New Orleans French Quarter Trip Report
Oct 31st, 2004, 11:06 AM
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New Orleans French Quarter Trip Report
New Orleans / French Quarter
October 2004
Madeline & Mallory are 12 years old for this fall?s MEA trip with their mothers. They were excited to experience New Orleans this year. I started planning our trip in the spring and found that there was a large opthomology convention in town during the time we would be in New Orleans. I got lucky after about 3 hours of calling and reserved a room at the Chateau Sonesta, on the outside edge of the French Quarter. It turned out to be a great hotel for us with a pretty large room for the 4 of us and a wonderful outdoor pool for us to relax in after sightseeing. The pool ended up being a huge bonus because it was about 90 degrees and very humid that week, about 10 degrees hotter than normal for the end of October. The hotel was very clean and the staff was friendly and accommodating.
Some people thought we were crazy taking two 12 year old girls to the Big Easy, but we found plenty to do outside of the usual nightlife that is plentiful in the Quarter. It took us a few days to get used to the smells and garbage in the city, but you can really avoid some of that by staying away from Bourbon Street. We walked many miles a day, taking tours and strolling along the streets checking out shops as we went along. The first full day after we arrived, we took a walking tour of the French Quarter and that helped tremendously figuring out what areas we wanted to spend our time in. The tour we took was put on by Historic New Orleans Walking Tours. Their website is:
www.tourneworleans.com
We took the French Quarter Tour first, which we found extremely entertaining and educational. All 4 of us loved it, good for all ages except maybe small kids that would be bored easily. The tour guide was passionate and knowledgable about his city. We learned much about the architecture of the city as well as some great history of the beginnings of New Orleans. The other tour we took with this company was the Cemetery Voodoo tour. We liked this tour but it wasn?t quite as good as the first, but still can say I recommend it. The tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1 was fascinating, and we got to see the tomb of the famous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. We also got to see the inside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church which was truly beautiful. We went to a voodoo temple and met a voodoo priestess, and that was not as interesting as it sounds. She had a very positive energy to her but was very strange. We had a huge surprise treat on this tour. We were walking down the street near the cemetery and we had a small parade come by. It was led by a truck with a few women in the cab dressed in black and in the truck bed was a miniature coffin and some women dressed in black as well as a woman dressed up in a white ?Baby Doll? outfit. The tour guide explained to us that the woman in the cab was the widow of one of the singers from the group ?The Ink Spots?. In the miniature coffin in the back of the truck was the cremated remains of her husband who died many years ago and they were taking the remains to the cemetery to place them in a tomb there. The processional was more of a celebration than a cemetery walk, and the guide explained to us that Jazz funerals often turned into celebrations soon after the beginning of a more somber gathering. The guide then explained that the woman dressed up as a baby doll was trying to revive a very old but now unpracticed ritual of women in the 1930s to dress up as baby dolls during Mardi Gras. I thought he was crazy, but I did find something about it on the internet, so he was telling the truth. (!)
We also took a swamp tour.
www.honeyislandswamp.com
The company comes and picks you up at your hotel and after a ? hour drive you arrive at the swamp/river tour location. We first met the mascot of the swamp, a very large pig called ?little pig?. Then we got on a boat with our guide and he was also an excellent guide who knew a lot about the river and swamp. We saw ?fishing houses? which were kind of like the ?ice houses? that guys fish in here in Minnesota, only these were little shacks that were anchored on the river. Weird. We did see some alligators and lots of beautiful birds. We all enjoyed our morning on this tour.
We took a street car through the Garden District with all the beautiful mansions and got off to walk around for a while also. Gorgeous homes as well as the beautiful campus of Loyola University. We did shop one day on Magazine Street and had lots of fun. Many antique stores which we did not really go into, but the clothing stores were wonderful! Very expensive, but the sale racks were very affordable. We did shop a lot here and there in many little stores in the French Quarter. We were a little disappointed that many stores closed at 6pm except the most touristy of shops, so it was hard to find places to shop in the evening. We did the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues on Sunday. This was fun, but the music was only about 25 minutes, pretty short. Food was good. We enjoyed live piano music at the piano bar at the beautiful Hotel Monteleone one evening. They have a revolving carousel bar there that is really neat right next to the piano bar. We went on our own into the St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square which is truly breathtaking. We all voted to pass on a carriage ride because the smell of mules was just too much to take. Too bad, it looked like fun. Maybe if it wasn?t so warm they wouldn?t smell so bad!
