Visiting New Orleans

It’s that time of year again where William sends me off for a mini vacation while he hosts a huge costume party. Last month he asked me if I gave any thought to where I wanted to go. I hadn’t been thinking of it, but had just finished binging on the TV show NCIS: New Orleans and it was the first place that popped into my mind. I had always wanted to visit, but hate crowds, so this was a good time of year to go…the weather would be sunny and warm plus not as many crowds since nothing big was happening during the dates of my travel.

My only option to fly to New Orleans was on a red eye and it didn’t matter what airline I checked. Alaska Airlines had a package deal that was inexpensive and appealing. They offered round trip airfare plus accommodations at the Quisby Hostel for only $389 (dates of Nov. 3 – Nov. 6). William had me book it and put it on my calendar and started to look for things to do while there.

A few days before my flight, Alaska Airlines sent me an email asking me to change my return flight to the following day and they would give me a $75 voucher. Since I had nothing better to do, I opted for the change and added a day at the hostel (a whopping $16 extra).

I hate catching red eyes when flying east. I can never get comfortable enough to sleep well. Even after taking some melatonin, I still only managed to sleep a couple of hours. I arrived in New Orleans at 6:30am central time (4:30am Seattle time).

I called for a Lyft ($36) from the airport to the Quisby. It was too early to check in, but I could stash my bag and hang out in the lounge/bar area where a lot of others were starting to gather. The cool thing about this hostel is the bar area, which is open 24 hours/day. The hostel also allows you to communicate with other guests via a website, which is great for getting together and do things.

I drank some coffee, then went out to a recommended breakfast spot about a 15 minute walk, Surrey’s Café & Juice Bar. While the bananas Foster French toast and the shrimp & grits sounded good, I was more tired than hungry and ordered the biscuits and gravy. It was horrible! The biscuit was like a hockey puck and the gravy lacked flavor. The only saving grace was their fresh-squeezed juices. I had an apple & ginger juice that was very good.

After breakfast, I walked back to the hostel, admiring the buildings I passed. It was still early, but a lot of people were out walking their dogs.

At the hostel, I decided to lay down across a double cushioned seat. My upper torso was across the seat with my lower half twisted and hanging to the floor. Not the most comfortable position, but when you are exhausted, it’s better than trying to sleep sitting upright!

Around 10am I woke up and decided to walk to the French Quarter. About a mile later I stopped into the Civil War Museum. I was the only one there at the time and the docent followed me around and give me a lot of fun information.

More walking (that seemed much longer than the map was saying)…taking photos along the way.

I was scheduled for an ebike tour, but I didn’t have to be there until 12:45pm, so I stopped at Cafe Beignet on Canal Street. The line was very long, but while I was waiting a street parade was coming through. It was short, but it was fun seeing the dancers in indigenous dress and hearing the music as they passed.

I ordered a cafe au lait. I really wanted a beignet, but they only came in threes and I knew I couldn’t eat that many nor did I want to carry the extras around. Instead, I ordered red beans and rice. While sitting outside at a table waiting for my food and drink, two men at the next table were sharing a basket of beignets. They asked if I wanted the extra one. Heck yeah! It was so good (and still warm)! My red beans and rice, however, were awful! It tasted as if they dumped an entire box of salt into the pot! I couldn’t eat it. I should have taken it back and told them, but didn’t want to be bothered. Plus, it was getting time for me to walk to the bike tour place.

The helmets at BuzzNola Bike Tours were a bit too big for my small head. I wished I had brough my own helmet. Oh well…I would make due.

The ebikes for the tour were more of the cargo style (similar to my first ebike, the Rad Runner 1). The weird thing was that the throttle was on the left and I’m so used to it being on the right (not that I needed it other than to start from a stopped position).

The tour was a great way to see different areas of New Orleans. I was just disappointed that it really only covered the French Quarter and Treme (I thought it was going to include the Garden District). Since Hurricane Katrina destroyed so much of NOLA, they took advantage and put in bike lanes when they were rebuilding. They weren’t great, but better than nothing. They also made a multi-purpose trail through the French Quarter. I would give the tour a 3 our 5 stars.

