Walking to New Orleans…

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The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France

My husband and I are adapting to an empty nest. To help ease back into being unencumbered adults we spent the past weekend in New Orleans. Check out what we did during our brief get away…

Have you ever used VRBO? We’ve been renting vacation homes from this service since the 90’s and haven’t rented a bad place yet, including this St. Charles Studio  that was our Big Easy base for the weekend…

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Our rental from St. Charles Avenue
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All we needed – a comfy bed, themed local art, and a rocking bath

Our rental was right on the St. Charles line, which worked perfectly for us since we took the trolley everywhere we went…

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The oldest continuously operating streetcar in America (image from Google)

We headed downtown to try Butcher for dinner but ended up eating at their sister restaurant – located right next door – instead.  Cochon Butcher has a laid back vibe, unpretentious hipster wait staff, excellent meats and cheeses and a well stocked bar. They also – surprisingly – have a branch in our hometown.  Who knew?

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Butcher Dry Goods

The next morning we had breakfast at Camellia Grill, where every seat provides a perfect view of the waiters and cooks working their magic between the counter and the grille.

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What can I get you?

With our appetites sated we headed down to the French Quarter, where we spent most of the day exploring any street or store that caught our fancy.

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Huge Ass Beers and Boogie Woogie on Bourbon Street
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Balconies abound
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Tourist fuel courtesy of Cafe Du Monde
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Jax Brewery in all her restored beauty
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The voodoo that you do so well at Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo
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Hot sauces and fry mixes
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French Market Music
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Skull canvases
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Uncle Sam NOLA

We capped off our Quarter visit with afternoon oysters and beer…

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Acme Oyster House

After eating we headed back uptown and passed one beautiful home after another.  I could spend days walking and riding around just looking at New Orleans architecture…

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A graceful beauty

Summer in New Orleans gets pretty hot and swampy so it was a true treat to come back to our place and relax with a Fat Tuesday daiquiri by the backyard pool…

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A little slice of backyard heaven

After resting up we capped off the day with Italian, followed by a night spent dancing to Rockin Dopsie Jr. and his Zydeco Twisters at Rock ‘n’ Bowl.

 

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Dopsie doing his thang – keeping the crowd dancing all night long

What an amazing night!  The vibe at Rock ‘n’ Bowl is hard to beat, with people aged 1 to 100 dancing and laughing and having a great time mixing it up with each other.  We even got a a lesson in Krewe history, when members of The Krewe of Tucks  came by to persuade Dopsie Jr. to serve as their King next Mardi Gras.  Rocking out to Dopsie Jr. and his gang was the perfect way to end the day…

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New Orleans Epherma

If you get to New Orleans you might want to check out the places where we spent our time (and our money) during our get-away…

Happy travels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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