New Orleans trip report: gumbo, pralines, and maybe Brad Pitt?
Jun 13th, 2011, 10:17 AM
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New Orleans trip report: gumbo, pralines, and maybe Brad Pitt?
I'm finally getting around to writing this trip report from visiting New Orleans with my husband three months ago. New Orleans had been on our 'maybe list' for the longest time and now having returned, we wondered what took us so long to visit. We had a great time, especially eating!! We ate tons of gumbo and bread pudding. I sampled all kinds of pralines, plus bought boxes and boxes to take home.
Also, the weather was absolutely perfect when we went in mid-March. It was sunny and warm, but not very humid yet.
From the moment we arrived at the airport, New Orleans was hopping. We planned right away on taking a taxi to the hotel and found ourselves in a very long taxi line that wrapped around from one terminal exit door to another. The line was eventually split into two which made things go faster, and when we got into our cab, even the driver was commenting on how busy it was. He thought it was because there were a couple of conventions that week, plus many families were in town because their kids were on spring break. Throughout the rest of our trip, we kept hearing the same reasoning from other locals. I was surprised at how many families with younger kids were there. I always thought of New Orleans as more of a party town where you wouldn't go with your kids, but even on Bourbon Street there were plenty of kids.
Now here are my reviews of our hotel, food choices, and activities:
Hotel:
Omni Royal Orleans
http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel...alOrleans.aspx
We originally were looking at reserving a room at the Ritz Carlton but they were sold out, so we made a reservation at the Iberville Suites. After reading some things about the location and safety (it being on the edge of the FQ 'safe zone'), I was a bit worried so we decided to change hotels. We cancelled the Iberville Suites reservation and booked the Omni Royal Orleans instead. Once we got to New Orleans, we were very happy about the hotel's location since it was so central to everything in the French Quarter.
As for safety, I can only talk about the streets within the FQ during the daytime and at night after dinners (no later than midnight) ... we never walked anywhere outside the FQ and felt safe the entire time. The streets were always crowded and there were plenty of police officers roaming around. The first night we arrived, we also asked the hotel concierge for advice and he highlighted on the map where not to venture to.
Side note about trying to cancel the Iberville Suites: what a pain it was. I wanted to make sure I was clear on the cancellation policy before actually canceling it so I called instead of canceling it online. There's a toll-free phone number for reservations that routed me to their off-shore call center that handles other hotels, as well. The agent wasn't knowledgeable at all about the hotel's policy and it even took a while before he could pull up my reservation on the computer. I must've been on hold for 10 minutes while he tried to figure out the cancellation policy. At one point I hung up and called again hoping to talk to someone else, only to get the same agent, which leads me to believe they only had that one. Finally he gave me the information I needed but I decided to call the hotel's phone number directly to cancel since I didn't feel confident that he would do it properly.
Back to the Omni: While the hotel was clean and service was fine, you're definitely paying a premium for its location, as the rooms are tiny. There was barely enough space to lay out the suitcase rack anywhere and be able to walk around it. The bathroom had a pedestal sink so there was no counter space at all for toiletries. We'd probably still stay here again if we returned to New Orleans, but we'd seriously consider paying a bit more for one of their larger rooms so we could have more space.
Again, the location was excellent ... we had dinner reservations at K-Paul's and Brennan's so on those nights it took us about 3 minutes to walk from our room to the restaurants. I believe K-Paul's even has their patrons park their cars in the Omni Royal's parking garage for validation (although we often saw a sign at the garage entrance indicating it was full and only available for hotel guests).
More to come ...
Also, the weather was absolutely perfect when we went in mid-March. It was sunny and warm, but not very humid yet.
From the moment we arrived at the airport, New Orleans was hopping. We planned right away on taking a taxi to the hotel and found ourselves in a very long taxi line that wrapped around from one terminal exit door to another. The line was eventually split into two which made things go faster, and when we got into our cab, even the driver was commenting on how busy it was. He thought it was because there were a couple of conventions that week, plus many families were in town because their kids were on spring break. Throughout the rest of our trip, we kept hearing the same reasoning from other locals. I was surprised at how many families with younger kids were there. I always thought of New Orleans as more of a party town where you wouldn't go with your kids, but even on Bourbon Street there were plenty of kids.
