How y'all doin? J's New Orleans and Cajun Country Trip Report
Jun 24th, 2007, 12:03 PM
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How y'all doin? J's New Orleans and Cajun Country Trip Report
Hey y'all. We're back and had a terrific time 
First I would like to thank everyone who gave advice and recommendations for our trip - you all helped me plan a wonderful trip, and after several well-planned trips, even my husband is a Fodors convert. I don't expect he will start posting or anything, but at least he no longer thinks my interest in the board is a mark of insanity - LOL.
On to the trip report - we were gone 10 days, spent the first half in New Orleans and the second half in Plantation and Cajun Country. This was a trip to celebrate our 5th anniversary - we had gone to New Orleans for our honeymoon. So far, I have only written part of the report, so be patient with me
Day 1 – Thursday
My husband and I flew from San Jose to New Orleans, arriving in the evening. We took a cab to the French Quarter and checked into the Place d’Armes hotel on St. Ann (www.placedarmes.com).
The hotel is right off Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter, but far enough removed from Bourbon Street that it is quiet and peaceful. I had originally reserved a balcony room, but when we had to change our plans, the balcony rooms were all reserved for our new dates, so I reserved a room with a courtyard view, but no balcony. When we checked in, I asked about room availability and it turned out that there had been a cancellation, so we got our balcony room after all. The room was terrific - 3rd floor, nice-sized balcony with cast iron lace, overlooking the street, with a view of Jackson Square off to the side.
The balcony turned out to be a really wonderful thing to have. It was nice to sit out in the morning with our coffee, read in the afternoon, and so on. The hotel itself is made up of several historic townhouses surrounding a courtyard. The courtyard is really pretty with lush plants and a pool.
Since it was a bit late when we arrived, we decided to just get a quick bite to eat and walk around a bit. We got po-boys at Café Beignet on Bourbon Street, which were ok, but nothing great. There was a jazz band there, which was pretty good though. Afterwards we walked around awhile, stopped at Café du Monde for beignets and coffee (which were as good as ever) and then turned in.
Day 2 – Friday
Started the day with breakfast of coffee, juice, and croissants at the hotel and then took a French Quarter walking tour with New Orleans Historic Walking Tour Co (www.tourneworleans.com). On a previous trip, we took the Cemetery and Voodoo walking tour with this company, which was really good, so we decided to try another tour with them.
It turned out that we were the only people on this particular tour – tourism is below pre-Katrina levels and by June I think we were into the low summer season anyway. We didn’t mind being the only people on the tour though – it was fun having a private guide. The tour was really good – lasted about 2 hours and the guide was terrific – very knowledgeable and entertaining. We learned a ton about the neighborhood and the history of the city.
For lunch we went to the Chartres House Café on the corner of Chartres and Toulouse. We hadn’t planned on eating there, but decided to on a whim. The host was out in the street with menus trying to lure in hungry people – and since he was quite charming, we decided to give it a try.
The place is a restaurant/bar, right on the corner with 2 sides open to the street – great for people-watching. We had po-boys and beer. The food was good, although it doesn’t rate near the top for food we consumed on this trip.
We spent the afternoon wandering the French Quarter with my husband taking pictures of everything – he is a photography nut, so much of our time was spent with him taking pictures. We covered some of the same ground at different times on different days so he could get shots under different lighting and weather conditions. After awhile, we went back to the hotel because the weather was getting warm and that swimming pool was calling us.
For dinner we went to Pere Antoines at the corner of Royal and St. Ann. This is a sentimental favorite for us since it is the first place we ever ate in New Orleans – and the food is good too I had the Shrimp Creole, which was really really good – seasoned just right with enough chile to give it a nice bite, but not so much that it overpowers the other flavors. Marty had red beans and rice, which was excellent. I think he had red beans and rice everyday during our time in New Orleans – LOL.
After dinner we hit Bourbon Street – basically migrated from one club to the next, wherever a band was playing a song we liked. A lot of people don't care for Bourbon Street, but I think it is a lot of fun. The people-watching is excellent and I like wandering in and out of the different clubs at will without worrying about cover charge or anything like that. We also stopped at Pat O’Brien’s for the mandatory Hurricane – sat out in the courtyard near the flaming fountain. Lots of fun. Perhaps by the time we come back for our 10th anniversary, I will have outgrown Bourbon Street, but maybe not. Who can say? LOL.
First I would like to thank everyone who gave advice and recommendations for our trip - you all helped me plan a wonderful trip, and after several well-planned trips, even my husband is a Fodors convert. I don't expect he will start posting or anything, but at least he no longer thinks my interest in the board is a mark of insanity - LOL. On to the trip report - we were gone 10 days, spent the first half in New Orleans and the second half in Plantation and Cajun Country. This was a trip to celebrate our 5th anniversary - we had gone to New Orleans for our honeymoon. So far, I have only written part of the report, so be patient with me
Day 1 – Thursday
My husband and I flew from San Jose to New Orleans, arriving in the evening. We took a cab to the French Quarter and checked into the Place d’Armes hotel on St. Ann (www.placedarmes.com).
The hotel is right off Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter, but far enough removed from Bourbon Street that it is quiet and peaceful. I had originally reserved a balcony room, but when we had to change our plans, the balcony rooms were all reserved for our new dates, so I reserved a room with a courtyard view, but no balcony. When we checked in, I asked about room availability and it turned out that there had been a cancellation, so we got our balcony room after all. The room was terrific - 3rd floor, nice-sized balcony with cast iron lace, overlooking the street, with a view of Jackson Square off to the side.
The balcony turned out to be a really wonderful thing to have. It was nice to sit out in the morning with our coffee, read in the afternoon, and so on. The hotel itself is made up of several historic townhouses surrounding a courtyard. The courtyard is really pretty with lush plants and a pool.
