NEW ORLEANS

(Decatur Street Boogie – Piano Red)

The one thing that was on my bucket list for this trip was New Orleans. I’m so pleased we got to go there.

One important part of planning a trip is your accommodations. I’d been looking online at various places for weeks and had some wonderful suggestions from friends. I finally decided to book a smaller historic hotel that was within walking distance of places I wanted to see and was also a reasonable price.

I chose French Market Inn on Decatur Street. With my CAA discount we got a Petite Room for $89.95 a night, of course plus tax and plus valet parking, but all in all a great deal. The room was certainly big enough for us.

The Inn was once a private home. It was constructed sometime in the 1800’s for a royal couple, the Baron and Baroness Pontalba. The inn features a courtyard with lush foliage and tables with umbrellas for enjoying the New Orleans atmosphere. I read that there have been reports that it’s haunted. Oooooooo.

https://www.frenchmarketinn.com/

The French Market Inn is on the banks of the Mississippi River in the center of the French Quarter of New Orleans. It’s on Decatur St. and is within six blocks of renowned New Orleans attractions like Jackson Square, the French Market, Aquarium of the Americas, Bourbon Street, Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, and Cafe Du Monde.

It’s a quaint place. Staff was very friendly and the service was quick. We arrived around 10:30 am. This was later than we expected to arrive. Thanks to GPS. I don’t know if it was our error inputting the info or if it just took us a longer way but, thank goodness, part way there we thought we were going a strange way and were able to get ourselves rerouted. We arrived much earlier than check-in time (4:00pm) but they checked us in, stored our bags, and valet parked our car. Sweet. We’d been on the road since 5:00 so we wanted breakfast. The desk clerk told us of a place right around the corner so off we went.

We had a full breakfast for $8.95 so no complaints there. It was tasty and filled us. The place was a bit run down but seemed to be a spot for locals so that’s always a good sign.

When my best friend Lynn and I went to New York we bought a Hop On Hop Off pass. It was fantastic. We first took the whole route to learn about the city and then used it to go to various places during our week there. Richard and I just got a one day pass in New Orleans. Did we need it? Probably not but we used it to do the complete tour loop. It was interesting. Our guide told us a lot about the city and as she was right in front of us I could see in her face the love she has for her city.

We then decided to explore on our own. We took a wonderful walk along the waterfront and then off to Starbucks and a bathroom. Lol. Couldn’t pass up taking this photo on the escalator. We went back to the waterfront where I spotted a choir performing. They were from Cheltamham High School in Philadelphia and were touring here. In total there were 94 students comprising an orchestra, a band, and a choir.

This is their choir and band. I didn’t get a picture of the orchestra.

I had to take this photo of the choir as they were performing Bring Me Little Water Silvy by Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly) which my Elm Street Girls Choir had done my last year of teaching. It brought back lovely memories. They also sang What a Wonderful World which my choir had also performed.

During our waterfront walk we saw the paddle wheeler Natchez leaving on a tour cruise.

I took a few pictures and it was funny when I was looking quickly through my photos of them. It seemed like the boat was moving just like one of those little books we used to make as kids.

Off to walk around the French Quarter.

The French Quarter is the city’s historic heart, famous for its vibrant nightlife and colorful buildings with cast-iron balconies. Crowd-pleasing Bourbon Street features jazz clubs, Cajun eateries and bars. Quieter streets lead to the French Market, with gourmet food and local crafts, and to Jackson Square where street performers entertain in front of soaring St. Louis Cathedral.

We walked around for a while hearing music in lots of places, a lot were pop or rock cover bands. Then we stopped at the Musical Legends Park.

Here are some of the statues displayed there.

Sitting, drinking our beer and margarita, and enjoying some jazz. Heaven.

Off walking again and arrived at Jackson Square. Saw some tarot card readers, a magician, henna tattooists, an escape artist, and a violinist.

I was disappointed in the violinist. Initially it seemed that he was very good until I noticed him stop playing his instrument but the music magically continued. Oh technology.

We continued walking and touring until we realized we were tired and started looking for a dinner spot with some live jazz. We eventually found one almost next to our hotel.

Here’s our meal plus I think I drank at least four glasses of water. The meal was really good. I had Caesar salad and Richard had macaroni and cheese and Brie with apple chutney. I couldn’t pass up a slice of delicious flourless chocolate cake.

Then we called it a night. TIRED. Have to be ready for tomorrow.

Nite y’all 😴