Now here are my reviews of our hotel, food choices, and activities:
Hotel:
Omni Royal Orleans
http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel...alOrleans.aspx
We originally were looking at reserving a room at the Ritz Carlton but they were sold out, so we made a reservation at the Iberville Suites. After reading some things about the location and safety (it being on the edge of the FQ 'safe zone'), I was a bit worried so we decided to change hotels. We cancelled the Iberville Suites reservation and booked the Omni Royal Orleans instead. Once we got to New Orleans, we were very happy about the hotel's location since it was so central to everything in the French Quarter.
As for safety, I can only talk about the streets within the FQ during the daytime and at night after dinners (no later than midnight) ... we never walked anywhere outside the FQ and felt safe the entire time. The streets were always crowded and there were plenty of police officers roaming around. The first night we arrived, we also asked the hotel concierge for advice and he highlighted on the map where not to venture to.
Side note about trying to cancel the Iberville Suites: what a pain it was. I wanted to make sure I was clear on the cancellation policy before actually canceling it so I called instead of canceling it online. There's a toll-free phone number for reservations that routed me to their off-shore call center that handles other hotels, as well. The agent wasn't knowledgeable at all about the hotel's policy and it even took a while before he could pull up my reservation on the computer. I must've been on hold for 10 minutes while he tried to figure out the cancellation policy. At one point I hung up and called again hoping to talk to someone else, only to get the same agent, which leads me to believe they only had that one. Finally he gave me the information I needed but I decided to call the hotel's phone number directly to cancel since I didn't feel confident that he would do it properly.
Back to the Omni: While the hotel was clean and service was fine, you're definitely paying a premium for its location, as the rooms are tiny. There was barely enough space to lay out the suitcase rack anywhere and be able to walk around it. The bathroom had a pedestal sink so there was no counter space at all for toiletries. We'd probably still stay here again if we returned to New Orleans, but we'd seriously consider paying a bit more for one of their larger rooms so we could have more space.
Again, the location was excellent ... we had dinner reservations at K-Paul's and Brennan's so on those nights it took us about 3 minutes to walk from our room to the restaurants. I believe K-Paul's even has their patrons park their cars in the Omni Royal's parking garage for validation (although we often saw a sign at the garage entrance indicating it was full and only available for hotel guests).
More to come ...
Jun 13th, 2011, 01:13 PM
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I usually go to NOLA in November. This year will be my 5th time. I thought about staying at Iberville suites (thisclose to booking!), but I'm kinda spoiled by the Royal Sonesta. I have also stayed at Prince Conti and Le Richelieu. I probably should've picked Monteleone this year, since it's on my list of hotels to stay at in the quarter...Ah well, I fell in love with new orleans, so for 2012, I will stay at the Monteleone. How was K-Paul's? Unfortunately, last year, I put it down on my 'Sunday' dinner list and it wasn't open!! There were quite a few people standing around at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening with various apps on our phone open trying to find another restaurant. Well, looking forward to more of your report
Jun 13th, 2011, 02:33 PM
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We have just started thinking about our New Orleans trip for next year. We are going to FQ Fest for our 10th wedding anniversary. That's still 10 months away, but I figure we'll start hunting for hotels right around the 6 month mark since it will be busy.
Jun 14th, 2011, 02:47 PM
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SAnParis2 - I just Googled that ... seems like there's always something (event, parade, any reason for a party) happening in New Orleans. In August, though? Yikes, that's brave. I don't think I could survive the humidity. Have fun.
Jun 14th, 2011, 02:55 PM
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Food:
Restaurants:
Acme Oyster House
http://www.acmeoyster.com/
Acme doesn't accept reservations and the line outside was about a 40-minute wait when we got there at 6 pm on a Wednesday night. We were very hungry and while waiting in line, I was tempted to buy a hot dog from the Lucky Dogs vendor around the corner since it smelled good. I also suggested to my husband that we just go to Bourbon House next door since that was our 'backup' restaurant and we could see through their window that you could walk right in and be seated. He talked me out of both options, though, reminding me that Acme must be good if that many people are waiting in line. While we were standing in line, we could see down the street that there was some kind of filming going on with bright spotlights everywhere, barriers along the sidewalk, and crowds of people. I joked that maybe it was a movie with Brad Pitt since he's got a house in New Orleans. Soon a guy coming from that barricaded area walked in our direction. As he got closer, I noticed he looked a lot like Brad Pitt. I told my husband but said if that were really him, there would've been screaming fans and photographers following him. We said we'd walk in that direction after dinner so we could see what was going on (more on that later).
