The Big Easy

I recently traveled to New Orleans for a quick little family vacation! Since this was my first time visiting the city, I honestly did not know what to expect. The only ideas I really had about the city were based off of stories from my friends that had been there before, most of which were for bachelorette parties, Mardi Gras, etc. I guess I was expecting it to be one giant party with naked people all over the place (don't get me wrong...there were definitely some drunk naked people and some overall weirdness, but that was primarily on Bourbon Street).

Well ya'll! New Orleans proved me wrong! The city was STUNNING! We totally lucked out with the weather too! It was definitely fun to see all the craziness on Bourbon, but NOLA had soooo much more to offer! Talk about inspiration people...this place had inspiration written all over the place! From the historic buildings and all of the amazing architecture, the enormous INSANELY BEAUTIFUL homes in the Garden District, and antique store after antique store on Royal Street...I could just go on and on my lovelies! Oh, and the food...Oh my sweet goodness, the food!!

Many of the places that we visited were suggested by a good friend of mine, Ashley, and my world class traveling sister-in-law, Lindsay. Ashley knows the city like the back of her hand because she actually studied at Tulane until 2005, when she was forced to evacuate because of Hurricane Katrina and Lindsay has been there many times. We combined the recommendations from both of them, which resulted in a nice blend of both the "touristy" spots and the local spots.

We visited Cafe Du Monde everyday. This place was established in 1862 and is open 24 hours a day. Even though their menu is simple, offering only beignets, cafe au lait, black coffee, and milk, it is PACKED no matter what time you go! Each order of beignets comes with 3, and all though I could've had 3 orders of 3 to myself, we were good and shared an order each time...I promise ;).

Yo Mama's on Bourbon Street. Ever heard of a peanut butter bacon burger? 

Sounds gross right? Well, it was AMAZING! 

The crew at Pat O'Brien's. This is where the Hurricane was invented.

Waiting for the Streetcar on St. Charles St. in the Garden District.

Look at those houses in the background. I could've spent hours walking around this area!

After Katrina, almost every house was searched and then tagged with spray paint to identify the results of the search. The residents of this home in the Garden District of NOLA decided to leave their markings as a remembrance of Katrina. This will be the most memorable experience I had in New Orleans, as I will never be able to understand the amount of destruction Katrina had on the city and the immense amount of hardship the residents had to go through. 

Top: Mahoney's Po-Boy Shop on Magazine Street.

Middle:  Fried Oyster Po-Boy...YUMMMM

Bottom: Root Beer Glazed Ham and Cheese Po-Boy

Top: The Saint Louis Cathedral by day. This is the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the U.S.

Bottom: The cathedral looks like a fairytale dream at night! The charming cathedral located directly overlooking Jackson Square is surrounded by tarot card/palm readers at night. You may just want to have a reading when you're there...you never know what your secret gifts may be!

Top: Right outside Doors Uptown Pizza, located uptown, near Tulane University. This pizza joint was definitely off the beaten path and is a total Packers bar, complete with Packers paraphernalia and fans!

Middle: The ceilings and walls are lined with doors that were recovered from Hurricane Katrina.

Bottom: My sister-in-law, me, and my husband representing the Pack everywhere we go!

All in all, New Orleans was amazing. These pictures were just a glimpse of what the city has to offer. For any of you that have not had a chance to visit the city, I highly suggest you go!

Have a lovely day!

♥ Natalie