The Big Easy Adventure

Our road trip to New Orleans didn't begin well. Courtney and I had barely made it out of Little Rock when I got a text saying Charlote had lost her wallet and was having to get a new drivers license and new debit card before she and Zach could leave Conway.

This led to the realization that my purse wasn't in the car. It was back at Courtney's, on the chair where I'd set it when I came in. 40 minutes later, I had my purse back.

Then a rock hit my windshield. The crack is still spreading across the bottom.

This was not going well.

I should also apologize in advance for not having many pictures. I forgot my digital camera at home and the iPhone camera isn't the best. Perhaps in the future, Courtney will share her photos and I can post some here.

Despite the start, we had a great time in The Big Easy. Mainly, we spent a lot of time eating: red beans and rice, beignets, boudin, and more. Great places we ate at that I recommend:

• The Gumbo Shop - The red beans and rice here is phenomenal and affordable. I got the boudin as an appetizer and it was delicious, but spicy, so be aware.
  
• Port of Call - This hole in the wall burger joint was recommended by a friend from Louisiana. Its menu is tiny, no appetizers, just a couple salads, a couple steaks and your choice of a regular hamburger, a cheeseburger or a mushroom burger. What they lack in variety, they make up for in making one hell of a hamburger, maybe the best one I've ever had.
  
• Acme Oyster House - We had to go here because the restaurant plays an important part in one of mine, Charlote, Courtney, and Shelby's favorite book series, The Dark Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon. The atmosphere was great, the food tasty, and our waitress had a fantastic accent. I had the roast beef po boy, served debris style and the bananas foster cheesecake. It was also fun to check out the wall where they list the winners of their oyster challenge and see the name of Adam Richman, host of Man Vs. Food.
  
• Stanley - We picked this place kind of randomly after looking up places that served brunch and mimosas and I'm so glad we did. The mimosas were fantastic (and strong, meaning we were all buzzing before 2 pm) and the bananas foster french toast was heaven on a plate. Seriously, it even came with ice cream.
  
• Mona Lisa - Our last night, we were craving Italian food and found this restaurant on Urbanspoon. We had to go have a drink at a quaint neighborhood bar while we waited for a table(Hi Bartender Steve, we love you!), but it was worth the wait. Great garlic bread, tasty chicken parm, and lovely atmosphere.
  
• Cafe Du Monde - Its a New Orleans tradition and it shouldn't be missed. The beignets are to die for and its open 24 hours a day, so its great to pop in whenever for a snack and a cup of chicory coffee.
  

Okay, enough with the food porn, we did do a few things besides eat. Mostly we shopped. And we might have had a few drinks.


Those are Hand Grenades. Get one on Bourbon! The great thing about New Orleans is that you can walk around with your drink, and most restaurants and shops don't care if you bring them in. I was thrilled to discover, as well, that most places in New Orleans serve Abita beer, and I'm enamored of Abita Amber, so Holly was a happy beer drinker on this trip.

Shelby, Char, and I had a tarot reading at Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop. It was an interesting experience, more akin to therapy in my opinion, than anything Supernatural. And I found out I can communicate with the dead, which is useful information to have. Call me Haley Joel from here on out.

We took Haunted History Tour's Vampire Tour on Friday Night, and had the same tour guide as the last New Orleans trip, Jonathan. I highly recommend this tour and tour guide. Jonathan is a fantastic story teller and the tour content is both spooky and interesting.

My favorite shop was probably Wicked Orleans, a clothing boutique featuring mainly goth/punk merchandise. I also liked Boutique Du Vampyre, which features all manner of vampire related things. I'm in love with this skeleton t-shirt I picked up there. Another great shop was The Voluptuous Vixen, which caters to sizes 12 to 28. Great clothes, friendly staff. We were even greeted with cups of champagne!

I've got one more post with a story I wanted to share on the way in the next couple days, but I'll leave you with one more picture I managed to take:



This is where I slept 3 out of the 4 nights we were there. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but kudos to us for being so creative and finding a way to keep me out of the floor.

Until next time, New Orleans, laissez les bons temps rouler!