48 Hours In New Orleans

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You guys may know that Bryan and I caught the travel bug lately. We’ve been to Chicago, Austin and now New Orleans within weeks of each other. We’ve had a great time find our way in new places, and have really enjoyed our trips. Since we both work full-time jobs and don’t have a ton of vacation time, we prefer to take small, long weekend trips. This works really well because we still get to see enough of a place to decide if we want to go back and get some rest. So, New Orleans was our latest trip!

If you want to see some video, be sure to relive the trip through my Instagram Highlights!

Driving from Houston to New Orleans

So, our latest trip was over to New Orleans, and we decided to drive from Houston. We left around 2 p.m. on a Friday. Everyone says the drive takes 5-6 hours, but it took us almost 7.  On the way out of town, we stopped at our favorite gas station for some snacks, water, and a bathroom break.

This was actually my first driving trip since being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes that I’ve taken. I was pretty nervous about the trip. I brought extra supplies just in case something happened, but it was an extended trip!

Arriving in New Orleans – Friday Night

We got in pretty late and checked into our AirBnb. We stayed at a place near Frenchman Street and knew immediately that we would have a good time between the fireworks we heard and the multiple-party busses we saw.

We got in, changed and headed to a bar that Bryan was excited to go to called Barcadia.

Barcadia was a neat spot. The back room was closed for a party while we were there, but we did go back the next day and they had a few good games that Bryan enjoyed. I pretty much just drank a Deep Eddy Peach with Sparkling water and people watched. The night we went, we were starving so we ended up with a Po Boy at the bar. It was pretty good as far as they go – next time I may ask for some mayo for my bread – but the shrimp was really excellent.

Before we went out that night, I realized that I brought everything I needed to take insulin (alcohol wipes, the insulin itself), but I completely forgot pen needles. I take a mix of a fast-acting and long-lasting, so I have to take them at specific times so they overlap and I have the right dosage. Well, somehow I forgot the needles and had to spend some time searching for where I could buy them. I eventually did find a solution with Twitter’s help, and I was back to not worrying. I will say that the importance of a list and thorough packing will save your life. I will never rush again.

The First Day in New Orleans – Saturday

We woke up on Saturday ready to get a move on the day. It was Memorial Day weekend during our trip, so the city was quite packed. By the time we got into an Uber, it was about noon and the waits for brunch were crazy. We had an almost 2-hour wait at a place, so we walked around and waited to get texted. By the time we sat down and had food, we just weren’t feeling it. I got a pretty basic breakfast and was unimpressed.

When we left Brunch, it was almost 4 pm. We had a plan to go see the National WW2 Museum but knew we wouldn’t make it. Instead, we went to a place called Cresent City Comics for Bryan. He found a book he was looking for there. Very suddenly though, it started to pour down rain, and it didn’t stop for hours. So, we got stuck in the Airbnb for a while watching the NBA Finals.

Once the rain stopped, we headed over to Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone. We underestimated the crowd that would be there, so we decided to dip and walk. We ended up on Bourbon Street and walked around for a little bit. We grabbed a pizza and daiquiris and were on our way home! We got kind of tired.

A Taste of History – Sunday

Sunday was our last full day in the city, so we were sure to get up early and get a good head start on the day. We walked from our Airbnb to Frenchman Street and had breakfast at a cute little cafe called Petite Amelie. I loved this spot. They had lots of pastries, coffee, and sandwiches. Bryan got a Huevos Rancheros sandwich, and I stuck with my normal (shocking) bagel and lox.

After that, we hit up the World War II museum, which is an amazing experience. You are just so taken aback by how immersive this museum is. We have a lot of museums in Houston, but this experience was unparalleled. It also has some great commentary about the world now vs the world then, and how similar they are.  If you have a day to spare, you have to do that museum, and yes, it takes a few hours to do it all.

After the Museum, we walked over to what was my favorite meal of our entire trip at Cochon. At first I wasn’t sure about the menu. It was all stuff I’m not used to eating, but my goodness. If you want a good meal that’s going to soothe your soul, make your way to this restaurant. Cochon is a nice mix of southern and cajun food.

I asked our waitress about their recommendations, and she gave us a few to go with. I was so happy with this visit. I started with the Black Magic Woman, a drink with rum, strawberries, lemon and vinegar – it was so good, I had to have two!

Bryan went for the boudain balls, while I went with ribs and we split collard greens and mac n cheese – absolutely delicious.

Another part of the experience I loved was getting to sit in front of the chefs and watch them work. It’s definitely a cozy area, but seeing the food get prepped and plated, and watching them keep the wood fire oven in their kitchen going was just so cool.

 

 

After Cochon, we made it to Cafe Du Monde and stood in the epic line for beignets and cafe au lait. It’s just something we had to do!

We wanted to catch an uber back to our place, and we knew it would be pretty hectic. We ended up cutting through the French Quarter, which gave us some time to explore while we waited for our next ride! We got to see some beautiful homes along the way. The architecture in the city is so beautiful.

Sunday was our last day, so we opted to take it easy for the night knowing that we wanted to get out of the city early so we would be back home at a reasonable time.

Overall, I loved this trip so much. We had a fantastic time and still got to be a little spontaneous. I wish we would have had time to try more places, but waits were so long everywhere we went, and we had to choose wisely. All-in-all, we did have a fun trip and have more to look forward to the next time we go!

Let me know below, what’s your favorite stop in NOLA? And be sure to pin my trip image below.