Since it was a bit late when we arrived, we decided to just get a quick bite to eat and walk around a bit. We got po-boys at Café Beignet on Bourbon Street, which were ok, but nothing great. There was a jazz band there, which was pretty good though. Afterwards we walked around awhile, stopped at Café du Monde for beignets and coffee (which were as good as ever) and then turned in.
Day 2 – Friday
Started the day with breakfast of coffee, juice, and croissants at the hotel and then took a French Quarter walking tour with New Orleans Historic Walking Tour Co (www.tourneworleans.com). On a previous trip, we took the Cemetery and Voodoo walking tour with this company, which was really good, so we decided to try another tour with them.
It turned out that we were the only people on this particular tour – tourism is below pre-Katrina levels and by June I think we were into the low summer season anyway. We didn’t mind being the only people on the tour though – it was fun having a private guide. The tour was really good – lasted about 2 hours and the guide was terrific – very knowledgeable and entertaining. We learned a ton about the neighborhood and the history of the city.
For lunch we went to the Chartres House Café on the corner of Chartres and Toulouse. We hadn’t planned on eating there, but decided to on a whim. The host was out in the street with menus trying to lure in hungry people – and since he was quite charming, we decided to give it a try.
The place is a restaurant/bar, right on the corner with 2 sides open to the street – great for people-watching. We had po-boys and beer. The food was good, although it doesn’t rate near the top for food we consumed on this trip.
We spent the afternoon wandering the French Quarter with my husband taking pictures of everything – he is a photography nut, so much of our time was spent with him taking pictures. We covered some of the same ground at different times on different days so he could get shots under different lighting and weather conditions. After awhile, we went back to the hotel because the weather was getting warm and that swimming pool was calling us.
For dinner we went to Pere Antoines at the corner of Royal and St. Ann. This is a sentimental favorite for us since it is the first place we ever ate in New Orleans – and the food is good too I had the Shrimp Creole, which was really really good – seasoned just right with enough chile to give it a nice bite, but not so much that it overpowers the other flavors. Marty had red beans and rice, which was excellent. I think he had red beans and rice everyday during our time in New Orleans – LOL.
After dinner we hit Bourbon Street – basically migrated from one club to the next, wherever a band was playing a song we liked. A lot of people don't care for Bourbon Street, but I think it is a lot of fun. The people-watching is excellent and I like wandering in and out of the different clubs at will without worrying about cover charge or anything like that. We also stopped at Pat O’Brien’s for the mandatory Hurricane – sat out in the courtyard near the flaming fountain. Lots of fun. Perhaps by the time we come back for our 10th anniversary, I will have outgrown Bourbon Street, but maybe not. Who can say? LOL.
Jun 24th, 2007, 12:05 PM
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Day 3 - Saturday
We got up a little later than planned, missed breakfast at the hotel, but made up for it with po-boys at Johnny’s Po-Boys on St. Louis. I had heard that these were the best in New Orleans and I have to say – they are pretty excellent. They are huge though and we probably should have just ordered 1 to share. My husband couldn’t even finish his sandwich, and I definitely couldn’t finish mine.
After lunch, we walked along the riverwalk (a nice cooling breeze up there on the levy in addition to the views) and then took the ferry over to Algiers to go to Mardi Gras World (www.mardigrasworld.com).
The ferry is free for pedestrians and the trip over offers great views of the river and the French Quarter – I recommend it even if you aren’t planning to see anything in Algiers. There is a shuttle that meets the ferry and takes people to Mardi Gras World, which is about a mile or so away. Mardi Gras World is very cool. It is $17/person for the tour, but we found a 2-for-1 coupon on the convention and visitor’s bureau web site. We got to see some of the floats, tour the workshop to see some work in progress, and see a bunch of characters and things from previous parades. We also learned a lot about Mardi Gras and the different Krews.
Algiers is an interesting neighborhood too – given more time, I think it would be interesting to explore further. There is a little café right off the ferry called the Dry Dock Café – quite a few people appeared to have come to Algiers just to go there since they headed straight there from the ferry.
After taking the ferry back to the French Quarter, we ducked into Harrah’s Casino to use the rest room and get a bit of air conditioning. The weather was pretty warm, although not as hot and humid as we had anticipated. While in the casino, we decided to play $5 in the quarter slots. We were close to losing it all when we started getting little payouts, then I hit a nice one and won $21. Not being much of a gambler, I cashed out and went happily on my way
For dinner we went to the Napoleon House at Chartres and St. Louis (www.napoleonhouse.com). This place is very cool – I’ve seen it described as a crumbling ruin, which is pretty accurate. If you didn’t know about this place in advance, you would probably walk right past it without really noticing it. Inside is a really casual, laid back place, a little decrepit looking, but inviting at the same time – classical guitar music playing in the background, the bar area has a few tables, plus they have another dining room and a pretty courtyard in the back.
I had a shrimp remolaude and avocado salad, which was really good. My husband had the red beans and rice – also good.
Later that evening, we decided to check out Bourbon Street again. Nice party going on again, plenty of people out, lots of bands playing in clubs. Just overall a good time. We heard some nice jazz at the Maison Bourbon, I think it is called. We had planned to check out some clubs in other neighborhoods, but we were feeling a bit lazy, so decided to take the easy route and just wander around the French Quarter.
Day 4 – Sunday
Sunday turned out to be a pretty hot day – probably the muggiest of the trip. We had planned to get up reasonably early and take the boat up the river and out to the zoo. Unfortunately, we slept in, the boat wasn’t running, and it was a hot day – so we decided against the zoo. We figured that the animals would probably be laying low, so there wouldn’t be much to see at the zoo anyway.
