I was 8 years old when I got to see New Orleans for the first time. Four years later there are a lot of differences.
One really big difference that I saw was the amount of people there are. The French Quarter has very few people and Bourbon Street has a little bit more in the day time. Café Du Monde has a big line in the morning but not as big as last time. The trolleys are close to empty. The most people I have seen is about 5 to 6 on the trolleys. There are a lot of stores closing or closed. Some stores are even boarded up.
There is lots of cool stuff to see still. Bourbon Street and the French Quarter are still fun to walk down. There are a lot of restaurants to go and check out. The parking is still hard and we can go to places that are harder to get to now because we have a car with us this time. We have walked to Café Du Monde and the French Quarter. Mardi Gras is not happening this year but they still are selling king cakes which is cool. They have different flavors here than back home where they only sell the cinnamon. Here they have fun flavors like chocolate or apple. They are having floats as well for Mardi Gras, but just in house form.
Café Du Monde still makes beignets and coffee. If you do not know what a beignet is it is a powdered donut.
That is my blog about what was different in New Orleans.
Chalmette Battleground and Cemetery is another part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. When we were there, the Visitor Center was only open on the weekend. The park itself was open until 4:00 pm most days.
It is a battleground site. This was our first battleground visit on our trip. There is not a lot to see: a Visitor Center, the obelisk monument, a memorial urn statue, and a plantation house. If you climb the levy, you can look at the river. There is a nice paved walking trail around the monument to the house. There is also a driving path (I did see lots of people walking it too) that leads further back on the battlefield and to the cemetery.
Pano of the Park grounds
The Rodriguez Plantation house is still on the property, although the second story staircase is gated off with a danger sign. We saw that the second story balcony was missing several boards.
The Park’s grounds also contain a National Cemetery, although only 4 from the War of 1812 are buried there. I didn’t know until after our visit, but there is also an audio tour available by calling on your cell phone (number is 504-799-0803 per their website) and there is also a virtual tour.
Cemetery: Can be accessed by walking or driving on the “self-guided driving” path
As a side note: Will saw one of the paintings featured on an informational plaque at the park in his history textbook. He thought it was pretty funny that the image included in his textbook had a National Park Service plaque memo that the image was inaccurate, as the river “was not crowded with ships during the battle”.
SUPER BONUS – Brought to you by the National Parks. Call (504) 799-0802 and learn about the Barataria Preserve.
We wanted to take a nice walk, so we headed to the Barataria Preserve (part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve).
Our first stop was at the Visitor Center at the Barataria Preserve (the Jean Lafitte Visitor Center in the French Quarter is currently closed due to COVID). Unfortunately, we went after work/school, so we didn’t get there until 4:30 and they closed the gates at 5:00pm. We took the shorter Visitor Center Trail, which took about 20 minutes. We really liked the park and decided to come back on the weekend when we had more time. There are several trails that were closed because of damage, so I would recommend stopping at the Visitor Center to see which ones are currently open.
Our second time there, Nick got his Junior Ranger Badge. We took the Bayou Coquille Trail and Marsh Overlook. The trail began as a dirt/gravel path and once you got to the marshy bayou, it switched to a wooden plank trail.
It was gorgeous. We didn’t see any alligators, although we did see lots of caution signs for them. It was probably too cold, as it was in the 60’s. We did see a turtle sunning on a rock, several great egrets, a nutria eating and swimming in the bayou, and a deer.
Part of the bayou was covered in a flotant, which is a floating mass of plants. It looks solid, but is not always strong enough to hold a human’s weight. It certainly looked like you could walk on it, it would be a huge surprise to find out it wasn’t solid and end up in the water!
Although I was disappointed we didn’t see any alligators, going in the cooler weather probably saved us from a few mosquito bites. And as a friend pointed out when they saw the pictures, probably from seeing a few snakes too. (I am glad we missed the snakes, especially since they have cottonmouths and copperheads down here.)
I could spend several days there. I loved seeing the Spanish Moss on the trees and hearing the different bird calls.
The park did a nice job with the informational signs around the trail as well. Several stops had an audio tour that was a great touch. You called a number from your phone and entered your stop number to hear the information. It was really neat (see beginning of this post to experience it for yourself).
There are a few other trails on the other side of the road by the Educational Center. We were told those trails are mostly dirt, so if it had rained recently they would be muddy. We didn’t have the shoes for mud, so we may go back another day.
We have King Cake back home in bakeries for Mardi Gras, but it’s all one kind (cinnamon filling). Don’t get me wrong, it’s good and we buy one every year. But, there are different kinds down here! We were surprised, and wanted to try some new flavors. We stopped at King Cake Hub, where they sell king cakes from a variety of local bakeries.
So many King Cakes! There’s even ice cream!Our haul. We may have spent too much.Sample plates
We added our Rouses King Cake to the samplings. This one was bought in a Rouses grocery store, not at the specialty King Cake Hub. They do offer several different types of king cake, and it was a nice change from the cinnamon filling we normally have. We picked the Cream Cheese Pecan Praline King Cake.
