I realize this took forever to write, but how can you properly write about somewhere as amazing as New Orleans? What amount of words and photos will tell you that this city is fun, welcoming and mesmerizing? I don’t think there are enough nouns, verbs or synonyms possible, but I will try.
New Orleans is fucking amazing.
I cannot believe Americans have something this awesome available to them, and instead they decide to visit Miami. It makes no damn sense to me. I haven’t been impressed with an American city like this since the first time I went to my FAVE U.S. city – Chicago. Because I love me some Chicago. After getting to experience New Orleans, I dislike Miami EVEN MORE.
I know it can’t be ‘the beach’ in Miami? That can’t be the draw. Because I sure as hell know it isn’t the pretentious partying and expensive ass drinks/entry etc. etc. there either. So how do you have New Orleans and not choose that, EVERY SINGLE TIME???? This blog post isn’t to shit on Miami, I think I did that enough when I wrote my blog post about visiting there last year.
But this is how impressed I am by New Orleans. Enjoy.
Friday, June 30th
My boyfriend and I had a mid-afternoon flight from Toronto to New Orleans on this Friday, with Air Canada. We had been notified of a delay for our flight, but it wasn’t anything crazy, like 20 minute or so.
While sitting at Pearson waiting for the boarding announcement, the Air Canada staff began offering up a seat for their overbooked flight. They needed someone to choose to NOT fly and pay them for it. Have to tell you, that shit got REAAAL tempting when it got to $1600!!! If I had been traveling alone, I probably would have taken it.
We eventually boarded the full plane and made friends with the groom from a group of 12-guys that were going to NOLA for a bachelor party. Fun times.
Maybe, a little too fun?
This flight is only 2.5hrs from Toronto to New Orleans. Please remember that. Only 2.5hrs. We both took a little nap on the flight and suddenly hear a sound we weren’t accustomed to on the plane. I’ve been on plenty of flights and I’d never heard this before.
The groom leaned over and told us one of his groomsmen got caught vaping in the bathroom. The smoke detector, well, detected him. Idiot.
Luckily, we didn’t need to land or anything because of this, they gave him a talking to and took his vape. Didn’t think more of it, until we landed.
Don’t we land in New Orleans and are held for an oddly long inside the flight when….
TWO OFFICER-LOOKING-MEN ENTER THE PLANE!!
They walk up to the vaping guy and go ‘were you the one vaping?‘ he said yes, and then they go ‘that is a federal crime‘ and take him into custody. Sheeesh.
That is how our trip began.
Our AirBnB host had given us a heads up that it was cheaper to take a metered taxi from the airport than it was to use Uber. I checked the price of the Uber, it said $80USD to our AirBnB. I checked with the taxi stand, $35USD flat rate. He was right, so we took that option.
We arrive at the AirBnB pretty quickly and the host left straightforward instructions. Up to this point I actually thought we were staying in the basement of his house but it was a tiny little house in his backyard. I thought it was cute. Looked way better than the photos as well.
For the two of us, this was perfect. I especially liked the bathroom. But the best part was the working air conditioning. Why?
Feels like forty two degrees, Celsius. When I tell you it was a HOT weekend in New Orleans? It was disgusting outside. The functioning air conditioning was needed, necessary….. so so necessary.
If you’re interested in the AirBnB, I’ve put the link here.
I recommend it because of a great location, quiet, close to stuff and also very clean. It is very simple, but if you plan on going just to sleep there for a few hours like we did, clutch.
Now, it was time for some food, because I heard over and over how amazing the food in New Orleans would be.
About a 16-minute walk from us was a place named The Original Cajun Seafood. Food place damn near under a highway? I knew this was going to be delicious.
Try to control yourself and not order one of everything on their huge menu, because, you will be tempted. I know I was.
I went for two pounds of the ‘hot n spicy’ boiled crawfish, with some potato salad on the side. BEST DECISION. The crawfish was sooooo good and so was the seasoning it was in.
My boyfriend got the fried rice with some chicken wings. Also really good! Wonderful start to the food shenanigans here.
After we finished this feast we walked back to the AirBnB and I just wanted to take this moment to show you some photos of the gorgeous houses we saw while walking. I loved the area we booked the stay in because there was cool looking houses everywhere. Also, we made random friends on the street. The Louisiana locals are 1000000% the nicest Americans I have ever met. Not to mention that incredible accent. Oh goodness, like a fairytale.
Heat + Belly Full = nap time!
We took a nice little nape before the evening shenanigans.
Once we got up we took an Uber to the center of the action, or close enough, because I needed something sweet.
Time to try out the famous beignets at Cafe Du Monde.
As a suggestion, maybe don’t wear a black shirt when going to eat this. I made the mistake 1) wearing black and 2) inhaling the powder from the beignet. Very embarrassing, but very delicious. The beignets were so good and fresh, I would eat these for breakfast daily if I could.