So we eventually got to the front of the line. I was so hungry, I couldn't wait another minute for a table so we took the first seats available at the oyster bar. Both of us started with a cup of crawfish gumbo which was fantastic. Crawfish season had just started and the meat was so flavorful and fresh. I don't think either of us had ever had gumbo, and after tasting it, we were hooked.
Since we were so hungry, we ordered a ton of other food like oysters, etouffee, and po-boys which were also all good. I love bread pudding so I had to order that for dessert and it was wonderful. I ended up ordering bread pudding at many of the other places where we ate, and looking back, I'd say this one stood out as one of the best ones because the whiskey sauce wasn't overwhelming.
As for the service, our waitress was friendly but was a little slow since the place was just so busy. Although the food was really good, I'm not sure if we'd eat there again since neither of us wants to stand in line for that long. I'm not sure if it's any better to go earlier or later? When we exited the restaurant, the line looked roughly the same as when we were in line.
On our way back to the hotel, we walked past the film set and saw that something was going on inside Mr. B's Bistro. The restaurant was closed for dinner because of the filming. Even though there were tons of onlookers, no one seemed to know what was being filmed or what they were looking at. We had dinner reservations at Mr. B's two nights later so I wondered if the restaurant would still be closed. I made the reservations a few weeks before our trip so I figured they should know well in advance when their restaurant would be closed, and wouldn't have accepted a reservation for those nights if that were the case. I called the next day to confirm our reservation and it was fine. We would find out more about the filming on the night we dined there.
Gumbo Shop
http://www.gumboshop.com/
Since we loved the gumbo the previous night at Acme Oyster House, we had lunch at the Gumbo Shop the next day. I tried the chicken and andouille sausage gumbo while my hubby had the seafood okra gumbo. I was surprised that the andouille sausage wasn't spicy. Both were good, but we agreed the crawfish gumbo from Acme was better simply because the crawfish was so good. Service was fine, although we were there relatively early so we probably beat any crowds.
K-Paul's
http://www.kpauls.com/kpaul
K-Paul's was probably the best meal we had during the trip. For me, Mr. B's Bistro (review below) was a very close second but was also less fancy than K-Paul's. Of course we started with chicken and andouille gumbo.
It was excellent, as well as the rest of our meal. Even the bread basket was great. They served three or four different types of breads including cornbread and rolls with molasses flavoring. Dessert was bread pudding again and my tummy was very happy! Service was also top notch. Our waitress was nice, quick, and very attentive.
Mr. B's Bistro
http://www.mrbsbistro.com/
We absolutely loved Mr. B's. The sauces in their food were the standouts. My hubby ordered the BBQ shrimp, their signature dish. Everyone who ordered that was given a bib since you peel the shrimp yourself and it gets messy. I had a bite of it and the shrimp were huge, fresh, and so tasty! I also had a shrimp dish that had the most incredible sauce which they described as a spicy tasso and hot sauce beurre blanc. For dessert, I had my usual bread pudding and my hubby had the pecan pie. I had a few bites of his pecan pie and it was to die for! It was really, really buttery, so I can't even imagine how many calories are in one slice. As much as I love bread pudding, I would order the pecan pie next time.
We highly, highly recommend Mr. B's. We even purchased their cookbook. Be sure to make reservations -- the place was completely packed. Even at lunchtime one day we walked by the restaurant and it was filled up.
