My sister turned 23 this past weekend, and we celebrated by visiting the lovely city of New Orleans. Though it's only 5 hours away, neither of us had ever been before for some reason. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity. We drove in on Sunday and then drove back in the afternoon on Monday. So in total we spent about 24 hours actually in the city - which felt like enough time for what we had planned, which was mostly just walking around the French Quarter and enjoying a nice birthday brunch with my sister.
Where we stayed: The Hotel Monteleone
Since we were only staying for one night, we decided to splurge a little and go with a well known hotel in the French Quarter area. This hotel was as lovely as it looked in all the photos, and it lived up to all its 5 star ratings. However, the room was a lot smaller than I expected. But it made up for it with the lovely lobby and most of all, the convenient location in the French Quarter. If it's your first time in New Orleans, I definitely recommend staying in the French Quarter area, as it can be difficult to find parking around here (although keep in mind, this hotel does charge $45 per night for parking).
one of the neatest things about this hotel is how historic it is. Famous American authors such as
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner have either stayed at or written
about the Monteleone.
Our first stop in the city was, of course, Cafe du Monde. It's a must stop for any first-timer to NOLA. It was just as crowded as I expected, but the beignets made it all worth it.
My sister enjoying delicious (but very messy) beignets and cafe au lait
After exploring part of the French Quarter that night, we headed back to our hotel for a good night of sleep. I'm not really a bar person so we didn't spend time on Bourbon Street, but we did notice it was as crowded and lively as its reputation tells you. The next morning we headed back out to the French Quarter for a bit more exploring. My favorite moments were when we heard street performers singing or playing jazz on the streets, in a carefree way that is so very New Orleans.
the cutest cafe with live music where we had a quick supper Sunday night
I didn't take any photos of our brunch spot, but we decided to eat at Atchafalaya (took me awhile to figure out how to say that!), and it was so good. I had the biscuit étoufée and ate the whole thing (despite how large the serving was) because it was just that good. After brunch, we headed back to Houston.
Though our visit to NOLA was short, it was a perfect intro to the city and definitely made me look forward to going back someday and spending more time in the French Quarter, and other parts as well.
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