I’m sorry I don’t have better information about where I partied during this trip. We literally walked onto Bourbon St. and went club to club. Bar to bar. Might I add, while getting heavily intoxicated. Those Hurricane drink things are NO JOKE.
This place was awesome. I loved being out on Bourbon St. because it was all kinds of people, all kinds of ages. The clubs were like 99% free to get into, you could carry your alcohol everywhere and there was no dress codes. It lacked any feeling of being exclusionary or pretentious. I was a bouncer for a long time and I have clubbed many places – this was the first place that genuinely felt that all people were welcome regardless of outfit, wealth, age or sexual orientation. Trust me, these clubs had everyone in it. We went into one club and there was a dude in a three-piece suit and then in the same club a guy with flip flops, basketball shorts and no shirt on. MY KINDA PARTY.
It was also Essence Fest weekend, so I’m not sure if there are usually this many people out? But I loved it. Packed and fun.
Probably got into our bed around 3am. Somewhere around there. Amazing time was had.
Saturday, July 1st
Today was going to be a busy day for a couple of hungover people. Us.
First stop, Ruby Slipper.
I had been reading the menu for this place waaaay before we got to New Orleans. We went to the location on Broad St. because I was told that was the best one. So be it.
The service was a little slow, but the food was definitely worth the wait.
I got these delicious shrimp and grits, with a biscuit on the side. My boyfriend got the cinnamon swirl pancakes with a side of bacon. All choices, good choices. This is exactly the kind of meal you should have after a night of drinking. It is perfect.
We had to move fast and get to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center because a super duper Toronto DJ, by the name of DJ Rosegold was on stage playing music. Must support Toronto DJ’s while in town!
When I had initially booked this trip for my boyfriend and I, it was solely because it was a good flight price and a long weekend. I had no clue we would be there during Essence Fest 2023. It sure was a great bonus though! No way any of us watched the movie Girls Trip and didn’t want to experience exactly what they did that weekend. Looked so damn fun. Great coincidence for us.
Now, this convention center may be one of the largest I have ever seen. It was so cool and nicely decorated for the festival. We found where our DJ was and were there yelling and cheering like crazy people for her.
When she finished being on stage and we were all danced out, we wanted to walk around this massive space a little longer. There was lines for everything inside. There was free giveaways, more music, lots of speakers giving talks and some cool fashion displays.
Unfortunately, we had to rush from here. Easily could have spent the day perusing everything the festival had to offer, but we had another appointment.
Yes, more food.
Thank goodness we were watching the clock really well because the TRAFFIC leaving the festival area was nuts. Up to this point we really hadn’t witnessed any traffic in New Orleans and it was busy!
No way I was coming to New Orleans and not doing a food tour. It was going to happen.
Our meet up point was the Red Fish Grill in the French Quarter.
This is where we met the rest of the people on the food tour, as well as our guide, Ben.
He began telling us a little bit of New Orleans history and what to expect on the tour, while we were served some seafood gumbo with alligator sausage in it and……that damn Hurricane drink. Category 5, to be exact.
I thought the gumbo was so hearty and well seasoned. I could have easily eaten four bowls of this. The Hurricane was most definitely a category 5. You felt it immediately.
We also made friends with two girls at our table that were from Boston, one originally from Montreal. So if they’re reading this – heeeeeey!
Now we were going to head out on our second stop, the Pepper Palace.
I love spicy things, so this was right up my alley. We stopped in here, Ben told us more New Orleans history, and then we got to try as many sauces and spices as we wanted to.
My boyfriend signed the waiver to try ‘the hottest hot sauce‘ and he said it was OK. His mouth didn’t fall off or anything.
I recommend the deep fried garlic, personally. I bought a bag of that and it is dusted with hot spices. It burns so good. It is a great snack. We also chose five different bottles of sauce and opted to have it shipped to our home for $10USD. I think that is a great price and it came within ten days to Toronto.
Moving on to the next stop, Leah’s Pralines.
We went from spicy to sweet. I love sweets.
This was a super cute little dessert shop.
You get to try the Bacon Pecan Brittle and listen, I wish I didn’t only buy one bag of it. When we got home, this bag lasted all 10 hours maybe with us. Should have bought more. I also recommend trying the huge peanut butter cups sold at Leah’s. I bought one of those and it really hit the spot.
Time for some real food again, next stop was the Napoleon House.
At this restaurant we tried this big sandwich called the Muffuletta, chicken & andouille sausage jambalaya, and the Pimm’s Cup cocktail.
I thought the sandwich was fantastic and the place was old and cool looking. We got to walk around their upstairs where there was a fancy pants chandelier and Ben told us more New Orleans history while we sipped on that Pimm’s Cup cocktail. Went down much smoother than the Hurricane.
And now it was time to wander over to Dickie Brennan’s Tableau to try the French 75, which is a combo of fresh lemon, brandy and bubbles.
