New Orleans – December 30, 2013
Planning
We had thought about going somewhere for the holidays for several years. We still wanted to spend Christmas with the family but thought it would be fun to travel somewhere for New Years. Hawaii came to mind first, but flights were very expensive. We decided instead to go east, first considering Florida, but settling on New Orleans. We had read that New Orleans had a great fireworks show on New Year’s Eve so that was an added incentive. We found a hotel right off of Canal Street and near the French Quarter. We found a great room at the Sheraton, with a view of the river and overlooking Canal Street.
View from our room at the Sheraton
The 30 minute cab ride from the airport was reasonably priced. Although it was cold in December, we decided to explore Bourbon Street on our first evening. Beautiful holiday decorations and lively street musicians were everywhere.
We quickly realized that New Orleans is a city perfectly primed for the Sugar Bowl. As it turns out, Alabama was playing Oklahoma, and the team color for both schools is red. This amazing sea of red fans everywhere made for a very festive holiday experience. Red and white beads were being thrown from the balconies on Bourbon Street and we even caught a few necklaces! It was fun to catch a glimpse of what Mardi Gras might be like.
School supporters in red were everywhere as we walked down Bourbon Street
Day 1
Prior to the trip, we had booked all of our activity tours online. For our first day we scheduled a swamp tour with a company called Cajun Encounters. Our tour began with a bus pick up at our hotel and then proceeded on a 45 minute drive to reach the starting location just outside of New Orleans, off of highway 90 near the town of Slidell. There is a massive bridge, known as the I-10 Twin Span Bridge, where highway 10 crosses the width of Lake Pontchartrain. It is an amazing long ride across the center of the lake and this “Causeway” remains the world’s longest bridge continuously over water (according to Guinness Book of World Records).
We knew that seeing alligators in the middle of winter was very unlikely, but we still wanted to experience a swamp tour. We boarded the open-air flat bottom boat with roughly 20 other people. After a few minutes down the river, we cut into the trees and soon found ourselves surrounded by a swamp densely populated with moss-draped cypress trees. It was a bit eerie as our guide carefully negotiated through the shallow swamp. We came upon a group of wild boar and stopped to take a closer look as they had no problem coming right up to the boat to check us out. We got the feeling they were regulars on this tour. Our guide told us stories of the moon shining hideouts deep in this swamp. We didn’t see any alligators, but the swamp tour was definitely a fun, interesting and unique experience.
No alligators, but some wild boar on our swamp tour!
Our guide skillfully maneuvered through the moss covered trees
Once we returned to the tour headquarters, our guide brought out a baby alligator. We were all given a chance to hold it. So, we did see an alligator after all!
Everyone had a chance to hold a baby alligator
New Orleans has so many famous restaurants we wanted to try for our special New Year’s Eve dinner. Most of them were completely booked way before we even arrived. However, we did eventually have success at booking a reservation at the Palace Cafe, which was conveniently located only a few blocks from our hotel. The restaurant still had all of it’s beautiful Christmas decorations on full display. The central staircase was completely decked out. The food was excellent, and like most New Orleans restaurants, had several seafood plates. We decided to try the crab meat cheesecake for one of our entrees. Not only was it unique, but it was also really good! For dessert, we chose a white chocolate bread pudding, which was the highlight of the evening. Our server even offered to bring out a recipe card for us to take home. What a treat!
The Palace cafe was beautifully decorated for the holidays
Unique dish called crab cheesecake
White chocolate bread pudding for dessert
After dinner, we walked to to the river to watch the fireworks show. We passed Jackson Square where a New Year’s Eve celebration was in full swing with live music. The whole area was completely crowded. After listening for awhile, we continued our walk for a better view of the fireworks. The river front was busy, but the span along the Mississippi was very long and had plenty of space, so we were able to find a spot to watch the spectacular show. A few rain drops did come down towards the end of the show, but we made it back to our hotel completely happy.
New Years Eve fireworks on the water
Day 2
For New Year’s Day we a took steamboat river cruise which included a buffet lunch, along with a dixieland jazz band for the musical entertainment. We booked the Natchez Steamboat Tour through the New Orleans Steamboat Company whose docks were only a short distance from Jackson Square. The 2 hour cruise down the Mississippi river had great panoramic views of the river and unique sites along the way. The cruise allowed for a cool and different view of the French Quarter from the river. The lunch buffet was mediocre and mostly consisted of fried food. However, there is a tour option that excludes the lunch, so that’s probably what we would choose next time.
The Natchez Steamboat tour with music and lunch
You can also go down a deck to see the paddle wheel up close
While exploring the boat, we stumbled upon the engine room. One of the crew members was there and happily shared information on how the steam engine works, but we were also able to walk around and read about the history and mechanics on our own. This can be a fascinating treat for anyone interested in how things work.
Very cool engine room with many details about the boat
After arriving back at the dock, we took a walk to Frenchmen street to check out the jazz clubs. We took Peters Street for the short 15 minute walk. On our way there we strolled right down the center of the French Market. This large outdoor market spans several blocks. The market offers a variety of souvenirs, crafts and many food choices. The market originated as a Native American trading post along the Mississippi River and is the oldest of its kind in the United States.
