I was pretty excited to go to New Orleans- it's a place with such history, culture, music, food, and inrigue. I was originally planning on going on my own but it worked out that Youval would be able to come join me so I was excited and nervous and looking forward to the experience. I was a bit on the late side to the airport but made it onto the plane, got a seat in the front row and enjoyed the third Jasper Fforde book. Once in New Orleans, I took the bus to the Art Museum. I got off at what apparently was a random stop because the drive asked me if I was sure. When I confirmed that this was the stop for the museum, he told me I was right and assured me that I was in a safe neighborhood, which was comforting. New Orleans bus drivers care!
While I originally figured I'd go to the museum because I could leave my bag there for free, I ended up loving it. There were tons of great African, Asian, and Indian art that were enlightening after a semester of teaching Humanities. There was also some great Medieval work and some fantastic mid-19th century paintings that I sent to Shiri for captioning. I also was appreciative being able to get out of the heat, especially since I had a long walk in front of me later. I decided to walk to the AirBnB from the museum, stopping at a place called 1000 Figs for the most AMAZING mozarella, tomato jam, and basil sandwich, and marveling at the beautiful houses that made up the wealthier parts of New Orleans.
Youval arrived early the next morning and we took the bus out to the French Quarter. We did some wandering, picking up beignets as Cafe du Monde, popped into the St. Louis Cathedral, sat by the river, and marveled at the beautiful New Orleans architecture and the sounds of the bands on nearly every other corner. I had gotten a living social voucher for the Beauregard-Keyes house, which was a snatch of New Orleans history, and then we chased down a food truck to get the most delicious pork tacos ever.
On our way back from the food truck, we stopped in a few of the cemeteries. In New Orleans, all the graves are actually above ground and some are absolutely giant, housing many people in the same family. Many of the mausoleums were falling apart and some were incredibly old, including one that held a drummer in the Civil War! Because of our late lunch, we decided to grab some happy hours drinks at a bar that exuded the Prohibition vibe except for the fact that all the doors and windows were wide open. Nonetheless, the drinks were fancy and delicious, the live music was popping, and towards the end of our time there, Caitlin and her two friends met up with us.
And then it was onto my first NBA game! Because we didn't care about either team, we cheered for the home team but mostly watched the people around us. Still, the atmosphere was vibrant and the shots were all about style and pizazz. The Pelicans were losing so we decided to leave before the game ended so that we could catch our bus home, which was a new experience because we were the only two white people on the bus and were driving through some slightly sketch neighborhoods. Still, everyone was very friendly and nobody bothered us in the slightest and we made it home safe and sound.
The next morning was wet so we waited in line for beignets at Cafe Beignet and then headed down to the WWII Museum. This place was excellent. Truly excellent. There was a fantastic exhibit about the homefront but the majority was about the last few months of the war, both on the European front and the Japanese front. The museum did an amazing job with trying to make you feel like you were there- including at one point, lowering the temperature and using lights to make it feel like it was snowing. If you're even in New Orleans, I HIGHLY recommend it.
We grabbed some po-boys from Killer Po-Boys for lunch and man, were they delicious! Spicy and shrimpy and messy and decadent. Because of the rain, we thought we'd make it an early night, so trekked over to Willie Mae's to buy fried chicken for dinner that night, then popped over to a small farmer's market, and then met up with Megan, Shiri's old DC roommate for some coffee. She was just a delight to spend time with. By the time we were headed home, the rain had let up and the skies were gorgeous so we decided to walk home, which gave us some fantastic views of New Orleans street art.
Our next day was the day of tours- we started in the morning at Louis Armstrong Park and went on the voo-doo tour, where we heard tales of the history of the religion and were given examples of rituals and prayers. The tour ended at the voo-doo museum which we had popped into a few days before but this time, were able to observe it with some more information.
We wanted to ride the street car out to the Garden District but it took FOREVER to come that by the time it did, we were just really annoyed.... but the Garden District itself was stunning! Can I live here, please!? We did our own self-guided tour, which included a stop at the home were Jefferson David died. We also wandered through another huge cemetery with incredibly huge graves. What a rich heritage this city has!
We grabbed a drink with Youval's friend Abby at SoBou, a super fancy place, and then grabbed another drink across from Armstrong Park, killing time before the ghost tour. I love ghost tours and while the guide was great, Friday night meant WAY too many crazy drunk people on the street (including drunk grandma) to have a really creepy, scary vibe to it. But the people watching was ON-point, that's for sure!
The next morning, we packed up at the AirBnb and met Abby for brunch at a off-the-beaten path place with delicious food. I had baked eggs in a brioche and I still dream about it (although let's be real, I dream about ALL the food I ate on this trip!). The rest of the day was relaxing- we enjoyed live music and art in the park, and then relaxed on the grass at Audubon Park reading until I had to go to the airpot.
I landed in Vegas a few hours later, took a cab to the hotel that Val, Sarah, Kara, and their friend were staying at, hauled TAIL up the strip to try and meet the girls at the Wynn to get into a club and when I just missed them by two minutes (although in my defense, I was TOTALLY there before 10- they were just let in early.... point to me...), I walked back down the strip a bit slower, taking in the sights. Vegas is weird, y'all. Full stop. But, I was grateful for a place to stay, a brief catch-up with the girls in the morning, and a ride to the airport to head back to Boise. Yay for killing two 30B430 things with one stone and yay for a few days exploring a new place with my baby sister!
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