Since we were almost to the CBD though, we decided to head over to Mother’s for lunch. The place was busy busy busy and we had to wait in line for probably a half an hour, but the food was worth it. We both got the roast beef and ham with debris (the meat from the bottom of the roast beef pan) po-boys – so good. Better than Johnny’s? I don’t know. I think I need to sample them both several more times before I can come to a decision
After lunch, we made our way back to the hotel by way of Royal Street, stopping in the galleries and antique shops to have a look around. We also did a little souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel to nap and swim.
In the evening we went to the Crescent City Brewing Co. to try the beer. Despite all the stuff on the web site and menu about the quality of the beer, the brewing methods, and so forth, the beer left a lot to be desired. I had the hefeweizen, which was bland as can be. Might as well have been a glass of water. My husband had the marzen, which was ok, but nothing great. Oh well – can’t win them all. We shared the crab cake appetizer and some calamari though, which were both quite tasty, so it wasn’t a total bust.
Since the temperature had come down quite a bit, we decided that evening was a good time to take some twilight pictures of the French Quarter, so we wandered around for quite awhile, snapping pictures and enjoying the evening. We capped the evening off with beignets and coffee at Café du Monde – gotta love that place
We got up a little later than planned, missed breakfast at the hotel, but made up for it with po-boys at Johnny’s Po-Boys on St. Louis. I had heard that these were the best in New Orleans and I have to say – they are pretty excellent. They are huge though and we probably should have just ordered 1 to share. My husband couldn’t even finish his sandwich, and I definitely couldn’t finish mine.
After lunch, we walked along the riverwalk (a nice cooling breeze up there on the levy in addition to the views) and then took the ferry over to Algiers to go to Mardi Gras World (www.mardigrasworld.com).
The ferry is free for pedestrians and the trip over offers great views of the river and the French Quarter – I recommend it even if you aren’t planning to see anything in Algiers. There is a shuttle that meets the ferry and takes people to Mardi Gras World, which is about a mile or so away. Mardi Gras World is very cool. It is $17/person for the tour, but we found a 2-for-1 coupon on the convention and visitor’s bureau web site. We got to see some of the floats, tour the workshop to see some work in progress, and see a bunch of characters and things from previous parades. We also learned a lot about Mardi Gras and the different Krews.
Algiers is an interesting neighborhood too – given more time, I think it would be interesting to explore further. There is a little café right off the ferry called the Dry Dock Café – quite a few people appeared to have come to Algiers just to go there since they headed straight there from the ferry.
After taking the ferry back to the French Quarter, we ducked into Harrah’s Casino to use the rest room and get a bit of air conditioning. The weather was pretty warm, although not as hot and humid as we had anticipated. While in the casino, we decided to play $5 in the quarter slots. We were close to losing it all when we started getting little payouts, then I hit a nice one and won $21. Not being much of a gambler, I cashed out and went happily on my way
For dinner we went to the Napoleon House at Chartres and St. Louis (www.napoleonhouse.com). This place is very cool – I’ve seen it described as a crumbling ruin, which is pretty accurate. If you didn’t know about this place in advance, you would probably walk right past it without really noticing it. Inside is a really casual, laid back place, a little decrepit looking, but inviting at the same time – classical guitar music playing in the background, the bar area has a few tables, plus they have another dining room and a pretty courtyard in the back.
I had a shrimp remolaude and avocado salad, which was really good. My husband had the red beans and rice – also good.
Later that evening, we decided to check out Bourbon Street again. Nice party going on again, plenty of people out, lots of bands playing in clubs. Just overall a good time. We heard some nice jazz at the Maison Bourbon, I think it is called. We had planned to check out some clubs in other neighborhoods, but we were feeling a bit lazy, so decided to take the easy route and just wander around the French Quarter.
Day 4 – Sunday
Sunday turned out to be a pretty hot day – probably the muggiest of the trip. We had planned to get up reasonably early and take the boat up the river and out to the zoo. Unfortunately, we slept in, the boat wasn’t running, and it was a hot day – so we decided against the zoo. We figured that the animals would probably be laying low, so there wouldn’t be much to see at the zoo anyway.
Since we were almost to the CBD though, we decided to head over to Mother’s for lunch. The place was busy busy busy and we had to wait in line for probably a half an hour, but the food was worth it. We both got the roast beef and ham with debris (the meat from the bottom of the roast beef pan) po-boys – so good. Better than Johnny’s? I don’t know. I think I need to sample them both several more times before I can come to a decision
After lunch, we made our way back to the hotel by way of Royal Street, stopping in the galleries and antique shops to have a look around. We also did a little souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel to nap and swim.
In the evening we went to the Crescent City Brewing Co. to try the beer. Despite all the stuff on the web site and menu about the quality of the beer, the brewing methods, and so forth, the beer left a lot to be desired. I had the hefeweizen, which was bland as can be. Might as well have been a glass of water. My husband had the marzen, which was ok, but nothing great. Oh well – can’t win them all. We shared the crab cake appetizer and some calamari though, which were both quite tasty, so it wasn’t a total bust.
Since the temperature had come down quite a bit, we decided that evening was a good time to take some twilight pictures of the French Quarter, so we wandered around for quite awhile, snapping pictures and enjoying the evening. We capped the evening off with beignets and coffee at Café du Monde – gotta love that place
Jun 24th, 2007, 12:08 PM
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Day 5 – Monday
Our last day in New Orleans and a big storm was brewing – lots of wind, big dark clouds, and some thunder and lightning to start the day. So of course, we headed out to take pictures
We did have breakfast at the hotel – coffee, juice, and crossants, which were the daily offering. Not a lot of variety, but quality stuff though and enough to get you on your way.