Sugar Love Bakery Bread Pudding: I am a sucker for bread pudding, so we had to give this one a try. Even Ben liked it, and he is not normally a bread pudding lover. It had a great taste, with maybe a slight rum aftertaste. I loved it.
Bittersweet Confections Chocolate. This king cake had a cocoa type of filling, but it wasn’t a strong taste. I think most of the chocolate flavor came from the icing on top. It was a nice soft bread and the chocolate crunchy balls on top add nice texture.
Cannata’s Rougagooey: Tough to say, but delicious to eat. This one was my favorite. It was baked really well. Day one, it had a sweet bread taste with icing that tasted like a cream cheese icing to me. The decorations were fun and the information card was a nice touch. The boys enjoyed reading it. This one was even better the second day! It didn’t make it to the third…
NOCCA Cake Cafe Apple Goat Cheese: We saw raves about this on Instagram and gave it a try. Ben liked it. It was okay, but not one that I would buy again. It was not an overly sweet filling. The apples were still slightly crunchy, with the peel on. The crunchy apples were nice. It could have been the one we got, but the bake wasn’t the best. I don’t know that I would buy this one again. #Soggybottom
We didn’t even really make a dent in the types of King Cakes offered! There was a coffee one I was interested in, and several types of fruit filled cakes as well. However, at an average price of $25-$30/King Cake, we probably won’t get through all of them. Plus the RV door is only 24 inches wide. Not sure which would lose first our bank account or our waist line, but we will show some restraint in the Big Easy…at least as far as king cakes go.
If you haven’t tried these delicious treats then I highly recommend it. You can buy them if you live in New Orleans in a lot of different places, but you can also get them in other places too! If you can’t find a place that makes them close by here are some recipes:
When my family and I stayed in New Orleans we were close to the French Quarter. My Mom loves beignets. So we obviously went to where all of the people who think of beignets go…Café Du Monde. The first time we were just driving carefully through the French Quarter at night trying to glimpse the crowds you usually see around here. Since we were close by, we decided to go to Café Du Monde and get some of their famous beignets! They are handling COVID pretty well and have opened outdoor pickup and have up to three different pickup stations. Since it was late there were only a few people in line so we got our food and went!
Beignets are delicious. I love them. They are a little chewy on the outside with a nice soft inside. For all of you people who have a sweet tooth, they are covered from head to toe in puffy, white, powdered sugar. The sugar tastes amazing and when it fades you get the delicious doughy texture and taste of the beignet itself. We have currently visited the Café Du Monde two times.
If you are worried about COVID the Café itself handles it pretty well. The city also handles it better than a lot of places I have gone before. Almost everyone wears masks and that makes it nice. The Cafés’ workers are all wearing masks and the line goes by a lot quicker than it used to, with three separate places to order. I heard a kid, who probably was visiting for his first time, whine about how long the line was. But we got through it in less than 5 minutes. That is a huge difference than before when we had to wait for at least 20 minutes, to just get SEATED! All-in-all I think that Café Du Monde is doing well in the face of the pandemic, as is the whole city of New Orleans.
Thank you for reading and this is Will signing off from the wonderful world of beignets.
We took a tour of the Pharmacy Museum. (Thanks Claire for the idea!)
The Pharmacy Museum was located in the French Quarter. It was $5/person to visit. Due to COVID, they were limiting admission to 15 people per hour, so reservations were required and could be made online. This limit gave it a nice open, non-rushed feel. It was currently a self guided tour over two floors and the courtyard. When you check in, you received a hand out that describes the exhibits on the main floor. The second floor also had a hand out. When we were there, the handout was on the counter in the first room you entered at the top of the stairs. The exhibits were well labeled and had interesting descriptions.
It was interesting and I think we each learned something new. I do think it is probably a one time event though.
DETAILS: *
TICKETS: $5/person, but increasing to $10/person starting 2/1/21. Due to COVID, they are limiting to 15 people per hour. Reservations/tickets required to be made online.
HOURS: Wednesday to Saturday at 12, 1, 2, 3, 4.
PARKING: Pay parking on street or nearby lots. There are a few spots of free parking in the Quarter, but they are taken quickly.
BATHROOM: Yes, downstairs in courtyard
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-2 hours. With social distancing, the museum is asking for a 45 minute time limit.
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
We found this awesome breakfast place called Toast. It is by the French Market in the French Quarter, which gives it a nice view and the opportunity to people watch.
Everything was delicious. It was a chilly morning, so Ben and I started with coffee and we got the boys hot chocolate. We picked 4 items from the menu and shared between us, so everyone got to try the different foods. We ordered chicken and waffles (it came with a delicious container of Cajun butter), a savory Florentine crepe, Aebelskivers (puffed pancakes) with chocolate sauce, and coconut cream stuffed french toast.