We all agreed that the best thing in New Orleans was the FOOD! The only places we ate that weren?t great were the Red Fish Grill at our hotel and Deanie?s Seafood. Red Fish Grill had food that was just OK, and the wait staff was pleasant but seemed pretty clueless and unorganized. Deanie?s is all deep fried, so if you like battered deep fried everything, maybe it would be OK. The food was also cold. I would not eat at either of these places again. HOWEVER, every other place we ate was INCREDIBLE, so I must say that I have never had so much good food in 6 days in my entire life. We had beignets at Cafe Beignet and Café DuMonde and all agreed that they were good at both places but best at Café DuMonde. The frozen Latte at Café DuMonde is incredible. We ate at Bayona the first night and it was great. The highlight here was the crab encrusted trout, but all the food was wonderful as was the service. We ate at Galatoires which was also great. Formal atmosphere, incredible food and service. We all had fish here but we all agreed that the 2 desserts we had were the best desserts we had ever had, the Banana Bread Pudding and the Chocolate Decadence. Also dined at Stella! I loved the ?old house? atmosphere, Rochelle thought it was too ?old lady house? for her. However, we had a great waiter and the food was great here also. The fresh flowers on the tables were gorgeous. Highlights here were their fois gras appetizer, Stilton encrusted steak, and the fallen chocolate soufflé cake. Muriel?s on Jackson Square was great with a wonderful atmosphere, great service, and the food was also top notch. Believe it or not, their macaroni and cheese side dish was excellent, Pecan crusted Puppy Drum and Roasted Duck were other delightful dishes. One of the best things about Muriel?s you may never see?we stopped in during the day to check the place out, and the waiter invited us to go upstairs to see their private rooms and balconies overlooking Jackson Square. Wow! The antiques upstairs were stunning, as were the views from the balconies. We felt lucky to have gotten to see this part of the building since it was not in use at the time.
We ate lunch at 2 very casual restaurants that were truly gems. Camilla Grill and Uglesich?s. Uglesich?s was over an hour wait to get in and Camilla Grill just under an hour. Both were worth the wait. Camilla Grill has been open since the 1940?s and is a diner style restaurant. Burgers ?to die for? as well as awesome chili cheese fries. If you order pecan pie, they throw a slice of the homemade delectable stuff on the grill to heat it up, making it true perfection. Coconut cream pie was perfect. The ?freezies? they sell are like a shake combined with an icee, really good and refreshing on a hot day. The place shows it?s age, but that is half it?s charm. The waiters are fun and entertaining as well. Last, but certainly not least, Uglesich?s. A New Orleans institution for 80 years, this place is awesome. We ate here twice during our short stay. Upon our first arrival, we waited patiently in line having no idea what we would find inside this tiny diner. You finally get through the doors to the air conditioning and see everyone devouring this great food with a single waiter throwing the food out to the hungry diners. He was like a tornado running through the place. Don?t try to tell him what you are missing, cuz I tell you, he ALREADY KNOWS! ?It?s coming, It?s coming!? He was a riot. Amazingly, the second visit, he knew my name, and everything we ordered to eat and drink the day before. Amazing with the hundreds of people he served that day. The owner takes your order when you come in the door. If you don?t know what you want right away, he tells you what you want, he is truly charming. His wife makes all the drinks and makes a mean bloody mary! We loved the food, featuring roast beef po?boy, grilled shrimp po?boy, fried green tomatoes, softshell crab, garlic shrimp, crab cakes and firecracker shrimp. Incredible.
Here are our photos:
http://community.webshots.com/album/207046241AuFajH
October 2004
Madeline & Mallory are 12 years old for this fall?s MEA trip with their mothers. They were excited to experience New Orleans this year. I started planning our trip in the spring and found that there was a large opthomology convention in town during the time we would be in New Orleans. I got lucky after about 3 hours of calling and reserved a room at the Chateau Sonesta, on the outside edge of the French Quarter. It turned out to be a great hotel for us with a pretty large room for the 4 of us and a wonderful outdoor pool for us to relax in after sightseeing. The pool ended up being a huge bonus because it was about 90 degrees and very humid that week, about 10 degrees hotter than normal for the end of October. The hotel was very clean and the staff was friendly and accommodating.