In the afternoon, we had a culinary history and tasting tour scheduled (www.noculinarytours.com), so we stopped at Napoleon House again for a light bite to tide us over until the tour. The Napoleon House was definitely a find – just a cool place with tasty food. We split a roast beef po-boy and a boudin sausage and had a couple beers.
Abita Amber is just about everywhere, so we drank that most of the time. There weren’t a lot of other beer choices beyond the standard Budweiser et al in most places. We always loved the Blackened Voodoo from Dixie Brewing Co, but we understand that their brewery was destroyed during Katrina.
After our early lunch, we headed over to tour the Beauregard-Keyes house and the Gallier House. Unfortunately the Beauregard-Keyes house is closed for the summer for Katrina-related repairs, but the Gallier House was open and we were able to tour it. I love historic house tours because I really like to see how people lived. Everyday life is just interesting to me.
The tour was really good – we were the only ones there for a tour, so we got a private guide again and could ask anything and everything we wanted It started to rain very hard while we were in the house and there was quite a bit of thunder and lightning, pretty much directly overhead. It was actually pretty neat.
Later on we met for our culinary tour, which was really a lot of fun – one of the highlights of the trip. It is $40/person, which is high for a tour, IMO, but I thought it was worth it since we got to taste at a lot of different places. There were 8 people on our tour, so a nice, manageable size. And the tour lended itself to a lot of conversation with the guide and other people on the tour.
We went to Petunias for Gumbo, which was very tasty. We got to tour Antoine’s – the kitchen and the different dining rooms, but as they only serve lunch on Fridays, there was nothing to sample. New Orleans School of Cooking for red beans and rice and pecan pie – the pie was delicious, the red beans were just ok. Leah’s Pralines for…? Pralines, of course, which were very tasty, and we got some to take away with us too. We stopped in at the Herman-Grimma house (I think that is the name), which is an historic home open to the public. We toured the kitchen and pantry areas there. Napoleon House (our 3rd trip there) for mufalettas – very good. And finally, Tujaques for a taste of their beef brisket and a sazerac cocktail. The brisket was excellent, but the cocktail was not my thing. It was very strong and tasted too medicinal for my tastes. But then, I am more of a beer and wine drinker, with an occasional rum drink thrown in for variety. My husband didn’t care for the sazerac either.
Tujaques had been on our list of restaurants to try, but we hadn’t gotten to it – and we were not nearly hungry enough after the culinary tour to attempt dinner there that night. They have a 5 course fixed price menu for dinner and lunch – sounded really great, but would also be a lot of food. Guess we will just have to come back for another visit We did learn on the tour though that you can get the beef brisket on a po-boy in the bar – nice thing to know, because that brisket was good.
After the tour, we stopped at Café du Monde for beignets and coffee, of course and then did a bit of last minute shopping. After a little while, we had worked up a bit of an appetite, so we went back to Tujaques for that brisket po-boy. We got a couple beers and a sandwich to split and sat in the bar for awhile.
Our last day in New Orleans and a big storm was brewing – lots of wind, big dark clouds, and some thunder and lightning to start the day. So of course, we headed out to take pictures
We did have breakfast at the hotel – coffee, juice, and crossants, which were the daily offering. Not a lot of variety, but quality stuff though and enough to get you on your way.
In the afternoon, we had a culinary history and tasting tour scheduled (www.noculinarytours.com), so we stopped at Napoleon House again for a light bite to tide us over until the tour. The Napoleon House was definitely a find – just a cool place with tasty food. We split a roast beef po-boy and a boudin sausage and had a couple beers.
Abita Amber is just about everywhere, so we drank that most of the time. There weren’t a lot of other beer choices beyond the standard Budweiser et al in most places. We always loved the Blackened Voodoo from Dixie Brewing Co, but we understand that their brewery was destroyed during Katrina.
After our early lunch, we headed over to tour the Beauregard-Keyes house and the Gallier House. Unfortunately the Beauregard-Keyes house is closed for the summer for Katrina-related repairs, but the Gallier House was open and we were able to tour it. I love historic house tours because I really like to see how people lived. Everyday life is just interesting to me.
The tour was really good – we were the only ones there for a tour, so we got a private guide again and could ask anything and everything we wanted
It started to rain very hard while we were in the house and there was quite a bit of thunder and lightning, pretty much directly overhead. It was actually pretty neat. Later on we met for our culinary tour, which was really a lot of fun – one of the highlights of the trip. It is $40/person, which is high for a tour, IMO, but I thought it was worth it since we got to taste at a lot of different places. There were 8 people on our tour, so a nice, manageable size. And the tour lended itself to a lot of conversation with the guide and other people on the tour.
We went to Petunias for Gumbo, which was very tasty. We got to tour Antoine’s – the kitchen and the different dining rooms, but as they only serve lunch on Fridays, there was nothing to sample. New Orleans School of Cooking for red beans and rice and pecan pie – the pie was delicious, the red beans were just ok. Leah’s Pralines for…? Pralines, of course, which were very tasty, and we got some to take away with us too. We stopped in at the Herman-Grimma house (I think that is the name), which is an historic home open to the public. We toured the kitchen and pantry areas there. Napoleon House (our 3rd trip there) for mufalettas – very good. And finally, Tujaques for a taste of their beef brisket and a sazerac cocktail. The brisket was excellent, but the cocktail was not my thing. It was very strong and tasted too medicinal for my tastes. But then, I am more of a beer and wine drinker, with an occasional rum drink thrown in for variety. My husband didn’t care for the sazerac either.
