NOLA Trip!

I've never been to NOLA before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I knew it gets crazy during Mardi Gras, but let me know you it is still pretty crazy on a regular weekend, so I can't even imagine how bad it gets during Mardi Gras.  We landed in New Orleans just in time for walking around the French Quarter for a bit before heading to dinner. 

We stayed at the Hyatt right in the French Quarters.

Bourbon Street

So there are LOTS of drunk people walking around Bourbon Street day and night.  I'm not big on drinking so it's a little awkward for me to be around this kind of crowd.  If I never had another drink in my life, I really wouldn't miss it!

Street Performers

Our first meal was at Deanie's

There is a lot of fried food in New Orleans.  The first night there we went all out, as you can see in the above photo.  After that, we were kind of sick of it to be honest!  In fact the first night was the only night we ate fried food.  After that we stuck with Raw Oysters, Charbroiled Oysters, Gumbo, Jambalaya and Seafood Étouffée.

Cafe Du Monde

And of course we had dessert at the famous Cafe Du Monde for some beignets.  There is powdered sugar everywhere.  And I mean EVERYWHERE.  All over the floors, tables, seats....  

The next day we went to the zoo.  It was like the Disney World of zoos.  Palm trees everywhere!  I LOOOOVE palm trees.  It did get really hot and humid at the zoo.  I wore my Yogi Everyday Tank with my sun visor.  I also wore Speed Shorts with Nikes.  I basically looked like I was going to the gym lol!

Zoo entrance

Sun and palm trees!

Murky Yucky Swamp.  Swamp Thing, anyone?

Baby Gators!  They're real, I swear.

I think this is an albino alligator?  I forgot....

As we didn't rent a car, we just Uber'd it everywhere.  On the way back to the hotel we asked the driver if we could stop by Anne Rice's house since it was kinda along the way.  They're very accommodating down there!  

Unfortunately she no longer lives there.  Moved out in 2004 right before Katrina.

Anne Rice lived here!

The next day we went on a swamp tour.  The tour bus picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel.  So that was really convenient having door to door service.  The drive to and from was about 45 minutes.  I took a lot of pictures on this tour but I won't post them all here.  There were a lot of stray kittens and cats hanging around the waiting area.  Here's a really beautiful Siamese but sadly he/she is deaf.  

Beautiful Siamese cat.

And of course I had to get a shot of a gator eating a hot dog! 

I actually have a pretty amazing video of another gator eating a hot dog but it's posted on my Instagram account.  The tour itself was about 2 hours.  I learned a lot of things about alligators that day!  

The last day there we sort of took it easy and pretty much just ate more beignets and walked around some more.  We found a really good sandwich place called Butcher.  

Butcher

Last round of beignets 

Crawfish!!!  SO GOOD!

Cute shop called Magnolia Praline

Crawfish Étouffée

Last dinner at Royale House

Oh, and the last night we were there, the fire alarm kept going off.  At one point we all had to go down to the lobby while the firemen came to check out the problem.  One guy must have been in the shower because all he had on was a towel around his bottom, lol!  Someone must have gave him a top.  That made it worth it.  

HA!

I did want to go on a ghost tour, but we just didn't have enough time.  But I have a feeling we will be back soon!