Here it is...the final stop on our road trip, the incredible city that is New Orleans (NOLA). We stayed at an awesome Air bnb with a a bedroom that felt like a mini mansion (we had a huge four poster bed with satin-esq sheets), the bath tub was freestanding, there was some great artwork on the walls and the host had 3 gorgeous little chihuahuas (one of which was crossed with an Italian greyhound so she has long legs and looks a little like a mini bambi).
We headed into town to have a seafood dinner, we were all ready for some good Cajun food. I had fried shrimp while the others all tucked into oysters, red beans + rice and etouffee. After dinner we took a stroll down the famous Bourborn Street, there were jelly shots and daiquiris (of course I stayed with water). I was mesmerised by all the lights and live music even on a Sunday evening, I can't imagine what it is like on a Friday and Saturday night.
I was shocked when a necklace of beads hit me as we walked along the strip, it had been thrown by a group of guys drinking on a balcony of one of the bars. The girls explained the 'tradition' of men drinking on the balconies and throwing beads at women passing by that flashed them their chest...'oooo Sophie they want to see your rack!' I mean, I was flattered, but no.
Our first full day in NOLA and we took a trip to the Audubon Aquarium. We went via Uber (we had a few Uber trips while in New Orleans, all of the drivers were friendly and although we were usually in the car no longer than 10 minutes it was nice to share our stories and learn something about our drivers) I would definitely recommend using it. We met up with some of Sydney's friends and cousins and together we toured the Aquarium - I felt so conflicted, the fish are gorgeous and I very much enjoyed reading and learning about species I had never heard of before, but I was so torn by my love of animals and wanting them to be free out in open water and not boxed up in a tank. I was soon picked up by the announcement that one of my favourite band will be playing in London on my birthday 'The Front Bottoms' (please do not judge by name alone...its silly but I love it) and supporting...another one of my all time favourites 'Gnarwolves' ...sorry back to New Orleans.
By the time we were finished browsing the fish it was lunch time. We walked to the Palace Cafe a fancy feeling (to me) French restaurant and on the way we had a nice walk through the French Quarter. I ordered shrimp tchefuncte, it tasted incredibly rich but that would have been all of the butter and cream. Our afternoon was filled with ice cream and coffee, a walk around the St Louis Cathedral, just as a children's choir were rehearsing and of course...beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Fresh French doughnuts covered in layers of powdered sugar (that my brother managed to get everywhere, even though the girls advised not breathing out as he took the beignet to his mouth) After all of the excitement and the ridiculous amounts of food it was time for a nap...which was to be followed by, you guessed it, more food. We made our way to bar 13, but we soon had to leave as Liz is only 15 and it was only 21s only after a certain time, but the menu looked really tasty, it was a shame we didn't have time to go back. Instead we walked down the road to a cajun place (I forget the name) and I had some more fried shrimp...to top off all of the fried shrimp I have had on this trip. Half way through our meal a huge thunderstorm broke out. It felt so eerie, lots of heavy rain which soon cleared up as we left the restaurant, it was so humid. I had my camera on me and attempted to take some shots of the striking purple skies.
After another night sleep in our giant four poster bed we were quick to find us some Vietnamese food - unfortunately the lack of options not containing meat and my palette that was so used to fried food of the last few days, really got in the way of me enjoying the meal. Next we took a trip to play some mini golf, it was beginning to feel like a regular holiday activity and we had so much fun - apart from how ridiculously hot it all of a sudden was, especially post intense storm last night. We had very limited time in New Orleans and so decided it was worth tucking in to some more beignets. This time from The Morning Call Coffee Stand, in which we were now in charge of putting as much or as little powdered sugar on as we desired. I mean, the beignets were still delicious but I couldn't figure out the right ratio of doughnut to powdered sugar....first world problems.
Within no time another huge bought of rain took over NOLA, it was so shocking how quickly the weather changed, and it kept us barricaded in the cafe for another half an hour. We were then on the hunt for our last 'must try' while in NOLA...PoBoys. For some reason, the top 3 places to get PoBoys in NOLA, according to Google, were closed on a Tuesday (oh yeh,..it was a Tuesday) we risked it with the next best Mothers. The guys all got different meats but I went for the classic fried shrimp again...It was delicious but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't eaten shrimp 3 more times in the last 2 days. In fact the only thing that wasn't pleasant about the experience was feeling the warm meat gravy leak down my leg as it escaped the brown paper bag we had been given to take it away...not hugely impressed.
Our last adventure in New Orleans and before we drove the car back to the rental garage in Texas, was an odd one - not something I had ever thought about doing before... painting with a twist. The twist being that you can bring your own booze and alcohol. The idea of a group of 30 people, painting the same thing together sounded rather dull to me, so I was incredibly shocked when I enjoyed myself. Not even just a little bit, I was so impressed with my painting and even though we were all painting the same thing, none of the paintings looked the same. Everyone had mixed their colours slightly differently and painted the shapes in their own way - It was nice to come away from our trip with our own painting, although we had no idea how we were going to get them home.
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