Tujaques had been on our list of restaurants to try, but we hadn’t gotten to it – and we were not nearly hungry enough after the culinary tour to attempt dinner there that night. They have a 5 course fixed price menu for dinner and lunch – sounded really great, but would also be a lot of food. Guess we will just have to come back for another visit
We did learn on the tour though that you can get the beef brisket on a po-boy in the bar – nice thing to know, because that brisket was good. After the tour, we stopped at Café du Monde for beignets and coffee, of course
and then did a bit of last minute shopping. After a little while, we had worked up a bit of an appetite, so we went back to Tujaques for that brisket po-boy. We got a couple beers and a sandwich to split and sat in the bar for awhile.
Jun 24th, 2007, 02:26 PM
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Great report! So glad your New Orleans adventure was fun, especially since it was your anniversary. I know that you did lots of research. Looking forward to your report on Cajun Country. Did you get to Alligator Bayou Tour outside of Baton Rouge?
Jun 25th, 2007, 10:22 AM
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We did go to Alligator Bayou and had a great time - even though it rained like crazy and we didn't get to go out on the boat. We did go out on a boat on Lake Martin a couple days later.
Jun 26th, 2007, 07:01 AM
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Thanks for a great report! I am leaving on Saturday and am so excited. We're still debating on tours as the weather forecast is iffy and I don't want to be committed to walking around outside. I printed lots of coupons per your recommendation, including free bottle of wine at Tujaque's.
Jun 26th, 2007, 08:45 AM
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It looks like we lucked out with regards to weather - only a couple stormy days.
With the culinary tour we had scheduled that ahead of time (and paid) so we were commited. It rained pretty hard for part of the tour, but it wasn't bad. We were in and out of restaurants, so we had a break from the rain.
The French Quarter walking tour didn't require reservations, so we decided to do that the first morning because the weather was nice and we didn't know if it would be later on in the trip.
The tour of Mardi Gras World is inside, so no worries there.
The coupons came in pretty handy. I think between those and our AAA discount, we saved around $50.
With the culinary tour we had scheduled that ahead of time (and paid) so we were commited. It rained pretty hard for part of the tour, but it wasn't bad. We were in and out of restaurants, so we had a break from the rain.
The French Quarter walking tour didn't require reservations, so we decided to do that the first morning because the weather was nice and we didn't know if it would be later on in the trip.
The tour of Mardi Gras World is inside, so no worries there.
The coupons came in pretty handy. I think between those and our AAA discount, we saved around $50.
Jun 26th, 2007, 09:23 AM
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Next installment - onto platation and cajun country...
Day 6 – Tuesday
This is the day we left New Orleans and headed out to Cajun country. We rented a car from Dollar and were upgraded with no charge to a Chrysler PT convertible – what a fun little car. We had a great time cruising around with the top down and got lots of great comments about the car.
We headed up the river road, stopping at San Francisco plantation for a tour (www.sanfranciscoplantation.org). We chose to tour SF because of the unique steamboat gothic architecture – really interesting house. We were the only ones on our tour, so we got to ask plenty of questions and chat with the guide quite a bit. The tour was reasonably informative and there was a pretty good collection of furnishings, although not many original to the house.
Behind the main house is an old school house and a slave house. You can go into the slave house, which has some artifacts and furniture, plus a listing from the plantation records of the slaves owned by plantation. I really appreciated that at least one house from the slave quarter has been preserved. The contrast between that and the main house was incredible and seeing the list of enslaved people was very moving.
After the tour, we headed up to Gonzales to check into our hotel – Holiday Inn. We chose Gonzales as an overnight stop since we had a sunset tour scheduled at Alligator Bayou and it was close by. Gonzales itself was ok, but there isn’t a whole lot to it. Baton Rouge is really not too far away, so I think if I had to do it over again, I would just stay in Baton Rouge. The Holiday Inn was perfectly fine though, and it does have a restaurant attached.
The weather was iffy that day, a storm was threatening to come, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to take our tour with Alligator Bayou (www.alligatorbayou.com). I called ahead and they said they were going to play it buy ear since they weren’t sure what the weather was going to be like.
We got there about 5:30 and the weather was ok, but some big clouds were rolling in. Before the tour started, it began to rain. And it rained and rained like I have never seen before in my life. Then it stopped. We went out to the small alligator and turtle habitat and saw those, then went to the large alligator habitat. This is a very large area with a fenced boardwalk so you can walk out into the habitat and see the alligators – and these alligators are very large. While we were all out there, it started raining again. Fortunately the boardwalk is covered, so we had some shelter. We stayed out there for about an hour waiting for the rain to slack off – the storm was amazing. Thunder and lightening, wind, heavy rains.
We didn’t get to go out in the boat, so they refunded everyone’s money, but I still thought the experience was pretty good. We saw some alligators and turtles and got to experience one heck of a rain storm.
Day 7 – Wednesday
We left Gonzales and made our way to Breaux Bridge, which is just outside of Lafayette off Hwy 10. Our original plan was to see Acadian Village in Lafayette, but the weather was still iffy, so we thought we would do another plantation house tour. Nottaway was on our list of possibilities, so we headed that way, along the river road toward a bridge to get to the other side of the Mississippi.
Along the way we passed Houma House, which has some terrific gardens, so we decided to stop. The tour of the house and grounds was $20 a piece, which is pretty steep compared with the other plantation homes, but we thought it was worth the cost.
The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and the house is really well restored with an incredible collection of furnishings. We also found the house itself very interesting – it was built in 3 basic stages and actually as 2 separate buildings that were married together. Very neat to see the differences between the sections. There is also a café there, so we stopped in for some lunch. The food was quite good and the prices very reasonable.
As it was getting toward late afternoon, we decided to just head to Breaux Bridge to our cottage. We stayed at the Cajun Country Cottages (www.cajuncottages.com) just north of Breaux Bridge on a pretty little lake. The cottages are off I-10 a ways, but not difficult to find – a few twists and turns, but good signage. Our cottage was really great – full kitchen, porch overlooking the lake, just really great. Very peaceful.
