New Orleans, Louisiana (Part 1)

Stop number 2 on our spring break road trip adventure brought us to downtown New Orleans! I had booked our hotel online about a week and half before, and let me tell you, I did a LOT of research. I wanted a hotel that:

• Wouldn't cost over $200 a night
• Was close (walking distance) to the French Quarter
• Had breakfast and Wi-Fi included in nightly price
• Had Free Parking
• Easy to get to from the interstate

...yeah, needless to say I didn't find all of those requirements in a downtown major United States city. BUT, I did find one that met MOST of them. You guessed it, the Holiday Inn Express.. 


(Everyone ready? All together now... "Oooh! Ahhh!!")

Ok, I know I mentioned in the last post that I have good luck with the Holiday Inn Expresses, but I promise, this time I hadn't set out looking for it. I had actually wanted to stay in one of the many hotels that were native only to New Orleans. You know, the adorable little bed and breakfasts, the charming old hotels directly on Bourbon St., immerse ourselves fully in downtown crowds and noise, listening to the sounds of live New Orleans Jazz music floating into the night from our open air balcony, to get the full feel of the Cajun/Creole hospitality. 

But...that comes with a price, and unfortunately, I wasn't willing to pay for it. So we settled on the Holiday Inn Express because it covered all of my above bullet points minus the parking, but the hotel parking pass was $30 a day, and we would end paying that (or more) for parking in a garage or at a street meter for all day/night anyway. 

I am a self-proclaimed "planner" and I was so proud of myself because this trip, I had only planned one thing, outside of booking us a hotel in advance. So upon our arrival and check-in, we decided to just take off walking in one direction and see where we ended up. After all, since starting our road trip the day before, we had spent over 10 hours in our car. It was time to get out and move our tired leg muscles. 

First impressions of the boisterous city of New Orleans:

I can definitely see some charm to this city, with its narrow streets, palm trees, and streetcars

Oh, and apparently Mardi Gras beads are everywhere

Notice the Mardi Gras beads to the far left and on the balcony above the sign.. 

Turns out, our hotel was about .3 (three-tenths) of a mile from the famous Bourbon Street, so we ended up there. We were greeted to Bourbon Street by a marching band (naturally) 

Walking down Bourbon Street reminded me somewhat of the famous Beale Street in Memphis. It is crowded, closed to vehicle traffic, and is lined with shops, bars, and restaurants who all have people in front of each business hassling you, and telling you why their beer is the best or this restaurant's food is the most authentic in all of New Orleans. 

I had seen on our map that there was a park not too far down on Bourbon Street where they had advertised live jazz music daily, so I wanted to check that out, and Micah was more than happy to oblige. We ended up eating dinner here, as well. I got a Decatur Club sandwich and he got Jambalaya (which was spicy deliciousness, I tried some :) ) and we got Beignettes for dessert. (Basically a funnel cake but cut into the size and shape of dinner rolls) 

I would certainly recommend checking out the musical legends park and eating a meal there. The Cafe Beignet was fairly reasonable, as our two meals and an order of Beignettes for dessert came out for $25 and some change. Plus, you get to eat in an intimate open air setting right in the middle of Bourbon Street with a live band playing New Orleans jazz music. 

There was a gust of wind at one point while we were eating, it wasn't super strong but it caught just right and it knocked over the band's tip bucket that was sitting on a (somewhat) rickety card table in front of the stage and money went all over the ground. Micah and another man from the audience picked it up for them because the band didn't even bat an eye. They saw their money bucket fall over and kept performing. I thought that was amazing in itself, and after their number, the trombone player came and gave both Micah and the other man that picked up everything a free CD, so I'm looking forward to listening to that on our 10 hour drive home. 

(**Side note/update: My favorite tracks are #1 and #8) 

We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel watching TV and relaxing from the day of driving.