5 Days in the French Quarter
 

Just returned from New Orleans last night. What an amazing place!! We stayed at the Marriott on Canal St. It was only ok. We got a great deal through Expedia. The location was nice, but I always found the Marriott rooms to be very small and I hate any chain that charges for internet in the room. They were very nice though and upgraded us to a corner room with a view of the river.
We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight to Bourbon Street. It was during the week and no festivals which we liked. There were no crowds to fight, no wild partying. We were able to do what we wanted with no lines or craziness. Many of the bars had live music and I have never heard such wonderful bands whether in a bar, a restaurant, or even the street. We hated to ever move along because there seems to be such talent. It was definitely an experience. The Hurricanes were very sweet, but after 2 I was wearing boas!!
As far as restaurants....we didn't have one bad meal. We ate at Acme. The char-broiled oysters were delicious. We also ate breakfast at Mena which is around the block from our hotel. We had the best omelettes and french toast any of us have eaten! Brennan's steak house was very fancy and they allowed us in despite how we were dressed. The service was amazing and the food was beyond words. Tomato Napoleon was delicious and the steak I had was on creamed spinach with bernaise sauce and oysters. It melted in my mouth! We also ate at Le Bayou which was not rated anywhere and didn't seem like much, but again the food was delicious. I had mahi mahi on some crawfish dressing and it was out of this world taste-wise. Cafe DuMonde had delicious coffee. The beignets were good but being from NY, they reminded us of zeppoles. Pat O'Briens was also just ok. The courtyard was beautiful but we felt that the menu was very limited and that maybe the courtyard was so beautiful that people overrated the food there. There was one more place and forgive me because I never got the name right, but the Courtyard of the Two Sisters (I believe) had a wonderful brunch in a beautiful courtyard with live jazz. The food was really good. There was nothing on the menu that disappointed. The only restaurant that was very expensive was Brennan's steakhouse but it was well worth the price.
We took a tour of the city and the Parishes hit by Katrina. We also took a swamp tour with Cajun Encounters. Captain Ted was great. The swamps are something that everyone going should see. I feel everyone should see the lower 9th ward as well, but the swamp was more for entertainment. Also get an all day streetcar ticket for $5 and take a ride up the St. Charles line to see all of the beautiful homes including the Wedding Cake house. Walk around the riverfront area and see the local artists work. I bought several things.
New Orleans was a beautiful and friendly place. We hoped our flight would get cancelled because we did not want to leave. Thankfully though it wasn't because we would have easily hit 500 pounds with all of that good food!!

Glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for posting!

Nice report. Have you been to NOLA before, is was this your first time ?

Great trip report! I just love NOLA. wow, the swamp tour sounds fun..I will need to check it out next time i'm there. I agree, Brennan's is worth all the $$! :)

They serve food at Pat O's? Hmmmm - guess I never looked past the hurricanes and the flaming fountain ;)

It was my first time to NOLA and definitely not my last. Brennan's was an incredible experience. It is very hard to believe that no matter where we ate, the food was delicious. Pat O'Brien's wasn't bad, just a limited menu. And if you sat by the flaming fountain, I believe they don't serve food in that part. It was a beautiful courtyard, but I would not put that on the top of the food list. And HillaryJane, definitely do the swamp tour. Cajun Encounters was great. In fact we used a tour company that was on the corner of Decataur, pretty close to Cafe DuMonde. The driver that took us to the swamp drove through the lower 9th Ward and gave some very interesting information regarding the devastation of Katrina. On the way back, he took us past someplace related to NASA. He showed us a module that was used for Apollo. They really went all out.

ttt for msc

WriteALiving, when you say "a tour company that was on the corner of Decataur, pretty close to Cafe DuMonde" ...do you mean the Tourist Information Center on the corner of Decatur and Dumaine? If so, did you talk with the man there named Dan? ...or "Daneau" (he says he borrowed that from the Cajun French). He was a hoot! He had me in stitches! He's a singer song-writer and is also involved in local theater. When he found out my husband is a musician and that i'm an artist, he sang some of his latest lyrics for us and asked for our feedback :) He was just a charmer! ...made some very good suggestions, told us some great insider info about cafés off the beaten path, what celebs he's seen lately and how they covered the entire block with dirt to film a period movie just outside the Information Center there. Gosh, the people of New Orleans are as unforgettable as the food is heavenly. I'm definitely going back.

ps: Captain Ted was our guide as well ! ....that guy is just too cool for school ;)

We would like to visit NOLA for the first time - want to stay in an area where we can walk, shop, eat and just enjoy watching people and yet see some culture in the area.
No partying please.
Any suggestions ?

Amy,

You're probably best off starting a new post than to tack onto this post from earlier this year.

That being said, New Orleans can be enjoyed without all the partying. I'd probably recommend staying in the Warehouse District, next to the art galleries on Julia St. The Renaissance Arts Hotel is nice. Walk around the French Quarter, take the streetcar to the Garden District and walk around, eat at some of the famous restaurants. Also, plan to see a few plantations as they are very historical.

I'm sorry, Amy and HaveCanon, I never saw your questions because my original post was older. HaveCanon, I think that's the place, but I don't remember the man's name. We also dealt with a woman. I want to go back again. It was so nice!
Amy, I stayed on Canal which seemed central to everything. Plus outside of our hotel was where the cable car started and took us everywhere we would want to go. If you walk towards the French side, you can see so much within walking distance. We weren't big partiers either and liked that we went during the week when crowds weren't bad.

ttt