Just 2 more days left, stay tuned...
Day 6 – Tuesday
This is the day we left New Orleans and headed out to Cajun country. We rented a car from Dollar and were upgraded with no charge to a Chrysler PT convertible – what a fun little car. We had a great time cruising around with the top down and got lots of great comments about the car.
We headed up the river road, stopping at San Francisco plantation for a tour (www.sanfranciscoplantation.org). We chose to tour SF because of the unique steamboat gothic architecture – really interesting house. We were the only ones on our tour, so we got to ask plenty of questions and chat with the guide quite a bit. The tour was reasonably informative and there was a pretty good collection of furnishings, although not many original to the house.
Behind the main house is an old school house and a slave house. You can go into the slave house, which has some artifacts and furniture, plus a listing from the plantation records of the slaves owned by plantation. I really appreciated that at least one house from the slave quarter has been preserved. The contrast between that and the main house was incredible and seeing the list of enslaved people was very moving.
After the tour, we headed up to Gonzales to check into our hotel – Holiday Inn. We chose Gonzales as an overnight stop since we had a sunset tour scheduled at Alligator Bayou and it was close by. Gonzales itself was ok, but there isn’t a whole lot to it. Baton Rouge is really not too far away, so I think if I had to do it over again, I would just stay in Baton Rouge. The Holiday Inn was perfectly fine though, and it does have a restaurant attached.
The weather was iffy that day, a storm was threatening to come, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to take our tour with Alligator Bayou (www.alligatorbayou.com). I called ahead and they said they were going to play it buy ear since they weren’t sure what the weather was going to be like.
We got there about 5:30 and the weather was ok, but some big clouds were rolling in. Before the tour started, it began to rain. And it rained and rained like I have never seen before in my life. Then it stopped. We went out to the small alligator and turtle habitat and saw those, then went to the large alligator habitat. This is a very large area with a fenced boardwalk so you can walk out into the habitat and see the alligators – and these alligators are very large. While we were all out there, it started raining again. Fortunately the boardwalk is covered, so we had some shelter. We stayed out there for about an hour waiting for the rain to slack off – the storm was amazing. Thunder and lightening, wind, heavy rains.
We didn’t get to go out in the boat, so they refunded everyone’s money, but I still thought the experience was pretty good. We saw some alligators and turtles and got to experience one heck of a rain storm.
Day 7 – Wednesday
We left Gonzales and made our way to Breaux Bridge, which is just outside of Lafayette off Hwy 10. Our original plan was to see Acadian Village in Lafayette, but the weather was still iffy, so we thought we would do another plantation house tour. Nottaway was on our list of possibilities, so we headed that way, along the river road toward a bridge to get to the other side of the Mississippi.
Along the way we passed Houma House, which has some terrific gardens, so we decided to stop. The tour of the house and grounds was $20 a piece, which is pretty steep compared with the other plantation homes, but we thought it was worth the cost.
The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and the house is really well restored with an incredible collection of furnishings. We also found the house itself very interesting – it was built in 3 basic stages and actually as 2 separate buildings that were married together. Very neat to see the differences between the sections. There is also a café there, so we stopped in for some lunch. The food was quite good and the prices very reasonable.
As it was getting toward late afternoon, we decided to just head to Breaux Bridge to our cottage. We stayed at the Cajun Country Cottages (www.cajuncottages.com) just north of Breaux Bridge on a pretty little lake. The cottages are off I-10 a ways, but not difficult to find – a few twists and turns, but good signage. Our cottage was really great – full kitchen, porch overlooking the lake, just really great. Very peaceful.
Just 2 more days left, stay tuned...
Jun 26th, 2007, 10:02 AM
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I'm enjoying your trip report so much! I'm headed for a night in NO myself in the middle of July and am really looking forward to it. Although, your report and website about the Country Cottages makes me want to go there too! By the way, what were you served for breakfast at that place? Thanks!
Jun 26th, 2007, 10:48 AM
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We were at the cottage for 3 mornings and the first morning we had scrambled eggs, sausage links, biscuts, and orange juice. Our cottage had coffee and a coffee maker, so we made our own. The next day, breakfast was egg and cheese quish, sausage, blueberry muffins, strawberries, and orange juice. The 3rd day, the breakfast was the same as the first. Quite good and more than I was expecting.
Jun 26th, 2007, 01:44 PM
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J_Correa,
I'm so glad you posted your trip report. I was about to ask about it because I had figured you were back by now, but now I don't have to.
I am curious about the rest of your stay in Cajun Country though!
I'm so glad you posted your trip report. I was about to ask about it because I had figured you were back by now, but now I don't have to.
I am curious about the rest of your stay in Cajun Country though!
Jun 26th, 2007, 05:28 PM
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Ok - here is the last of it...
Day 8 – Thursday
We woke up to a hot breakfast delivered to our cottage – scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and orange juice. The cottage had a coffee maker and coffee to make. We sat on the porch in our pajamas and ate our breakfast. So nice.
Once we got going, we headed to New Iberia (with the top down – of course) to go to the Tabasco factory at Avery Island. The Tabasco tour was pretty cool – I thought it would be longer and more indepth, but for a free tour, I can’t complain. It was neat to see the bottling process. And of course, we shopped at the country store.
Afterwards we went to the Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, which was incredible. This is a huge place that you drive through in the car (again, top down – this convertible was a terrific idea) and stop along the way basically whenever you want to. This was an unexpected highlight of the trip. We spent probably 2 ½ hours there.