Also, while we were there, we asked our waiter about the filming that was happening inside the restaurant the other night. He didn't know the name of the movie but he said Brad Pitt was starring in it. So now it remains a mystery if that was Brad Pitt who walked right by me
Palace Cafe
http://www.palacecafe.com/
Except for one dish, the food at Palace Cafe was a bit of a disappointment. Hubby had some unmemorable fish dish and both of our desserts were also forgettable. He had the pecan pie that was nothing special. I had the white chocolate bread pudding which was supposed to be some famous creation of theirs, but I thought it tasted really weird. I can't even describe what the weirdness was. The sauce was white chocolate ganache but it didn't even taste like white chocolate. The bread pudding itself tasted like some strange cheese. I'm a total chocoholic but this dessert was just so bad I couldn't even finish eating it. Hubby tried a bite of it, too, and agreed it wasn't good.
The one dish that was decent was my main course, the shrimp tchefuncte. However, the rice that accompanied it tasted like it wasn't cooked all the way through. The sauce was what made the dish good. It's a Creole meuniere sauce that consists of lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, cream, and butter.
Service was good, though.
We would not return to Palace Cafe again.
Brennan's
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/
We weren't impressed with Brennan's. The food was ok but overpriced. Service was alright. Hubby ordered the turtle soup to start with and I tasted a couple of spoonfuls. Neither of us thought anything of it. They served us garlic bread, and for my main course of shrimp, the sauce had so much garlic it in, I was drowning in garlic taste. Hubby's main course of redfish was ok and so was the bananas foster that we shared for dessert.
We wouldn't eat there again. For a fancy dinner, we'd rather go to K-Paul's.
Restaurants:
Acme Oyster House
http://www.acmeoyster.com/
Acme doesn't accept reservations and the line outside was about a 40-minute wait when we got there at 6 pm on a Wednesday night. We were very hungry and while waiting in line, I was tempted to buy a hot dog from the Lucky Dogs vendor around the corner since it smelled good. I also suggested to my husband that we just go to Bourbon House next door since that was our 'backup' restaurant and we could see through their window that you could walk right in and be seated. He talked me out of both options, though, reminding me that Acme must be good if that many people are waiting in line. While we were standing in line, we could see down the street that there was some kind of filming going on with bright spotlights everywhere, barriers along the sidewalk, and crowds of people. I joked that maybe it was a movie with Brad Pitt since he's got a house in New Orleans. Soon a guy coming from that barricaded area walked in our direction. As he got closer, I noticed he looked a lot like Brad Pitt. I told my husband but said if that were really him, there would've been screaming fans and photographers following him. We said we'd walk in that direction after dinner so we could see what was going on (more on that later).
So we eventually got to the front of the line. I was so hungry, I couldn't wait another minute for a table so we took the first seats available at the oyster bar. Both of us started with a cup of crawfish gumbo which was fantastic. Crawfish season had just started and the meat was so flavorful and fresh. I don't think either of us had ever had gumbo, and after tasting it, we were hooked.
Since we were so hungry, we ordered a ton of other food like oysters, etouffee, and po-boys which were also all good. I love bread pudding so I had to order that for dessert and it was wonderful. I ended up ordering bread pudding at many of the other places where we ate, and looking back, I'd say this one stood out as one of the best ones because the whiskey sauce wasn't overwhelming.
As for the service, our waitress was friendly but was a little slow since the place was just so busy. Although the food was really good, I'm not sure if we'd eat there again since neither of us wants to stand in line for that long. I'm not sure if it's any better to go earlier or later? When we exited the restaurant, the line looked roughly the same as when we were in line.
On our way back to the hotel, we walked past the film set and saw that something was going on inside Mr. B's Bistro. The restaurant was closed for dinner because of the filming. Even though there were tons of onlookers, no one seemed to know what was being filmed or what they were looking at. We had dinner reservations at Mr. B's two nights later so I wondered if the restaurant would still be closed. I made the reservations a few weeks before our trip so I figured they should know well in advance when their restaurant would be closed, and wouldn't have accepted a reservation for those nights if that were the case. I called the next day to confirm our reservation and it was fine. We would find out more about the filming on the night we dined there.
