This post was a long time coming, but I have been busy LIVING and CELEBRATING. Now that things have calmed down I have to share the details of our girls’ trip to Louisiana for our friend’s bachelorette party. Below you will find the highlights from our trip.
Day 1
We stayed at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. It is less than a 10 minute walk to Bourbon Street. It has great water views, dining, and a mall nearby. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean and served its purpose. https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/louisiana/hilton-new-orleans-riverside-MSYNHHH/index.html
Riverfront Outlet Mall is not what we Minnesotan’s consider to be an outlet mall. It was an indoor mall with regular priced stores and a food court. For the first time on a trip I did not do much shopping, but I did enjoy finding a Smoothie King.
Oceana was our first real meal. They are always booked so if you do not have a reservation do not plan on getting in. The courtyard area is cute and cozy. The food and drinks were good. The complaint that I have is that they have a balcony right above where people are eating and there were smokers ashing their cigarettes down near us. We had to ask for them to stop. Other than that I would recommend this place to people visiting the city. https://www.oceanagrill.com/
We ended our night on Bourbon Street. It was full of people looking for a good time while drinking the night away. We tried the less than impressive hand grenade from Tropical Isle and it took about 20 minutes to get inside to order it. Everything on the strip closed at 1 AM instead of the usual sunrise shut down that New Orleans is known for. While the restaurants and bars were closing, people were still hanging out. I was perfectly fine with heading back to the hotel.
Day 2
Mother’s was by far the best food that we had on the trip. Sometimes you just have to keep it simple. The shrimp creole omelette and extra moist and flaky biscuit were the perfection I needed at 8 AM. https://www.mothersrestaurant.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/breakfast-menu-mp.pdf
Pool time! What’s the point of having hot weather and sunshine if you are not going to lounge at the pool. We went to the pool at our hotel for some swimming and lounging. Dear Hilton Riverside, please do a better job with your signage. Covid made some major changes to hotels. The pool was open very limited hours. Be sure to check ahead with your hotel to find out if there are Covid restrictions.
Up next was our all white brunch at Dragos. This is a nice restaurant located in the Hilton Riverside Hotel. They are known for their oysters and I found out why. The char broiled oysters were definitely the best part of my meal. https://www.dragosrestaurant.com/
Jamnola is a pop-up that takes you through 12 exhibits that recognize and celebrate New Orleans from the art down to the food. The exhibit is fun and interactive. There is a tour guide along the way that gives you the background on each exhibit that you enter. Be sure to have your phone for the various selfie opportunities. https://jamnola.com/pages/about-jamnola
Court of Two Sisters was our next stop after Jamnola. Wow I have so much to say, but more info will come later. For now I will just say our experience was filled with racism and unprofessionalism. I do not recommend any person of color goes here.
We ended the night with a Girls Night in filled with music, games and fun.
Day 3
Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour can be found on Groupon. You can purchase your admission and then choose if you want to be picked up or arrange your own transportation. We chose to be picked up. You can get picked up at most of the major hotels in the French Quarter. The swamp tour was educational and entertaining. We got up close with alligators throughout most of the tour. We even got to hold a baby alligator at the end. Who knew a sharp tooth reptile was so cute? https://www.jeanlafitteswamptour.com/
Cafe Du Monde lives up to the hype. The beignets were so good. Its like a sugary piece of fried dough with powdered sugar on top. I purchased the box to make at home, but I don’t know if I can recreate such a masterpiece. https://shop.cafedumonde.com
We happened to meet the owner of Sullivan’s Transportation while waiting on our ride to the swamp tour. We arranged to have the owner pick up the 11 of us to take us to the airport for our flight back home. This was a much more convenient and cost effective option compared to splitting up taking multiple lyft or uber rides. Getting a Lyft ride during rush hour near Bourbon Street proved to be tricky while we were there. Sullivan’s Transportation has several vehicles and can accommodate various size groups. Contact them for your transportation while visiting. https://sullivanstransportation.com/
We made a few other stops while in New Orleans, but these were the highlights. It was a quick and fun trip filled with good food, great sights and a good time.
FamilyFindsMN 