By this time we were pretty hungry, so we made a pilgrimage to Youngsville to Morvant’s Bar and Grill to try their world famous hamburgers. I love a good burger and so for me, this was a must-eat. We found the place quickly, but it looked dark and closed up. The sign was lit and there were cars out front, so we went in. Definitely a hole-in-the-wall place, and the burgers were really really good. I mean REALLY good. Definitely worth the detour. And the people were nice too. That is a big thing for me - doesn't matter how good the food is, if the people aren't nice, then fuggetaboudit If only they had fresh-brewed iced tea rather than Nestea in a bottle, it would have been perfect – LOL.
Afterwards we headed back to the cottage. On the way we passed 4 or 5 Sonic Drive-Ins, which we don’t have here, so I had to stop and get something. Banana cream pie milk shake – oh man, we have GOT to get a Sonic here – LOL!
We spent the evening relaxing at the cottage (hovering around our citronella candles and drenched in Off) reading and drinking, enjoying the scenery.
Day 9 – Friday
This was our last day before we had to go home. Since we didn’t get to have the boat tour at Alligator Bayou, we had arranged to go on a boat tour at Lake Martin, just south of Breaux Bridge. We decided to go with Butch Guchereau and Cajun County Swamp Tours (www.cajuncountryswamptours.com). Butch has degrees in Zoology and Botany, I think it is, and he is a local who has spent his life in and around those swamps, so we figured that he would have a good blend of technical, practical, and cultural knowledge, so we picked his tour.
The tour was absolutely wonderful. We saw tons of wildlife, including a couple very large alligators. We also saw herons, egrets, turtles, spiders, frogs, and thousands of dragonflies (and no mosquitoes). The lake is really beautiful with open water, swamp, bayou – lily pads a couple feet in diameter. And Butch was great. Our group asked bunches of questions and he answered them all. I learned a ton and had a really good time.
After the tour we headed down to New Iberia and had lunch at a little place on Main Street called The Lanappe Café – I am sure I butchered the name, but I can’t find the card we took with us to remember - LOL. This little place advertises the world’s best gumbo. My husband ordered a bowl and said it was indeed some of the best he’d ever had. The corn and crab bisque was pretty excellent too.
Then we toured Shadows on the Teche – a plantation house on Main Street that backs up against Bayou Teche. The house was really great to see because it has so much of the original furnishings from the family. There is also a video you watch at the visitor’s center that gives a history of the family and a bit about the area. I love old houses, antique furniture, and stories about people, so this was right up my alley.
Since it was out last night in the area, we went to Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge for a special dinner. What a cool place – a must visit for anyone going to the area. The people were great, the food was absolutely wonderful. I had roast duck that was so so good and the bread pudding with white chocolate sauce – I think I will be dreaming about that bread pudding for awhile – LOL. Marty had a catfish with shrimp ettoufee, which was pretty tasty too. And the price was really reasonable.
If we didn’t have to leave early the next morning to get back to New Orleans for our flight home, I think we would have gone back for the Zydeco breakfast.
So that's our trip. We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we were able to spend time outside of New Orleans as well. As we were leaving, we agreed that we could have spent another 3 or 4 days in that area and not run out of things to see.
And thank you all for all the advice. It really helped make our trip that much more special.
Day 8 – Thursday
We woke up to a hot breakfast delivered to our cottage – scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and orange juice. The cottage had a coffee maker and coffee to make. We sat on the porch in our pajamas and ate our breakfast. So nice.
Once we got going, we headed to New Iberia (with the top down – of course) to go to the Tabasco factory at Avery Island. The Tabasco tour was pretty cool – I thought it would be longer and more indepth, but for a free tour, I can’t complain. It was neat to see the bottling process. And of course, we shopped at the country store.
Afterwards we went to the Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, which was incredible. This is a huge place that you drive through in the car (again, top down – this convertible was a terrific idea) and stop along the way basically whenever you want to. This was an unexpected highlight of the trip. We spent probably 2 ½ hours there.
By this time we were pretty hungry, so we made a pilgrimage to Youngsville to Morvant’s Bar and Grill to try their world famous hamburgers. I love a good burger and so for me, this was a must-eat. We found the place quickly, but it looked dark and closed up. The sign was lit and there were cars out front, so we went in. Definitely a hole-in-the-wall place, and the burgers were really really good. I mean REALLY good. Definitely worth the detour. And the people were nice too. That is a big thing for me - doesn't matter how good the food is, if the people aren't nice, then fuggetaboudit
If only they had fresh-brewed iced tea rather than Nestea in a bottle, it would have been perfect – LOL. Afterwards we headed back to the cottage. On the way we passed 4 or 5 Sonic Drive-Ins, which we don’t have here, so I had to stop and get something. Banana cream pie milk shake – oh man, we have GOT to get a Sonic here – LOL!
We spent the evening relaxing at the cottage (hovering around our citronella candles and drenched in Off) reading and drinking, enjoying the scenery.
Day 9 – Friday
This was our last day before we had to go home. Since we didn’t get to have the boat tour at Alligator Bayou, we had arranged to go on a boat tour at Lake Martin, just south of Breaux Bridge. We decided to go with Butch Guchereau and Cajun County Swamp Tours (www.cajuncountryswamptours.com). Butch has degrees in Zoology and Botany, I think it is, and he is a local who has spent his life in and around those swamps, so we figured that he would have a good blend of technical, practical, and cultural knowledge, so we picked his tour.
The tour was absolutely wonderful. We saw tons of wildlife, including a couple very large alligators. We also saw herons, egrets, turtles, spiders, frogs, and thousands of dragonflies (and no mosquitoes). The lake is really beautiful with open water, swamp, bayou – lily pads a couple feet in diameter. And Butch was great. Our group asked bunches of questions and he answered them all. I learned a ton and had a really good time.
