Our Trip to NOLA!

                            

Chris and I just got back from a long weekend in New Orleans with his sister Katie and her husband Glen. We went for Chris' 30th birthday and had a helluva time! I love this city so much. The cities that keep me coming back are the ones that have their own flavor, their own soul. All the cliches about the city turn out to be cliches for a reason and you begin to recognize authentic representations of that city and get upset when something rings false.

I had been to NOLA but Chris hadn't so I was excited for him to experience it. We stayed in the French Quarter and just walked around there. I know there are so many other cool neighborhoods that we didn't get to, but with only two days free for celebrating, the Quarter is just where we had to be. 

My absolute favorite thing about this town is the food. I had dreams of bloody mary's, oysters (both on the half shell and fried), po boys, red beans and rice, gumbo, and jambalaya in the days leading up to it. In fact I think I just drooled on my keyboard... Anyway, if you follow me at all on Instagram you know that all these dreams came true! Not one bad meal (the only mediocre one was exonerated because of their awesome bloody mary) and I can say I ordered well at every restaurant! 

But here is a recap, both to share with you and also to just get my thoughts down before I forget! I plan on putting this all in one album, but that probably won't happen for awhile. So until then...

The trip started Thursday night and Chris was very happy to remind me that he is 'A-List'

We got in kind of late so we just checked in and headed to our big hotel bed and slept peacefully until the late hour of 8:30am! Whoohoo! This was our view from the room.

                         

We stayed at the Westin on Canal street, and besides the occasional construction, it was a lovely hotel!

Friday we went to church first (looked inside St. Louis Cathedral), walked around, bought a hat, checked out the galleries and antique stores on Royal, drank Hurricanes in the rain huddled under an umbrella at Pat O's, shared a hand grenade, got tricked into holding a huge ass sign, and partied til the wee hours of 11pm on Bourbon Street. (I know, I know, but I can't sip on drinks all day and then be expected to stay up past midnight!) 

 Saturday we ate breakfast on the square then walked around a bit in the rain. We headed to the French Market and caught a dance contest (everyone was a serious dancer- it was pretty cool) and bought a few souvenirs (if I could I would totally have a Mardi Gras Christmas tree). We walked and drank around Bourbon Street some more- Saturdays are way rowdier fyi- and then we got cleaned up for a late night supper at Arnaud's. We sat by the Jazz band and got to see a wedding party march by.

It was a great trip! Long enough to feel like we got a vacation and not quite long enough to miss the babies. Ok that's a lie, I totally missed the babies, but I mostly kept that to myself and still had a great time. I think Chris feels sufficiently celebrated and we owe our parents big time for being our free, awesome baby sitters. 

Thanks parents! 

Have you been to New Orleans? Did you love it? Have any favorite places to go? Got any other city that you immediately fell in love with? Tell me cause I'm already dreaming of future getaways!