Gumbo Shop
http://www.gumboshop.com/
Since we loved the gumbo the previous night at Acme Oyster House, we had lunch at the Gumbo Shop the next day. I tried the chicken and andouille sausage gumbo while my hubby had the seafood okra gumbo. I was surprised that the andouille sausage wasn't spicy. Both were good, but we agreed the crawfish gumbo from Acme was better simply because the crawfish was so good. Service was fine, although we were there relatively early so we probably beat any crowds.
K-Paul's
http://www.kpauls.com/kpaul
K-Paul's was probably the best meal we had during the trip. For me, Mr. B's Bistro (review below) was a very close second but was also less fancy than K-Paul's. Of course we started with chicken and andouille gumbo.
It was excellent, as well as the rest of our meal. Even the bread basket was great. They served three or four different types of breads including cornbread and rolls with molasses flavoring. Dessert was bread pudding again and my tummy was very happy! Service was also top notch. Our waitress was nice, quick, and very attentive.Mr. B's Bistro
http://www.mrbsbistro.com/
We absolutely loved Mr. B's. The sauces in their food were the standouts. My hubby ordered the BBQ shrimp, their signature dish. Everyone who ordered that was given a bib since you peel the shrimp yourself and it gets messy. I had a bite of it and the shrimp were huge, fresh, and so tasty! I also had a shrimp dish that had the most incredible sauce which they described as a spicy tasso and hot sauce beurre blanc. For dessert, I had my usual bread pudding and my hubby had the pecan pie. I had a few bites of his pecan pie and it was to die for! It was really, really buttery, so I can't even imagine how many calories are in one slice. As much as I love bread pudding, I would order the pecan pie next time.
We highly, highly recommend Mr. B's. We even purchased their cookbook. Be sure to make reservations -- the place was completely packed. Even at lunchtime one day we walked by the restaurant and it was filled up.
Also, while we were there, we asked our waiter about the filming that was happening inside the restaurant the other night. He didn't know the name of the movie but he said Brad Pitt was starring in it. So now it remains a mystery if that was Brad Pitt who walked right by me
Palace Cafe
http://www.palacecafe.com/
Except for one dish, the food at Palace Cafe was a bit of a disappointment. Hubby had some unmemorable fish dish and both of our desserts were also forgettable. He had the pecan pie that was nothing special. I had the white chocolate bread pudding which was supposed to be some famous creation of theirs, but I thought it tasted really weird. I can't even describe what the weirdness was. The sauce was white chocolate ganache but it didn't even taste like white chocolate. The bread pudding itself tasted like some strange cheese. I'm a total chocoholic but this dessert was just so bad I couldn't even finish eating it. Hubby tried a bite of it, too, and agreed it wasn't good.
The one dish that was decent was my main course, the shrimp tchefuncte. However, the rice that accompanied it tasted like it wasn't cooked all the way through. The sauce was what made the dish good. It's a Creole meuniere sauce that consists of lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, cream, and butter.
Service was good, though.
We would not return to Palace Cafe again.
Brennan's
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/
We weren't impressed with Brennan's. The food was ok but overpriced. Service was alright. Hubby ordered the turtle soup to start with and I tasted a couple of spoonfuls. Neither of us thought anything of it. They served us garlic bread, and for my main course of shrimp, the sauce had so much garlic it in, I was drowning in garlic taste. Hubby's main course of redfish was ok and so was the bananas foster that we shared for dessert.
We wouldn't eat there again. For a fancy dinner, we'd rather go to K-Paul's.
Jun 15th, 2011, 12:50 PM
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globetrotterxyz,
Your descriptiongs are making me yearn for some Cajun food. Did you have the chargrilled oysters at Acme? They are simply to die for.
I was there in mid-March around the same time as you and it was as crowded as I've ever seen New Orleans on a non-Mardi Gras/non-Jazz Fest week. I can't imagine how crowded the weekend was.
Your descriptiongs are making me yearn for some Cajun food. Did you have the chargrilled oysters at Acme? They are simply to die for.
I was there in mid-March around the same time as you and it was as crowded as I've ever seen New Orleans on a non-Mardi Gras/non-Jazz Fest week. I can't imagine how crowded the weekend was.
Jun 15th, 2011, 02:35 PM
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Fantastic food reports!!! Can't wait for the rest. I've only had the bread pudding at Commander's palace, and it was wonderful, done as a souffle. And I could'a drank the whiskey sauce straight outta the bowl it was so good. But I used a spoon.