The puffed pancakes were little round balls of fun, and tasted like…well, pancakes. The crepe had a lot of flavors going on and was the most savory out of the things we ordered. Chicken and waffles are always a hit with our family. The Cajun butter was a nice surprise, not very spicy, just enough to add flavor and cut down on the sweetness. I think they used white and dark meat for the chicken. The stuffed french toast was huge. The macadamia nuts added a nice crunch and texture. I enjoyed it even though I normally don’t like coconut. It was a very sweet dish though.
Our waitress even brought us to-go coffees, which was super nice on a chilly morning. I would definitely recommend eating here!
When we eventually get more storage room, I may give making the Aebleskivers (puffed pancakes) a try. There is a special pan for them and I found a couple of recipes online (Recipe 1, Recipe 2).
We mostly enjoyed walking Bourbon Street during the day. Even with the COVID restrictions, it still was busier at night. One of Ben and my “bucket list” items was to attend Mardi Gras. We lost this opportunity, but wanted to make the best of it and still experience Bourbon at night. We also didn’t want to be in the midst of everyone down in the street.
Images on Bourbon during the day. Not quite the Scooby I remember 😂
We were lucky enough to book a hotel room on Bourbon Street at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had most of the 2nd floor under renovations, so we were on the third floor. We did have our own balcony (some of the rooms share a balcony). The rooms currently did not have a mini fridge or microwave with Covid being cited as the reason. Our room had two double beds (doubles or Kings only).
It was nice to have an unlimited hot water shower. The bathroom consisted of a sink, the toilet, and the shower/tub.
The room was pretty standard, I feel like you were paying mostly for the location. There was a closet with a luggage rack, a chair at the desk, two double beds (a little softer than I like and feather pillows), and an ottoman tucked under the shared nightstand. There was a TV as well, which the boys enjoyed. The balcony had two chairs with double doors that opened into the room. There were no screens on the doors, so in the summer I imagine the bugs could be a problem. The pool was open, but it wasn’t heated, so it was a little chilly for us. There was also a Grab & Go Breakfast option, as the sit-down dining was closed. Breakfast was not included in your stay.
Bourbon Street picked up a little on the weekends, and last weekend (1/16/21) was busier than we had seen it this month. (Still not as busy as it was in 2017.) Bars closed at 11:00 pm, so about 10:00 the lines started getting longer to get in. The one right across from us was doing temperature checks to get in. We walked around and got back to our room about 4:00 pm. Our our way back to the hotel, we only saw about 60% of the people out wearing masks. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of mask wearing as the night progressed.
Pool and elevator
We saw some crazy stuff: horses on Bourbon Street, a guy dancing on a trailer bed. There was a drum band next to the hotel, and later a religious group complete with a cross came to stand by the hotel as well. After the kids went to bed, we did see it get a little rowdier.
Pano view from balcony, street performer, horse group, cross bearing religious group, crowd watching drummers
We wanted to get out and take a walk, so we started looking for local parks. We found Audubon Park. There was on-street parking, and their website states there is a parking lot as well. You can also take the St. Charles Streetcar to get to the Park. The park had a a golf course, a great walking/biking trail. There were a few shelters and spots to have a picnic. There was a pond as well, but no fishing was allowed. It sits next to the Audubon Zoo and also across from Tulane University. The park itself was free, but the Zoo and golfing do cost extra.
Restrooms were also hard to come by if you are not familiar with the park. Shelters 10, 11, 12 are listed as having restrooms. (Two of which are on the same side of the park.) The men’s restroom was closed at Shelter 10 and while the women’s was open, it was missing toilet paper in some stalls and was ok in terms of cleanliness.
We really enjoyed walking around the park and seeing the huge live oak trees. We stopped at the Tree of Life (Note: It’s on the zoo side, not the golf course side, so we had to cross the road to get to that part of the park). It was planted around 1740! The tree was amazingly large and very neat to see.
We also saw The Labyrinth while we were on that side of the park. It is a two part maze, but is built into the ground, so there is no getting lost! We had a kind of sunny day, so it was a little hard to see the different colors of the bricks marking the path.
We first had them in New Orleans in 2017. I’ve tried them elsewhere but they just aren’t the same. We were lucky enough to be staying in the French Quarter in 2017 and were able to walk up almost everyday to grab a bag to share for breakfast. It was delicious and messy (powdered sugar just gets everywhere!).
A staple in New Orleans is Cafe Du Monde, which serves beignets and chicory coffee. They have a few locations, but my favorite is the one on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. If you are staying in the French Quarter, it is easy to walk to and you can then grab your goodies, walk up the stairs to the right of the Cafe, and eat while enjoying the view of the Mississippi River.
The cafe has two to three lines open during the day and one line open at night. The outdoor seating was open during this visit, but there are a lot less tables (spaced out for social distancing/Covid). However, they were serving in bags, not on plates like before. The bags still had a ton of powdered sugar in the bottom though if you wanted more for dipping. I would say there was about 1/2 inch in the bag after the beignets were gone!
Beignets on a plate from our 2017 visit. Rest of the pictures from 2021.
It was $3.40 (plus tax) for a bag of 3 beignets. As of our visit, January 2021, the Cafe was only accepting cash.