Some people thought we were crazy taking two 12 year old girls to the Big Easy, but we found plenty to do outside of the usual nightlife that is plentiful in the Quarter. It took us a few days to get used to the smells and garbage in the city, but you can really avoid some of that by staying away from Bourbon Street. We walked many miles a day, taking tours and strolling along the streets checking out shops as we went along. The first full day after we arrived, we took a walking tour of the French Quarter and that helped tremendously figuring out what areas we wanted to spend our time in. The tour we took was put on by Historic New Orleans Walking Tours. Their website is:
www.tourneworleans.com
We took the French Quarter Tour first, which we found extremely entertaining and educational. All 4 of us loved it, good for all ages except maybe small kids that would be bored easily. The tour guide was passionate and knowledgable about his city. We learned much about the architecture of the city as well as some great history of the beginnings of New Orleans. The other tour we took with this company was the Cemetery Voodoo tour. We liked this tour but it wasn?t quite as good as the first, but still can say I recommend it. The tour of St. Louis Cemetery #1 was fascinating, and we got to see the tomb of the famous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. We also got to see the inside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church which was truly beautiful. We went to a voodoo temple and met a voodoo priestess, and that was not as interesting as it sounds. She had a very positive energy to her but was very strange. We had a huge surprise treat on this tour. We were walking down the street near the cemetery and we had a small parade come by. It was led by a truck with a few women in the cab dressed in black and in the truck bed was a miniature coffin and some women dressed in black as well as a woman dressed up in a white ?Baby Doll? outfit. The tour guide explained to us that the woman in the cab was the widow of one of the singers from the group ?The Ink Spots?. In the miniature coffin in the back of the truck was the cremated remains of her husband who died many years ago and they were taking the remains to the cemetery to place them in a tomb there. The processional was more of a celebration than a cemetery walk, and the guide explained to us that Jazz funerals often turned into celebrations soon after the beginning of a more somber gathering. The guide then explained that the woman dressed up as a baby doll was trying to revive a very old but now unpracticed ritual of women in the 1930s to dress up as baby dolls during Mardi Gras. I thought he was crazy, but I did find something about it on the internet, so he was telling the truth. (!)
We also took a swamp tour.
www.honeyislandswamp.com
The company comes and picks you up at your hotel and after a ? hour drive you arrive at the swamp/river tour location. We first met the mascot of the swamp, a very large pig called ?little pig?. Then we got on a boat with our guide and he was also an excellent guide who knew a lot about the river and swamp. We saw ?fishing houses? which were kind of like the ?ice houses? that guys fish in here in Minnesota, only these were little shacks that were anchored on the river. Weird. We did see some alligators and lots of beautiful birds. We all enjoyed our morning on this tour.
We took a street car through the Garden District with all the beautiful mansions and got off to walk around for a while also. Gorgeous homes as well as the beautiful campus of Loyola University. We did shop one day on Magazine Street and had lots of fun. Many antique stores which we did not really go into, but the clothing stores were wonderful! Very expensive, but the sale racks were very affordable. We did shop a lot here and there in many little stores in the French Quarter. We were a little disappointed that many stores closed at 6pm except the most touristy of shops, so it was hard to find places to shop in the evening. We did the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues on Sunday. This was fun, but the music was only about 25 minutes, pretty short. Food was good. We enjoyed live piano music at the piano bar at the beautiful Hotel Monteleone one evening. They have a revolving carousel bar there that is really neat right next to the piano bar. We went on our own into the St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square which is truly breathtaking. We all voted to pass on a carriage ride because the smell of mules was just too much to take. Too bad, it looked like fun. Maybe if it wasn?t so warm they wouldn?t smell so bad!
We all agreed that the best thing in New Orleans was the FOOD! The only places we ate that weren?t great were the Red Fish Grill at our hotel and Deanie?s Seafood. Red Fish Grill had food that was just OK, and the wait staff was pleasant but seemed pretty clueless and unorganized. Deanie?s is all deep fried, so if you like battered deep fried everything, maybe it would be OK. The food was also cold. I would not eat at either of these places again. HOWEVER, every other place we ate was INCREDIBLE, so I must say that I have never had so much good food in 6 days in my entire life. We had beignets at Cafe Beignet and Café DuMonde and all agreed that they were good at both places but best at Café DuMonde. The frozen Latte at Café DuMonde is incredible. We ate at Bayona the first night and it was great. The highlight here was the crab encrusted trout, but all the food was wonderful as was the service. We ate at Galatoires which was also great. Formal atmosphere, incredible food and service. We all had fish here but we all agreed that the 2 desserts we had were the best desserts we had ever had, the Banana Bread Pudding and the Chocolate Decadence. Also dined at Stella! I loved the ?old house? atmosphere, Rochelle thought it was too ?old lady house? for her. However, we had a great waiter and the food was great here also. The fresh flowers on the tables were gorgeous. Highlights here were their fois gras appetizer, Stilton encrusted steak, and the fallen chocolate soufflé cake. Muriel?s on Jackson Square was great with a wonderful atmosphere, great service, and the food was also top notch. Believe it or not, their macaroni and cheese side dish was excellent, Pecan crusted Puppy Drum and Roasted Duck were other delightful dishes. One of the best things about Muriel?s you may never see?we stopped in during the day to check the place out, and the waiter invited us to go upstairs to see their private rooms and balconies overlooking Jackson Square. Wow! The antiques upstairs were stunning, as were the views from the balconies. We felt lucky to have gotten to see this part of the building since it was not in use at the time.