Jun 16th, 2011, 09:11 AM
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bkluvsNola - my mouth watered as I was writing, thinking of the food we had during the trip. The oysters were actually my hubby's order, but I do believe they were chargrilled. He said they were very good.
We must've crossed paths at some point during our trips. Small world
travisblue - thanks. Hmm, I'll have to check out Commander's menu now and see if it's a possible candidate for next time we visit New Orleans.
We must've crossed paths at some point during our trips. Small world
travisblue - thanks. Hmm, I'll have to check out Commander's menu now and see if it's a possible candidate for next time we visit New Orleans.
Jun 16th, 2011, 09:14 AM
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Wrapping up on food, here's my thoughts on my hunt for the tastiest pralines:
Leah's Pralines
http://www.leahspralines.com/
These were my least favorite of the pralines. They were thin/flat and had a strange taste to them. Later I read someplace that they add maple syrup to their pralines. After reading that and tasting them again, I think that's the flavor that I didn't like about it. My hubby didn't really like them, either. I don't have a problem with maple syrup itself or with other desserts; I just don't think the flavor worked in their pralines.
Loretta's Pralines in the French Market
http://www.lorettaspralines.com/
I bought original and chocolate pralines here. They were very smooth and creamy. I thought they were pretty good, but I like pralines a bit more chunky. My hubby really liked them.
Southern Candymakers
http://www.southerncandymakers.com/
I'd rate these average to above average. I only had the original flavor. The employees behind the counter were very nice and friendly, by the way.
Laura's Candies
http://www.laurascandies.com/joomla/index.php
These were my favorite. They had samples in the store, too. I bought two boxes of a dozen chocolate pralines and one box of a dozen original pralines. The pralines were huge and chunky. There was a crystallized flavor to them, too, which I liked. Hubby liked these, as well. The only downside is that the pralines are not individually wrapped.
I didn't buy anything from Aunt Sally's since I've had them before (a gift from someone) but I do think they're pretty good.
To be cont'd ...
Leah's Pralines
http://www.leahspralines.com/
These were my least favorite of the pralines. They were thin/flat and had a strange taste to them. Later I read someplace that they add maple syrup to their pralines. After reading that and tasting them again, I think that's the flavor that I didn't like about it. My hubby didn't really like them, either. I don't have a problem with maple syrup itself or with other desserts; I just don't think the flavor worked in their pralines.
Loretta's Pralines in the French Market
http://www.lorettaspralines.com/
I bought original and chocolate pralines here. They were very smooth and creamy. I thought they were pretty good, but I like pralines a bit more chunky. My hubby really liked them.
Southern Candymakers
http://www.southerncandymakers.com/
I'd rate these average to above average. I only had the original flavor. The employees behind the counter were very nice and friendly, by the way.
Laura's Candies
http://www.laurascandies.com/joomla/index.php
These were my favorite. They had samples in the store, too. I bought two boxes of a dozen chocolate pralines and one box of a dozen original pralines. The pralines were huge and chunky. There was a crystallized flavor to them, too, which I liked. Hubby liked these, as well. The only downside is that the pralines are not individually wrapped.
I didn't buy anything from Aunt Sally's since I've had them before (a gift from someone) but I do think they're pretty good.
To be cont'd ...
Jun 16th, 2011, 10:47 AM
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Great trip report, especially the food descriptions. Looks like we agree on Mr. B's and K-Paul's, both excellent.
I too enjoyed Acme Oyster, but yes, the line there can be daunting. A good alternative to Acme Oyster when the line is horrible is to go across the street to Felix's. It's not nearly as evocative a space, but the oyster dishes I had were really good, as good as at Acme.
I too enjoyed Acme Oyster, but yes, the line there can be daunting. A good alternative to Acme Oyster when the line is horrible is to go across the street to Felix's. It's not nearly as evocative a space, but the oyster dishes I had were really good, as good as at Acme.