After the bike tour, I started walking back to the hostel. I was supposed to have dinner at a place in the quarter, but was too exhausted so I canceled it. I was also getting sore feet from walking a lot, so I got smart and bought a 3-day pass for the trolley, bus, and ferry. I took the ferry back to the hostel, which dropped off on the corner right by it.

There was a Popeye’s Chicken right beside the hostel and I decided to get dinner there, eat it at the hostel’s lounge and go to bed early. In my room, I was sharing with five other women, all of whom were au pairs attending training. One was from the Netherlands, and the other from South Africa.

Total distance walked: 6.17 miles / 15,039 steps.

The next morning, I ate a quick breakfast at the hostel. Their options weren’t great, but I’m not much of a breakfast person anyway. I also met some other guests, one in particular had been there for several months and did her own walking tours. Her son lives in Tacoma (or maybe it was Olympia) and she was interested in cat/house sitting for us when we travel to Europe next June (I’ll be posting about that trip at another time).

This time, I took the trolley to the quarter where I planned to explore that day.

I had a noon brunch reservation at Mr. B’s Bistro, but popped in around 11am to see if they could seat me early. I was in luck and shown to a table. I wanted to eat here because it was recommended for a jazz brunch. The jazz band was lame….you could barely hear them and they weren’t really singing what I considered jazz. I ordered a cappuccino, some duck egg rolls and the seafood gumbo. The egg rolls were great, but the gumbo was not what I think as excellent gumbo. A long-time friend of mine from Louisiana showed me how to make good Creole gumbo and this didn’t even come close! For starters, where was the okra? Or the holy trinity?? WTF? The waitstaff were very attentive, though!

After I ate, I walked all over the place, my feet, knees, hips and lower back hurting more and more. I wanted to visit the No. 1 Cemetery, but they were now requiring that you pay for a tour and you weren’t allowed to just wander the cemetery. What a shame!

I walked in the direction of the Louis Armstrong Park. Seeing a Hop On/Hop Off (HOHO) bus station, I decided to buy a day pass and give my aching body a rest (walking sure using different muscles than biking and I’m not used to walking 7-8 miles a day!).

I got off the bus at The National WWII Museum. I was told to pay extra to see the new IMAX movie narrated by Tom Hanks, Beyond All Boundaries. It was very well done and even was interactive with lights flashing, smoke and seat shaking during bombing segments in the movie. The museum was very well done and I recommend it for anyone visiting NOLA.

I got back on the Hop On/Hop Off bus and got off back at the quarter.

At 5pm I went to the Sazerac House for a free self-guided tour and exploration into New Orleans’ spirited culture and traditions. I’m not much of a drinking of booze and usually hate whiskey of any kind, so I was dubious about the three free tastes of cocktails during the tour. I wanted to try the Sazerac, though, because the cocktail gained fame in New Orleans in the 1850s and is served all around the world to this day.

On the first floor, you have the shop and distillery. There’s a huge wall of bottles filled with various kinds of alcohol that give the inside a dramatic look as you climb the stairs to the second floor.

Floor two shows (and lets you smell) what goes into various bitters and gives more history about the craft. It’s also where I got to try a Sazerac. Some bitters is placed on a small sugar cube in the glass, then herbasinthe (originally it was absinthe, which is illegal in the US now) is added, then the rye whiskey. It was actually palatable and I could actually say I enjoyed it.

More history about New Orleans heritage and two more tastes. I don’t recall what they were, but they were very tasty and by the time I finished the tour, I had a bit of a buzz!

Downstairs, I bought some things to give as gifts for the holidays.

I highly recommend this free tour if you visit NOLA! I think this was my favorite thing to do there and it certainly was one of the highlights of my trip!