We ate lunch at 2 very casual restaurants that were truly gems. Camilla Grill and Uglesich?s. Uglesich?s was over an hour wait to get in and Camilla Grill just under an hour. Both were worth the wait. Camilla Grill has been open since the 1940?s and is a diner style restaurant. Burgers ?to die for? as well as awesome chili cheese fries. If you order pecan pie, they throw a slice of the homemade delectable stuff on the grill to heat it up, making it true perfection. Coconut cream pie was perfect. The ?freezies? they sell are like a shake combined with an icee, really good and refreshing on a hot day. The place shows it?s age, but that is half it?s charm. The waiters are fun and entertaining as well. Last, but certainly not least, Uglesich?s. A New Orleans institution for 80 years, this place is awesome. We ate here twice during our short stay. Upon our first arrival, we waited patiently in line having no idea what we would find inside this tiny diner. You finally get through the doors to the air conditioning and see everyone devouring this great food with a single waiter throwing the food out to the hungry diners. He was like a tornado running through the place. Don?t try to tell him what you are missing, cuz I tell you, he ALREADY KNOWS! ?It?s coming, It?s coming!? He was a riot. Amazingly, the second visit, he knew my name, and everything we ordered to eat and drink the day before. Amazing with the hundreds of people he served that day. The owner takes your order when you come in the door. If you don?t know what you want right away, he tells you what you want, he is truly charming. His wife makes all the drinks and makes a mean bloody mary! We loved the food, featuring roast beef po?boy, grilled shrimp po?boy, fried green tomatoes, softshell crab, garlic shrimp, crab cakes and firecracker shrimp. Incredible.
Here are our photos:
http://community.webshots.com/album/207046241AuFajH
Oct 31st, 2004, 01:21 PM
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Thank you for taking the time to post that trip report. I'll be going with two just-turned 18 yr old young ladies in April and wondered about things to do/see besides the Fr. Qtr nightlife that might be a bit much for teenagers (at least, the ones accompanied by Mom). I greatly appreciate the advice about tours, all the restaurant decriptions (my mouth is watering) and other detailed information!!
Thanks again!!
Thanks again!!
Oct 31st, 2004, 01:36 PM
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Sorry if this was hard to read. I cut and pasted the report and it changed much of my punctuation to question marks! Because of that, I need to clarify, the swamp tour was about a half hour ride, not an hour! Hope the report helps you all. I forgot to say that we had a tarot reading at the Bottom of the Cup Tea Room. It was pretty good, but about $25 for 10 minutes. A fun experience!
Oct 31st, 2004, 06:52 PM
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Sounds like you have a good time. Thanks for the pic link. They were great. DH and I are going to New Orleans in less than 2 weeks. Our first visit, and can hardly wait.
I peeked at your other pics too. We were also in Las Vegas in April 2003. Small world.
I peeked at your other pics too. We were also in Las Vegas in April 2003. Small world.
Nov 1st, 2004, 08:20 AM
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Good report! Makes me want to get on a plane right now - LOL!
My husband and I spent a week in NO a couple years ago and didn't get to see everything we wanted to. There is just so much packed into that city. I have friends who have gone and never ventured too far off Bourbon St. They had a totally different experience than we did.
My husband and I spent a week in NO a couple years ago and didn't get to see everything we wanted to. There is just so much packed into that city. I have friends who have gone and never ventured too far off Bourbon St. They had a totally different experience than we did.
Nov 1st, 2004, 09:15 AM
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I'm glad you had such a great time. How did you like the tarot reading? I haven't been to Bottom of the Cup in years but my reading was too true. Sounds like you got a true taste of all we have to offer. If you just stay in the Quarter then you miss the heart of the city. Come back again!
Nov 1st, 2004, 09:56 AM
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The tarot reading was interesting. I am not much of a believer in that kind of thing. She did get one thing dead on accurate, told me I had to make a decision on a partnership very soon, and I am in the middle of negotiating a business partnership now. Other than that, pretty much general filler that you would expect. I guess I want to believe that it was a coincidence, but who knows? Maybe some of them do have some actual ability....One thing we were very impressed with was that everyone was so nice, helpful and friendly there. Cab drivers, shopkeepers, everyone. We met hundreds of people and only one crabby one, that is pretty darn good odds if you ask me! We had a great time.
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