Days 39, 40, 41, and 42: New Orleans, Louisiana

On Monday, October 25 both of us had a long day of airport waiting, flying, and driving ahead of us.  We both spent pretty much the entire day in transit, and when we both finally rendezvoused at G.W. Bush Airport in Houston around 7:30pm we got on the road immediately and headed right to New Orleans.  Around 1am we checked into the India House Hostel, our lodging for the next few nights, and we both immediately passed out.   

Where our room was

The India House

This hostel was full of character, and although it wasn’t the nicest place, it was certainly very cool.  The most striking thing about the India House was that after walking up 6 steps to get the first floor of the house, there was a water mark on the walls of the main level about 3 feet off the floor where the water had settled after Katrina hit the city.  This water would have been about 8 or 9 feet above street-level, which just amazed us both.

 Unless it's the daiquiri, that's a double rainbow on Bourbon St.

The next morning we headed right to the French Quarter by way of public cable car.  After getting off at a stop on Canal St. that looked like it could have been in any major US city, we turned down Bourbon Street and were immediately struck by the sheer volume of restaurants, bars, music halls, and other random and mostly interesting shops.  Our first stop was to pick up a few Daiquiris at a stand that had a happy hour starting at 10am, and to wander around with our beverages, exploring the French Quarter while (responsibly) taking advantage of New Orleans’ public consumption laws.  We saw some very cool places while just wandering around Bourbon and Royal Streets, including crazy looking bars, mask shops, antique shops, a very cool voodoo shop, and a historic gun and coin store.

 

Some really wild looking masks

Jackson Sq. and the St. Louis Cathedral

After wandering for a while we decided to stop in for some lunch at “The Gumbo Shop” for some Cajun food.  After lunch we continued to wander around, finding our way to Jackson Square and the Mississippi waterfront.  Here we also saw the famous Café Du Monde which we knew we needed to visit thanks to a strong recommendation from our friend Joel, a self proclaimed lover of New Orleans.   With a storm moving in we headed back to our hostel to regroup for the evening.

Frankie and Johhny's

We decided to meet up with the two Wills, a few UNC guys who were in my fraternity and are both now living in New Orleans.  We found an excellent local place to eat and then as per the recommendation of the Wills (among others) we went to the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak St. to catch some live music.  A brass band called Rebirth was playing and they were excellent…the place was packed and the music was great.  

Old New Orleans Rum Co.

The next day we went looking for Po’ Boy sandwiches at another well-known establishment, Frankie and Johnny’s.  We had some delicious sandwiches before heading over to the Old New Orleans Rum distillery (the oldest micro-distillery of rum in the country) for a tour.  The folks over at Old New Orleans were very knowledgeable and friendly, and it was very cool to see how they ran their small little operation (there were probably less than 10 employees at the whole distillery).  We certainly had fun learning about their product, and even bought a bottle or two to bring home with us.

Climbing Trees in City Park

We then went over to City Park on the north side of the city to explore the Bayou St. John where they’d be holding the Voodoo Experience Music Festival immediately after we left.  We wandered this park for more than an hour—turns out it’s one of the biggest city parks in the country—and saw some very cool stuff before heading back to the hostel to prepare for a night on Bourbon Street with a few guys we’d met at the India House.  Needless to say we had a blast on Bourbon that night with live music playing on nearly every block.  Of course, we finished the night with rounds of beignets at Café Du Monde, and they were excellent.  

The Bayou St. John

The next day we set out around lunch time, again in search of a fantastic Po’ Boy sandwich.  The place we were looking for turned out to be closed on Thursdays, but luckily it was right around the block from Frankie and Johnny’s, so we decided to go for round two there.  It was even better than round one. 

Desert roads would have been easy if we'd been driving a Sherman

After lunch we headed to the National WWII Museum for the afternoon.  This museum was excellent.  We couldn’t take a lot of pictures inside, but the exhibits were all very well done and interesting.  We didn’t even have enough time to see everything that we wanted to before the museum closed.  That night we had a Cajun feast for dinner at a place recommended by the Wills, then took it easy in preparation for driving all through Alabama the next day.