French Market on the way to Frenchmen Street
It was still only late afternoon when we reached Frenchmen street, so although we walked past many restaurants and clubs, only a few clubs were open and playing music. We strolled into the Spotted Cat, a music club that a friend had mentioned. The club had a two drink minimum, so we settled in with our drinks and enjoyed the music. It was a small, intimate environment, and was clearly being enjoyed by everyone, including us. A definite must for a quintessential New Orleans experience.
Frenchmen street not yet awake on a quiet afternoon
Live music at the Spotted Cat Music Club
We walked back through Jackson Square, which was lined with horse drawn carriages. The square also had many local artists selling their mementos of New Orleans. We found a small oil painting we decided to buy from one of the vendors. The vendor also recommended Deanie’s to us as a casual place for dinner. Since it was on our way back to our hotel, we decided to check it out. It was busy, but had a family friendly atmosphere, so we stayed and enjoyed more seafood.
Day 3
We were up early on Wednesday to catch our tour bus that would take us on the plantation tour. We had booked the tour through Cajun Encounters, the same company that we had booked the swamp tour through. The bus picked us up right outside our hotel at 8:30. It was a half day tour returning at 2:15. The $79 per person price for the tour seemed reasonable for a half day tour that included transportation. Our tour took us through two plantations, Oak Alley and Laura. Of the two, Oak Alley was the larger, and more memorable visit. At Oak Alley, we toured the house and the various structures in the back.
Beautiful mansion at Oak Alley Plantation
A tour through the house including the dining room
The part of the tour that stood out for us was, of course, the majestic oak trees that made up the Oak Alley. The Alley of Oaks is a quarter mile row of 300 year old Virginia Live Oaks that lead from the mansion to the Mississippi River. It’s a beautiful, and practical use of the large trees as we found out from the tour that the corridor funnels the cool breeze from the river into the mansion.
This is Oak Alley leading to the Mississippi
300 year old oak trees
After returning from our plantation tour, we still had a few hours of daylight so we decided to check out the garden district. The Garden District is home to several historically famous houses in New Orleans. It’s a beautiful area full of amazing mansions and full of great old architecture. You’ll also find Lafayette Cemetery, as well as Commander’s Palace, one of New Orleans’s more well known restaurants.
Beautiful mansions in the Garden District
Unique fencing around many of the mansions
In order to get to the Garden district from our hotel, and the French Quarter, you can either walk the 2 miles, or take the Street Car down St. Charles Ave. It was freezing cold, and we were pressed for time, so we chose the latter. We caught the street car a few blocks from our hotel at the corner of St. Charles and Washington. You can buy the ticket on the street car. The ride is about 20 minutes depending on how many people are getting on and off. For the Garden District, get off at the Washington stop. It will put you a few blocks away from Lafayette Cemetery, and right into the heart of the Garden District. We walked around for an hour, enjoying all of the beautiful mansions, before heading back to the trolley.
On our ride back, we saw fans, dressed in red making their way to the Superdome for the big game. We had tried to make reservations at Luke, a popular restaurant near our hotel all week without luck. On this day, we were able to get in with no problems, and found that the restaurant was only half full. The swordfish and kale that I ordered was probably the best dish that I had on the whole trip! It was great to be in an empty city on game day!
Swordfish and Kale at Luke was terrific
After a great dinner, we strolled over toward Jackson Square to Cafe Du Monde. This was another place that had lines a block long all week so we had only been able to get take out. Sure enough, there was no line, and plenty of room inside. We were able to enjoy our beignets and coffee while actually sitting in the cafe so we could experience the powdered sugar all over the table and floor first hand.
Cafe du Monde half full on game day.
Beignets – Favorite pastry in the world
A few quick notes about Cafe Du Monde… First, remember that there are two lines. The one closest to the street is the line to get seated. The line in the back is for take out, so make sure that you find the right line. Take out is faster and shorter, so we did that a couple of times. Also, behind the cafe there is an area where you can look into the kitchen. This was a very cool peek into how they make their beignets.
Window into their kitchen around back making beignets
We walked around Jackson square and went around to the back of St. Louis Cathedral. In the Garden there is a statue of Jesus that is lit in such a way that it casts a shadow onto the wall of the Cathedral. It’s a great effect and has become a popular picture seen in many New Orleans brochures and tour books.
Jesus sculpture casting a shadow onto the St. Louis Cathedral
Day 4
On Friday, we had a few hours before we needed to drive to the airport. We walked around the French Quarter one last time. Again, the streets were sparse, as most of the people who came for the game had already left. We had wanted to try Emiril Lagasse’s restaurant so we stopped in for lunch. We had read some reviews that the food at NOLA did not match the hype but we found it to be very good. Based on reviews, we tried the fried chicken and it was excellent.
Fried Chicken at NOLA
After lunch, we packed the car and headed back to the airport. The trip was far too short, but we vowed to come back again to spend more time here. New Years week was a great time to visit New Orleans.
