NOLA, baby!

This last weekend my husband finally took me to New Orleans! I say finally since he grew up in Baton Rouge (which is only an hour away) and we've been dating/engaged/married for almost four years now. So, in my opinion this trip was way overdue!

We stayed in the French Quarter at an apartment of some family and what a great location it's in! It's on Dumaine, so we walked almost everywhere. And, when we didn't walk, we took the street cars.

So, here's a little run down of what we did:

Saturday - Arrive about 9am and my father in law picked us up at the airport. (Long story short, the in-laws wanted to see us this weekend but we hadn't planned on going to BR. After the arrangements to get the key to us the best choice was for him to drive it down to us.) Have "breakfast" at Cafe Du Monde. I ♥ beignets!

After breakfast we walked around the Quarter and ended up having lunch at Mother's. They're famous for their Po' Boys and they were delish!

After lunch we took a much needed nap, then we headed back out and went straight to Pat O'Briens. I'd had a hurricane before, but this one was so yummy! Maybe it was the atmosphere...

Went to dinner at the Palace Cafe where the food was good, but admittedly a tad salty for our tastes. After dinner we ended up at the fantastic bar with possibly the best bartender I've ever had at Cafe Amelie. Seriously, our drinks were made with such care and were dee-lish-cious!

Sunday - Went to Mass at St. Louis Cathedral. Such a lovely church and it was packed!

Had lunch at Restaurant August by John Besh. This was my big birthday meal and while the food was great, this lunch took more than two hours! And, they had a set menu so we aren't quite sure why it was so long. But, it was great food and did not disappoint.

Walked around Audubon Park and had refreshments at The Columns Hotel. We had dinner at The Gumbo Shop and it was great, too. I had to get the combo since it had Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya and Etouffee. Three truly great dishes!

That night we also experienced some "real New Orleans" when we went to the Maple Leaf Bar to hear some music. Little did we know they have a crawfish boil every Sunday night as well.

(Sorry for the terrible photo; it was taken on my phone.)

Monday - Had breakfast at the Coffee Pot and ordered Eggs Creole. Yum-O! After breakfast we headed to the National World War II Museum. When I asked my husband why it was in New Orleans he couldn't remember but after touring we now know why it is. You can find out why here. Seriously, go read this, it's pretty interesting why it's in NOLA.

Sadly, after the museum it was time to clean up the apartment and head back home. I'm certain we'll be back and it was a great first trip!