March Madness - New Orleans style

We couldn't wait to get to New Orleans Monday night. I had made reservations to stay in the French Quarters at Bourbon Orleans Hotel. A fun historic place right in the middle of it all. Unfortunately our drive took us much longer Monday than we would have hoped. We weren't going to make it in until after 6:00. We were acting like a bunch of kids on their way to Disney.....counting down the miles!

It was awesome as we pulled up to the hotel and checked in. The hotel was beautiful and the room we selected was in the older section of the structure....of course! What else would suffice? We had a sweet little balcony over looking the courtyard and heated saltwater pool. We read up on the history of the hotel while waiting for our bags to be brought up. A quick clean up and shave and we hit the town.

It was awesome to see the sights that I have only really seen on tv. All the famous locations we had to take a quick snapshot of before we found a place to eat. We were starving by now. We were recommended a casual fine dining place called Orleans Grapevine where we sat out in the garden courtyard under a heated umbrella. It was fantastic. We enjoyed a bottle of red and relaxed enjoying a night to ourselves. Appetizers, fresh bread with bourbon butter, of course my wife got chicken.....she always does. Lol. I had bowl of crawfish soup and swordfish steak. All of it finished off with....what else? Key lime pie! The best!

Okay enough eating.....lets see what this Bourbon Street is all about. It probably isn't going to be too busy since there isn't a party and it is Monday night......WRONG! Every night apparently is a party in The French Quarters! A live band in every bar, people singing, people dancing and yes people drinking. It was funny just to watch it all......and then.....yep......the clock struck 10PM and we were both pooped......had to go to bed......lol. We are so old. Less than four hours and we are done. What a bunch of party poopers we are. It was still craziness.

We awoke the next morning and got a nice breakfast at the Roux downstairs before heading out to get souvenirs and t-shirts. We always get the traditional pair of ear rings.....not for me....my wife. And new coffee mugs. Once that was checked off the list it was time to set out walking to see everything we could over the next five hours or so before we needed to get back on the road.

We got the chance to see a few of the sites fresh in the morning light without all the crowds. I guess they didn't go to bed at 10 and were still in bed! The architecture is so diverse and unique in the French Quarters. Different styles side by side. Some with porches, some with full balconies, some with small partial ones. Some had yards in front and some had courtyards. Some were just a single skinny salt box while others were comprised of three small structures surrounding a garden in the middle. It was great.

There were areas where many homes had been completely refinished yet others that were about to fall down. So strange. Of course there was the thought of IONIC NOLA......what do you think? I like it. I think this needs to be given some more thought.

We did a quickly study of all the different doors in the area....okay not all of them but a lot. You will have to wait and see my results of the research. With tired feet, we grabbed a fried crawfish po boy sandwich and headed out of town. On to the next adventure.

Goodbye NOLA, we will be back to visit again soon.

Enjoy my friends.
Et this I believe.