Nawlins! The Big Easy! The Crescent City!

We finally arrived. When we entered the state I immediately started craving po’boys, fresh seafood, and beignets. Excited to visit the city we wasted no time and headed straight for the swamp! We hopped on a two-hour airboat tour at Airboat Adventures.  Our tour boat guide (I believe whose name was Captain Dan) schooled us on the swamp history, everything from the Cypress trees, Spanish moss, and alligators! The ‘gators were the best of the entire tour, especially when we met Al the Alligator! My mother nearly jumped out of the boat after she discovered this scaly friend had been lurking behind her. 

We headed back to New Orleans proper to check into our hotel at the Westin New Orleans Canal Place. We booked the hotel through Hotels.com for less than $500 for two nights. The hotel was overbooked and we had to change our room from a double to a single. The room the hotel staff assigned us had a wet carpet and a moldy smell. We asked to change the room again, thankfully this room was better, but it didn’t have a trash can. Oh well, at least we got a free brunch and we were in walking distance to the French Quarter. After we showered and changed clothes we called a family friend who is also a New Orleans native. She walked us down the famous Bourbon Street – a small corridor full of naked breast, Hand Grenades, street performers and awesome restaurants. After we had our fill of the entertainment it was time to eat. We settled for Felix’s Resturant and Oyster Bar. These oysters were the best I have ever eaten! I also had a sampler plate of etouffee, red beans and rice, and jambalaya. YUMMY! My mom and I enjoyed our meals at the bar and met three cool kids from Toronto who were visiting New Orleans for an anime event. They shared their appetizers with us. The also bought us shots when they found out my mom was in her 50s and not my sister. The best line of the night was, “Wow, Black people age just as well as Asians!”

Before the night ended we went to Harrah’s Casino to try my luck at the slot machines.

I didn’t win anything.

The next day my aunt landed in New Orleans. She met us at the hotel, we ate brunch then went to the Audubon Aquarium.  After touring this aquarium my family and I cringed at the fact of knowing the impacts plastics and trash have on marine life.

We continued our tour of the French Quarter at Jackson Square and Cafe du Monde. We then prepared ourselves for a dinner cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez. We cruised into the sunset on the Mississippi River. The captain/tour guide explained the devastation Hurricane Katrina had on the city, as well as the importance of the Mississippi River to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

We closed our trip with one last stroll down Bourbon Street. We ate a massive meal at Deanie’s Seafood then watched my aunt participate in a tarot card reading. Needless to say…that was a very interesting experience.

Big Easy Thank you for the music, food, and memories!