Jun 16th, 2011, 02:27 PM
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bachslunch, I agree about the lines at Acme, long... and if you're really hungry, YES, cross the street and have the char oysters at Felix's!
globetrotter, if you go to Commander's and you like martini's, they are only 25 CENTS (I think that's only M-F).
globetrotter, if you go to Commander's and you like martini's, they are only 25 CENTS (I think that's only M-F).
Jun 16th, 2011, 05:30 PM
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It really could be Brad Pitt. I worked in the restaurant business for yrs, and we New Orleanians really do give celebs their space. Very rarely do you see people go running and screaming up to someone famous. I think that's why so many have houses down here.
Jun 17th, 2011, 05:44 AM
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We tried to get in Acme Oyster House last year and the line was just too long. We went accross the street to Deanie's Seafood and had the best meal of the visit. We had never heard of it but it was good!
Jun 20th, 2011, 10:40 AM
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Activities:
Oak Alley Plantation
http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/
We rented a car for one day from the Hertz location at the hotel. It was very convenient to just go down the elevator and straight into the parking garage, and pick up the keys from Hertz. The drive to Oak Alley was simple and we got there just before a bunch of tour buses arrived. We were just in time to join the next tour of the mansion. The guides are dressed in costumes and after the tour, mint juleps and other refreshments are sold at the exit. The tour itself was ok. My hubby and I were hoping for more interesting stories and history about the plantation and the slaves, but that seemed to have been referred to minimally. The guide mostly talked about the family who built the place. The grounds, particularly the facade of the mansion and the line of oak trees, were the main draw. It was quite a photogenic spot. You can see the view of the trees and mansion from the main road, too, so many people were just pulling over for a glimpse and quick photo. Laura Plantation was just down the road, so that would've been nice to combine and I read that the tour is a bit better, but we had a late start to the day and needed to get back to return the car in time.
Grey Line swamp tour, Jean Lafitte
http://www.graylineneworleans.com/swamp.shtml
Since we only had the rental car for one day, we decided to take the Grey Line tour to the Barataria Preserve in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. Tickets can be purchased online and ahead of time, but since we didn't have a set schedule of when we wanted to take the swamp tour, we just bought tickets on site at the Grey Line lighthouse ticket booth. It was easy to find and it didn't seem like there was any risk of the tour being close to having sold out, so I don't think online reservations are really necessary. The bus ride didn't include any narration of the areas we passed. We weren't expecting any, but they announce it, so I guess some people might expect it. The tour at the swamp was great. Our guide provided a lot of humor and was so sharp at spotting all the wildlife. Everyone on the boat was eager at the beginning of the tour to see alligators, but he assured us that we would see plenty and he was correct. There were plenty of turtles, too, plus some beautiful egrets.
We enjoyed the tour and would recommend it. By the way, in researching the tours, we also looked into Cajun Encounters (which goes to a different swamp), but the tour time was just more convenient for us to use Grey Line. In the Cajun Encounters promotional videos, you see that they stick out marshmallows to attract alligators to come towards the boat for good photo opportunities. We later found out from our tour guide that since our tour was inside Jean Lafitte, the national park service didn't allow them to do that. We thought that was better (for the wildlife) so we were glad we didn't go with the other tour operator.
Natchez Riverboat
http://www.steamboatnatchez.com/
The Natchez is an authentic steamboat on the Mississippi River. We bought the tickets along with the swamp tour tickets from Grey Line. You can purchase the cruise with or without lunch. We skipped the lunch since we figured the food would be sub-par compared to restaurants in the city, so we ate before the cruise. The line to board the boat was massive but once on board, it was easy to find a place to sit, plus you're free to move around. Try staying on the side facing the city when the cruise starts -- that way you can get the narration as you pass things rather than seeing things without the narration when the boat turns around for the return. It was a leisurely cruise with a nice breeze, and a good opportunity to sit back and relax.
Harrah's
http://www.harrahsneworleans.com/cas...rty-home.shtml
I just wanted to check out the casino so we were in there for not even 10 minutes. In that time, we circled the casino, I played at two slot machines for about 2 minutes, and I doubled my money. I cashed out and we left happy!
French Quarter
We had fun wandering the streets of the FQ: seeing Saint Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, the French Market ... There were a few parades that we caught a glimpse of and sometimes we stopped to sit on the sidewalk to watch/listen to street performers. There's never a dull moment.