After the tour we headed down to New Iberia and had lunch at a little place on Main Street called The Lanappe Café – I am sure I butchered the name, but I can’t find the card we took with us to remember - LOL. This little place advertises the world’s best gumbo. My husband ordered a bowl and said it was indeed some of the best he’d ever had. The corn and crab bisque was pretty excellent too.
Then we toured Shadows on the Teche – a plantation house on Main Street that backs up against Bayou Teche. The house was really great to see because it has so much of the original furnishings from the family. There is also a video you watch at the visitor’s center that gives a history of the family and a bit about the area. I love old houses, antique furniture, and stories about people, so this was right up my alley.
Since it was out last night in the area, we went to Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge for a special dinner. What a cool place – a must visit for anyone going to the area. The people were great, the food was absolutely wonderful. I had roast duck that was so so good and the bread pudding with white chocolate sauce – I think I will be dreaming about that bread pudding for awhile – LOL. Marty had a catfish with shrimp ettoufee, which was pretty tasty too. And the price was really reasonable.
If we didn’t have to leave early the next morning to get back to New Orleans for our flight home, I think we would have gone back for the Zydeco breakfast.
So that's our trip. We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we were able to spend time outside of New Orleans as well. As we were leaving, we agreed that we could have spent another 3 or 4 days in that area and not run out of things to see.
And thank you all for all the advice. It really helped make our trip that much more special.
Jun 27th, 2007, 07:02 AM
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J_Correa,
I really enjoyed your trip report! I'm more excited than ever to go back now.
One question for you . . . didn't your husband have any Alligator on a Stick??? :0)
I'm glad you tried the beef brisquet at Tujaque's - that was my favorite thing there, and ALL of the dinner was excellent. Our waiter gave us the list of ingredients for the sauce they served with it, and we made at home. Then I lost the darn recipe! I will just have to go back and get it again.
One note on Po'Boys to those of you traveling soon . .. we found a bar in the CBD called Lucy's Bar for Retired Surfers, and they had the best Po'Boys we have had (with the exception of Uglesich's, which is closed). The atmosphere is really fun, too.
I really enjoyed your trip report! I'm more excited than ever to go back now.
One question for you . . . didn't your husband have any Alligator on a Stick??? :0)
I'm glad you tried the beef brisquet at Tujaque's - that was my favorite thing there, and ALL of the dinner was excellent. Our waiter gave us the list of ingredients for the sauce they served with it, and we made at home. Then I lost the darn recipe! I will just have to go back and get it again.
One note on Po'Boys to those of you traveling soon . .. we found a bar in the CBD called Lucy's Bar for Retired Surfers, and they had the best Po'Boys we have had (with the exception of Uglesich's, which is closed). The atmosphere is really fun, too.
Jun 27th, 2007, 07:16 AM
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No - he didn't have any alligator on a stick. That was definitely a surprise.
The sauce for the beef brisket at Tujaques is creole mustard, ketchup, and horseradish - I asked too I don't know the proportions, but will be experimenting with them soon. So good.
I am sad I missed the retired surfers bar - that sounds like a real kick.
The sauce for the beef brisket at Tujaques is creole mustard, ketchup, and horseradish - I asked too
I don't know the proportions, but will be experimenting with them soon. So good. I am sad I missed the retired surfers bar - that sounds like a real kick.
Jun 27th, 2007, 08:26 AM
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Oh, every time I leave NOLA I'm sad that I missed places I wanted to see! There's just so much to see and do! I am definitely going to take your advice though, and take the free ferry to the Mardi Gras Museum! What a good idea.
Jun 27th, 2007, 11:23 AM
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Since my husband and I went to New Orleans for our honeymoon, our plan is to go back for every 5 years to celebrate our anniversary. I told him that we had better be married a very long time because there is still a lot to see and do that we haven't gotten to yet I am already thinking about what we will do and see (and where we will eat) next time around.
I am already thinking about what we will do and see (and where we will eat) next time around.
Jun 27th, 2007, 11:51 AM
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J_Correa,
Thanks for the excellent trip report.
I forgot to tell you and probably could have saved you the rained out sunset tour at Alligator Bayou. Usually the morning tours are the best - the weather is usually sunny (thunderstorms almost always happen in the afternoon - I always need to warn my Cali friends who aren't used to humidity about this), the animals are out, the weather is cooler, and the mosquitoes are at bay.
Late afternoon tours bring the risk of thunderstorms and mosquitoes as soon as the sun goes down.
In any case, I'm glad you got a second chance at a Boat Tour on Lake Martin. That sounds lovely.
The convertible idea sounds great and even better when it's free. I usually try to rent one for touring. It's the only way to get a full panoramic view of things.
Thanks for the excellent trip report.
I forgot to tell you and probably could have saved you the rained out sunset tour at Alligator Bayou. Usually the morning tours are the best - the weather is usually sunny (thunderstorms almost always happen in the afternoon - I always need to warn my Cali friends who aren't used to humidity about this), the animals are out, the weather is cooler, and the mosquitoes are at bay.
Late afternoon tours bring the risk of thunderstorms and mosquitoes as soon as the sun goes down.
In any case, I'm glad you got a second chance at a Boat Tour on Lake Martin. That sounds lovely.
The convertible idea sounds great and even better when it's free. I usually try to rent one for touring. It's the only way to get a full panoramic view of things.
Jun 27th, 2007, 11:55 AM
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By the way, one of the things one of my aunts was most impressed with was the Jungle Gardens at Avery Island and she is from Boston.
She really liked the Asian landscape and Buddha temple there - not something you'd expect in Cajun Country!
Also, nothing like a "Cheeseburger in Paradise!"
She really liked the Asian landscape and Buddha temple there - not something you'd expect in Cajun Country!
Also, nothing like a "Cheeseburger in Paradise!"