I canceled my reservation at The Court of the Three Sisters since I had spent too much money already and needed a cheaper option. Instead, I went to the Creole House Restaurant & Oyster Bar since the guide on the HOHO bus recommended it. There, I had blackened chicken jambalaya. It was probably the best thing I ate so far in NOLA! I also had a cocktail to keep my buzz going.

After dinner I caught the trolley back to the hostel where I socialized with some new friends and drank a free cocktail before heading to bed.

Total distance walked: 4.32 miles / 10,542 steps.

The au pairs I was rooming with left yesterday and one other person checked in. Around 4am a new person arrived and she was NOT very quiet! She was turning on lights, making loud sighs, banging stuff around and being very inconsiderate. I was glad I had taken my sleep mask to block out the light, but she kept waking me up with her noise. I soon learned over the course of two days that she liked to party to the week morning hours and sleep in until the afternoon. She wasn’t a very friendly sort, either.

I got up around 8am and headed down to breakfast where I met up with my new friends and chatted about things to do, where to eat, Host A Sister, and more. This was probably one of the best hostels I’ve stayed in regarding meeting new friends and socializing. It was also the lousiest for breakfast options. There was no stove, so no cooking, no pancakes could be made…basically is was bagels, cream cheese, some cold cuts and sliced cheese each day.

After breakfast, I took the trolley to the quarter and went back to Cafe Beignet and got some beignets this time. I only ate one and got the other two wrapped up to go. I wandered the streets and went into shops, but they were all selling the same crappy junk. I bought some snacks and a crappy plastic zippered shoulder bag that I could cross-body and carry everything, keeping my hands free.

I then called Mardi Gras World to send a shuttle to pick me up so I could do their tour. This establishment is where the floats and props are created for Mardi Gras…at least one of the largest places to do it. It’s a great way to get a sense of what a Mardi Gras parade is like if you’re not there during the event.

After the tour, I took the shuttle back to the quarter and walked to the river to catch the ferry to Algiers (the west bank). I got off, but immediately got back on since I didn’t want to do more walking than I had to. My hips were still hurting from all the walking I’ve done over the past couple of days. I mainly took the ferry to get a skyline view of NOLA.

On a recommendation from the HOHO guide, I walked to Mother’s Restaurant, which was supposed to be where the locals go and has been around since 1938. There’s usually a line, but it moves quickly. Once you place your order, you sit and wait for them to bring your food. I ordered shrimp creole with turnip greens and cheesy grits. The shrimp creole wasn’t that good. The shrimp were the tiny and the tomato sauce was bland like they forgot to season it. I was fine with just the grits and greens, though.

I walked a few blocks to catch the trolley back to my hostel where I took a short nap before hanging out in the lounge talking to friends and cracking them up by using their photo to make animated singing videos.

For dinner I walked a couple of blocks to Mr. Ed’s Seafood and Oyster House where I ate fried catfish, red beans & rice, and drank a cocktail. Everything was quite good. I still had half my cocktail left but was able to get it in a to-go cup and took it back to the hostel where I continued to socialize for an hour or so.

I went to bed around 9pm since I had to get up at 4:30am to go to the airport and fly back home.

When I got up, the cranky woman was coming out the bathroom, smelling like smoke and very drunk. She was heading back out and saying she was hooking up with a hot drummer. I remember being a party girl like her back in the day, but I hope I was more pleasant than she was!

On my flight home I reflected on my trip. I had been looking forward to the Cajun and Creole food most of all, but I wasn’t very impressed with most of the food I ate. Warm beignets were great and I wish they could be easily had in Seattle. I don’t know if I liked or disliked being about the walk down the street with a open container of alcohol. While marijuana isn’t legal in NOLA, it sure smelled of it more than it does in Seattle where it is legal. I’m glad I did the bike tour, but think I would just rent a bike next time. It got me out of the crowds of people and I always enjoy riding. I think the best things about visiting were meeting new friends at the hostel and the Sazerac House tour.

Hostel Friends