to.
The next day was a family day. We walked from our AirBNB to the Audobon Aquarium and Insectarium and spent hours exploring the two. This is the first insectarium we have visited. We have seen butterfly worlds and other places with insects, but not a whole building dedicated to bugs. It was a dream come true for Isla the bug lover. There were insects from all areas of the world, as well as local bees, with a little tube to the outside world. There was also a bug kitchen where the had special snacks like chocolate chirp cookies that had crickets in them. Evie bravely tried them and surprisingly enjoyed them. They also had a little butterfly atrium that was full of butterflies that wanted to land on Isla especially.
On the other side of the building was the aquarium, with all types of fish, as well as some birds. There was a sting ray touch tank and some cute little toddler play areas as well.
New Orleans was a fun time and not just a party town. It’s great for foodies and even for families. There are still things to on our to-do list, so perhaps we will make it back there again soon. If you have been thinking about visiting, do it!! Just be prepared for stairs if you have back knees like me.