Overall, we really, really liked New Orleans. We left with the feeling that there's still lots of things we didn't have time to do/see (i.e. WWII museum, Garden District) and plenty of restaurants that we couldn't try during the few days that we were there. It's someplace that we'll definitely try to visit again since it has a lot to offer that fits our tastes.
Oak Alley Plantation
http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/
We rented a car for one day from the Hertz location at the hotel. It was very convenient to just go down the elevator and straight into the parking garage, and pick up the keys from Hertz. The drive to Oak Alley was simple and we got there just before a bunch of tour buses arrived. We were just in time to join the next tour of the mansion. The guides are dressed in costumes and after the tour, mint juleps and other refreshments are sold at the exit. The tour itself was ok. My hubby and I were hoping for more interesting stories and history about the plantation and the slaves, but that seemed to have been referred to minimally. The guide mostly talked about the family who built the place. The grounds, particularly the facade of the mansion and the line of oak trees, were the main draw. It was quite a photogenic spot. You can see the view of the trees and mansion from the main road, too, so many people were just pulling over for a glimpse and quick photo. Laura Plantation was just down the road, so that would've been nice to combine and I read that the tour is a bit better, but we had a late start to the day and needed to get back to return the car in time.
Grey Line swamp tour, Jean Lafitte
http://www.graylineneworleans.com/swamp.shtml
Since we only had the rental car for one day, we decided to take the Grey Line tour to the Barataria Preserve in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. Tickets can be purchased online and ahead of time, but since we didn't have a set schedule of when we wanted to take the swamp tour, we just bought tickets on site at the Grey Line lighthouse ticket booth. It was easy to find and it didn't seem like there was any risk of the tour being close to having sold out, so I don't think online reservations are really necessary. The bus ride didn't include any narration of the areas we passed. We weren't expecting any, but they announce it, so I guess some people might expect it. The tour at the swamp was great. Our guide provided a lot of humor and was so sharp at spotting all the wildlife. Everyone on the boat was eager at the beginning of the tour to see alligators, but he assured us that we would see plenty and he was correct. There were plenty of turtles, too, plus some beautiful egrets.
We enjoyed the tour and would recommend it. By the way, in researching the tours, we also looked into Cajun Encounters (which goes to a different swamp), but the tour time was just more convenient for us to use Grey Line. In the Cajun Encounters promotional videos, you see that they stick out marshmallows to attract alligators to come towards the boat for good photo opportunities. We later found out from our tour guide that since our tour was inside Jean Lafitte, the national park service didn't allow them to do that. We thought that was better (for the wildlife) so we were glad we didn't go with the other tour operator.
Natchez Riverboat
http://www.steamboatnatchez.com/
The Natchez is an authentic steamboat on the Mississippi River. We bought the tickets along with the swamp tour tickets from Grey Line. You can purchase the cruise with or without lunch. We skipped the lunch since we figured the food would be sub-par compared to restaurants in the city, so we ate before the cruise. The line to board the boat was massive but once on board, it was easy to find a place to sit, plus you're free to move around. Try staying on the side facing the city when the cruise starts -- that way you can get the narration as you pass things rather than seeing things without the narration when the boat turns around for the return. It was a leisurely cruise with a nice breeze, and a good opportunity to sit back and relax.
Harrah's
http://www.harrahsneworleans.com/cas...rty-home.shtml
I just wanted to check out the casino so we were in there for not even 10 minutes. In that time, we circled the casino, I played at two slot machines for about 2 minutes, and I doubled my money. I cashed out and we left happy!
French Quarter
We had fun wandering the streets of the FQ: seeing Saint Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, the French Market ... There were a few parades that we caught a glimpse of and sometimes we stopped to sit on the sidewalk to watch/listen to street performers. There's never a dull moment.
Overall, we really, really liked New Orleans. We left with the feeling that there's still lots of things we didn't have time to do/see (i.e. WWII museum, Garden District) and plenty of restaurants that we couldn't try during the few days that we were there. It's someplace that we'll definitely try to visit again since it has a lot to offer that fits our tastes.
