New Years in New Orleans!

Matt and I took a trip to New Orleans for New Years. We originally started off thinking we would go with a big group of friends, we had a bunch of people interested in going at first but as NYE got closer more and more people started saying they couldn’t go. We looked up plane tickets from Charlotte to New Orleans online and they were SUPER cheap so we decided to go ahead and go even if no one ended up being able to come. We spent NYE in Charlotte in 2010 and while it was fun, we did not want to do it 2 years in a row. I’m so glad we went, it was the first time either of us had been to New Orleans and we had a great time! Here a recap of everything we did and where we went on our trip!

We stayed at the Quality Inn on O'Keefe Ave. We were definitely looking for a budget hotel in the French Quarter. This place totally fit the bill: safe, clean, walking distance to everything, inexpensive, free breakfast and wireless internet with SUPER friendly/helpful staff. Granted it was no 5 star hotel but if you’re looking for a place to stay in NOLA close to everything I would definitely recommend it.
We arrived on afternoon Wednesday, 12/29. We immediately headed to Bourbon street (about 3 blocks away). Our first stop on Bourbon was the Old Absinthe Bar, home of mojitos that are too strong to drink and for extremely high prices (needless to say I would not recommend it-haha!) We had dinner at Napoleon House which has an awesome atmosphere like one in the early 1800’s. We had the Pimms Cup which is Pimms, frozen lemonade and 7 up…sooo good!



After dinner we grabbed some “street drinks” and walked up and down Bourbon Street





The last stop of the night was The Beach Club where we stayed all night laughing as we watched people "ride the whale" (which is basically mechanical bull riding but with a whale).


On Thursday, 12/30 we started out the day with a New Orleans cemetery/Voo Doo Tour. The weather was in the 70’s and perfect! The tour was of St Louis Cemetery #1 and it was very cool and  interesting. 








The Voodoo portion of the tour started off at Marie Laveau's (the Voodoo queens grave). Then we went to the voodoo spiritual temple where we met Priestess Miriam, the founder of the voodoo temple. She talked to us awhile and they showed us the voodoo offering room.



Marie Laveau's grave



A small portion of the craziness in the offering room

voodoo supplies...

After the tour we went and grabbed some beignets at Café beignet…yum!!! That night we went out to dinner at Dickie Brennans steakhouse and then to Pat OBriens Piano bar. We stayed there the whole night, drank hurricanes and had a great time!

New friends I made on the walk home

lobby of the Quality Inn- JK this is the Waldorf which was actually right next door to our hotel

Friday, 12/31

We went back to Café Biegnets for brunch then watched the Clemson game at a nearby sportsbar (sooo glad we didn’t stay in Charlotte to see that game!) We went to look at the shops on Frenchman st, they had some great shops, antique stores and the French market (pretty much exactly like the market in Charleston).






Then we headed to the Casino at Harrahs. We were only there for a little while but Matt won $55 in blackjack (its always great to leave a casino a little richer!) For NYE we had bought tickets to a NYE party at Pat OBriens on the river. It is totally different than the Pat O’s on bourbon and it was not a piano bar or anything like that. But they have all the signature drinks that Pat OBriens has and it is right on the Mississippi River with a great view of the fireworks from the windows. It was a lot of fun (actually probably TOO much fun!) We made friends with a couple that had recently moved to Nola from Raleigh. The Pat OBriens party ended at 1:00 and when it was over we went to a jazz club with our new friends.









Saturday, 1/1- It took me awhile to get going on Saturday due to having wayyyyy to much fun the night before so we laid low until that afternoon. Late that afternoon we went to have drinks at the Carousel Bar in the hotel Monteleone.



Then we went to have dinner at Mona Lisa, an awesome Italian restaurant.





After that we went to Café Du Monte for hot chocolate and beignets.







Then we walked down Bourbon st again and Matt got a grenade at Tropical Isle.






Sunday 1/2- We woke up and got our fortunes told at Bottom of the Cup. It was an interesting experience. They wouldn’t let us go together which kinda bummed me out. I had read several reviews about the place and I ended up getting the psychic that had gotten the worst reviews (all the other had gotten awesome reviews). But it was still interesting and fun, some stuff they said was right on and others was way off (I’m sure that’s how all reading are.) They did record both of our reading on a cassette tape though, which is a cool touch. Then we took a streetcar/trolley to the Garden District and had lunch on Magazine st. at Café Rani. Then we headed to the airport.

on the trolley!

beads all over all the trees!

Back home and back home and back to reality... New Orleans was a great way to ring in the New Year. It was a great place to start off 2011. New Year Resolutions post soon to come!