As I do not enjoy champagne, I gave my drink over to my boyfriend to have for the both of us. This restaurant looked more on the upscale side. If you get a chance go outside on the balcony to get photos of the street below. Nice view. We also went to see their private dining area that had a crazy wine cellar. Impressive.
The walk around all these places was really nice. I like the streets of New Orleans during the daytime just as much as I did the night.
Our final stop: Cane & Table
This place was like sexy and low key, somewhere you’d bring a date you wouldn’t want your husband to find out about or perhaps somewhere Zion goes to inhale his calories in peace. Very versatile.
On the menu here we had these fancy pants plantains and a side of curry pork skins. I was very much enjoying the plantain. For the drink it was and a classic daiquiri with white rum, fresh lime and sugar. I have had many a daiquiri in Cuba, I know this drink very well. Great way to finish the tour.
If you are interested in doing this tour, I really really really recommend it – Click Here.
The food was really good and it was a nice variety as well. Ben, the tour guide, was the most perfect person to do this with. He knew so much history about New Orleans, Cajuns, Creoles and everything else in between. It was the perfect amount of education, liquor, walking and eating. A total must-do if you come to this city.
Now it was time to go back to the AirBnB for nap o’clock.
This was the best way to prepare for the upcoming evening.
Once we got up, we made our way over to Frenchman Street this time, we thought we’d switch it up from Bourbon St. night before.
If you can imagine, we were hungry again. The tour earlier had finished at like 630pm. It was about 11pm now.
We stumbled onto Willie’s Chicken Shack.
It is never a bad time for some fried food. I went with the 3-piece-cajun-fish combo. Oh it was so good and I felt the portion was pretty big. This place was really fun, there was a lot of neat decorations and people dancing around. Lots of Drake being played. Makes me proud.
Checked out some of the places on Frenchman Street. There was a lot of live music and they had their fill of clubs along the street too. I don’t know what place we went into that had ZERO space and I think I sweat 20lbs off myself.
Inevitably, we walked our asses back to Bourbon St. That was just more our kind of vibe. Felt like the mature people were on Frenchman while us wild party animals should be on Bourbon.
(yes, it is I, the crazy party animal at 36 years old)
Tonight on Bourbon St. there was a live band playing really good music. Nice seeing everyone dancing in the street to that. Also, it was the first time in my life I saw portable hookahs? I’d never seen that before. People were walking around with these little hookah bottles in their hand.
Again, I am sorry, I don’t have a comprehensive list of clubs we went into because that is for sober people. That is not me. We were way too busy caught up in some more Hurricanes and dancing. One club was playing all the old Southern rap, another one some Afrobeats, then another one had dancehall music and then another one had Spanish music. I definitely ended up at a gay bar at some point too. It was never ending.
We didn’t get home until 4am this night.
2/2 perfect nights in NOLA.
Sunday, July 2nd
Shout out to our AirBnB host because our check-out wasn’t until 1pm. When you get home at 4am, that is a GOD SEND. No having to rush out.
Plus our flight wasn’t until 4pm or so, and of course, that shit was late departing because, Air Canada.
We picked our final food place of the trip to be at Parkway Bakery & Tavern.
You do NOT need to get the large of the po’boy.
I repeat, you DO NOT need to get the large of the po’boy. Oh my goodness.
I just wanted to try this famous sandwich, and my greedy self ordered a large shrimp po’boy with a side of potato salad AND banana pudding.
I am not kidding you when I say, I did not eat again until the next day in the morning. I ate this meal at 130pm and felt absolutely no need to eat food until the following day. That is how filling that damn sandwich was. My boyfriend only finished half of his, but I did help with the french fries.
Definitely try the shrimp po’boy. The sauce and everything was perfection. The banana pudding was really good too, I love love love banana pudding.
Once unable to walk, we took an Uber over to the airport for our flight home. This ended up being delayed by almost two hours, so yeah, Air Canada, like I said. We did get home safe, that worked out at least.
One more thing, how is it possible that the drunkest place I’ve ever been in my life does NOT have a damn duty free at their airport? I’m going to need them to change that. Really wanted to bring home a bottle or two.
For the first time ever, my budget breakdown was accurate for somewhere I traveled to.
I spent exactly what I predicted in New Orleans. It isn’t an expensive city. The Ubers didn’t cost a lot and the food + liquor prices were also super reasonable.
It definitely did help that we paid no cover in any of the nightclubs we went to and that we could just freely walk with our drinks outside.
The only two downfalls I can see about New Orleans were 1) that Bourbon St. on occasion REEEKED of urine and vomit because people can’t hold their damn liquor and 2) that a woman with that amazing Louisiana accent might take your boyfriend. Otherwise? Amazing city. I am totally in love.
I will 100% be coming back to New Orleans.
Song of the Trip: Juvenile – Back That Thang Up ft. Mannie Fresh, Lil Wayne
- Mirna
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