i'm not joking. love new orleans. love all of louisiana that i've seen for that matter. can't say much about baton rouge as i didn't actually see much of it, but i can say baton rouge did manage to make road construction not as obnoxious some how so that alone gets that great city my vote. but new orleans has entered my heart in a way no other place has...even my current home which i love.
the last third of my time in louisiana was spent in the big easy. you know the place...mardi gras, the french quarter, beads, hurricanes (the storms and the drinks), beignets. well, i missed mardi gras by 4 months, didn't buy, wear or share any beads, nor did i eat a beignet (i'm trying to be all healthy, remember?!), but despite that, i still managed to have a great time.
i'm not sure how my travel companion feels (though i didn't hear any complaining), but i hate tourists. i hate being one as well. hard to not be a tourist though when you're visiting a place you don't live. i can get away with acting like a local in places like new york city as i've been there more times than i can even count anymore and can pretty much navigate the city like i've lived there my entire life. places like new orleans are harder. i've only been there once before and that was only for a day. we tried hard to be locals in a place we didn't live. and i think we were pretty darn successful.
here are my tips for success in visiting like a local:
1. don't stay in a hotel - my partner in crime and i actually rented an apartment in the st. john/mid-city area rather than getting a hotel room. it turned out to be way cheaper, much quieter and way more comfortable. we had a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom for less than what we'd pay for a bedroom and bathroom in a hotel. we found the room on the website www.airbnb.com. i plan on using it again to find a place for my next vacation destination...new york city.
2. eat/drink where the locals do - it didn't take much research at all to find awesome places to hang out that don't cater to the tourists. our apartment came with a built-in resource as the landlord lived above us and we could ask them about great local places (though we didn't). we did however use google maps to see what was in the blocks surrounding our apartment and take advantage of those places. we were not disappointed one time.
3. don't be afraid to skip the touristy stuff - i've gotten a lot of questions about whether or not i saw this thing or that place. most of the time i have to admit that no, i did not. sure we managed to get to the french quarter. while the quarter is not that big, it's pretty hard not to stumble across it at some point. but i didn't get to a cemetary. i didn't go to cafe du monde for beignets and chicory coffee. i didn't see lake pontchartrain. i didn't get my palm read. i didn't show anyone my boobs. do i care that i missed out on those typical new orleans things? not one bit. i can always go back another time.
so what did we do?
we found the local food and drink in new orleans...maybe the world. Pal's Lounge was just a couple blocks from our apartment, was filled with people who lived around our apartment and had drink prices that can't be matched anywhere. i spent 2 nights in a row parked on a stool at the end of the bar and never once felt like a tourist. and the bartenders were sad to see us leave at the end of each night. while at pal's we learned about Parkway Bakery & Tavern which became our restaurant of choice the next night when we wanted a poorboy sandwich without the hassle of tourists. YUM! i recommend the fried shrimp poorboy. breakfast the last morning was served at Betsy's Pancake House. i can't give you link because they don't appear to have a website and i don't want link to a review site. betsy's gave me exactly what i wanted...perfect greasy spoon breakfast food completely surrounded by new orleans' natives. awesome!
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| my new favorite place...Pal's |
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| see the bartender? he's awesome! |
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| Parkway Bakery & Tavern |
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| Inside Parkway |
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| Betsy's Pancake House |
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| Inside Betsy's |
we wandered into jackson square park. one of my favorite songs is about that park so it was great to see it.
we needed to relax in the shade for awhile (it was like 100 degrees and super humid) so we found a carriage ride tour that allowed us to relax, be in the shade and learn a little local history all at the same time...and for only $15. believe me, $15 is cheap...some of the other carriages were $75 for the same ride and history.
we cooled off more in st. louis cathedral. very beautiful and very old.
do i wish we'd squeezed in more? not at all. just leaves me more to check out the next time i go and believe me, there will definitely be a next time.
and a time after that.
and a time after that.
until hopefully i move there (because i also did a little real estate shopping while i was there).
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