PROJECT.PURPOSE.LIFE
Duration: 3 nights/4 days
Want to check out Mardi Gras before the huge crowds and increase in hotel and flight prices? That is exactly what I did. If you don't care too much about the huge parties and big celebration, and just want to get a taste of the Mardi Gras season prior to Fat Tuesday, this is the trip for you. I went a couple weeks prior to Fat Tuesday with a small group of people and I was still able to sight see and get a glimpse of Mardi Gras.
DAY 1: BOURBON STREET
Since I only had 4 days to spend in New Orleans, I took an early flight out from California and landed in New Orleans at around 9:00AM. From the Louis Armstrong Airport, I took an Uber to the hotel which was located in the French Quarter. It was interesting to see how their Uber service works. In California, when you order an Uber ride, you find your driver with the make of the car, license plate, and driver name. In New Orleans, you order the order the Uber right, get into the Uber line, and when you are at the front of the line, you have a 6-digit PIN ready. You will then provide the drive the 6-digit PIN before entering the vehicle and that's how both driver and rider are then connected. So if you visit New Orleans, you won't need to keep an eye out for your Uber ride for their process is different.
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Once I checked into Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter, I dropped my luggage in the room, freshened up, and started exploring bourbon street. Just a little piece of information when you stay down this area, the streets gets really loud throughout the night. If you like quiet places, staying in and around bourbon street will probably not be a good idea. The workers here were fantastic and all so very kind.
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The first spot that I went to was the Red Fish Grill which was a 6 minute walk from the hotel which was great. I ordered the Peacemaker which flash fried oysters and shrimp, crystal BBQ sauce, and house-made blue cheese dressing. The other dish ordered was the Wood Grilled Redfish & Louisiana Lump Crabmeat. It had tasso ham and roasted mushroom, pontalba potatoes, in a lemon butter sauce. Both of these dishes were absolutely delicious. I am a fan of both dishes ordered and would get it again.
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After eating, I walked the streets and enjoyed the vibe. Streets have so many different people and groups playing jazz or just drumming on a pail. All musically talented in their own way. At around 9:00PM I decided to head back to the room and start winding down to prepare for the following day.
tasso ham & roasted mushroom Pontalba potatoes, lemon butter sauce
DAY 2: FRENCH QUARTER EXPLORATION
First thing the next day, BRUNCH! I went to Brennan's Restaurant which is very popular and known for their bananas foster. I was fortunate enough to walk in and was seated in the dining area which was very quiet. Just to make sure you get a this seating area, it's best to make a reservation and request to be seated in the dining area at the front of the restaurant. For starters, why not a cocktail? I ordered Iris which was citrus vodka, peach, butterfly pea tea, and lemon. A couple of dishes ordered was a Breanna's Original-- Eggs Hussarde, Steak & Eggs, and one of the specials at the time was an avocado toast with a lump of crab and slaw. Towards the end of the meal I was pretty full but I couldn't leave without trying their Bananas Foster! When ordering this you will have to order a minimum of 2 orders and they will make it right in front of you. This was an absolute delight to watch them prepare it and to taste it. It literally is the world famous bananas fosters that I have had so far. Please, please, do not leave this place without trying their bananas fosters.
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After finishing up brunch at Breanna's, we started to head out to French Quarter and started to explore. The first stop made was Jackson Square. This was declared a national historic landmark in 1060 for it's central role in history. This site was where Louisiana was made US territory pursuant to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Next door is the famous beignet cafe, Cafe du Monde. This is the original french market coffee stand in New Orleans. When ordering beignets, you get (3) per order. The great combo is to have an order of beignets and a cup of coffee. The Cafe is very popular spot so it's best to go as early as possible or be willing to wait. Seating is first come first serve so the first available table you see (even if it's still dirty) site down right away and someone will come by to clean the table and take your order.
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We continued to walk around the french quarter, and of course grabbed a daiquiri at Big Easy. The flavors that we tried out for Hurricane and 190 Antifreeze. If you plan to drink multiple daiquiris, purchase the reusable plastic cups to save a couple bucks on refills.
A really great place for poboys is Killer Poboys. The one we ended up going to was in Erin Rose in which we didn't realize at the time was it was literally inside the bar. We ordered the Seared Gulf Shirmp and Dark & Stormy Pork Belly. I loved both. I honestly don't know which one was better. Both were full of flavor. I wish we had a Killer Poboys in California. That's how much I loved it.
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Now to start off our night off after grabbing some poboys was stopping at Huge Ass Beers. We enjoyed this place since the bar was pretty open when we went around 10:00PM. The music playing was live and they were bring it back to the 90's which was really enjoyable. The huge ass beer cup is a 32oz. cup. After spending some time here, we went off the "grid" and went on the out skirts of the Quarter and went to Bar Tonique. Now this place is like a drinking playground for adults. They have such a wide variety of different drinks it's difficult to choose which to get first. A drink that is local to New Orleans is the Sazerac. This is a spot that I highly recommend for a chill vibe with different varieties of hand crafted drinks.
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If you get hungry, there is a secret gem of a spot that makes one to die for sandwiches. Verti Marte is a market & deli open 24/7, and is known for Creole-inspired sandwiches, entrees & sides. All that Jazz is a must! The flavors of that entire sandwich mixed so well that I went again the following day.
Roasted Beef Ribeye, Roast Beef Debris, Darphin Potato, Mushroom Conserva, Eggs Any Style $29
(3) square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar and a cup of Au Lait (Coffee + Milk)
Hurricane
"All That Jazz" A meledy of Grilled Ham, Turkey, & Shrimp, Swiss & American Cheese accompanied by grilled mushrooms, tomatoes on grilled French Bread with Verti Marte's "wow sauce"
Hurricane
DAY 3: MORE EXPLORING/ A TASTE OF MARDI GRAS
First stop of the day, Maison Soule and The Paris Room. Ordered a strawberry mint lemonade, oyster soule, and Shrimp Pierre with fried eggplant. The oyster soule is a definite must. All flavors together of the fried oyster, bread, creamed spinach was great. The shrimp & eggplant pierre wasn't bad, I was hoping for a stronger taste, but still done well.
After having brunch, I wanted some coffee and ran into a coffee shop, the French Truck Coffee . It was a color and cute little shop and I enjoyed the cup of coffee I ordered. Sadly, the worker that day was a bit uninviting which would effect whether I would go back there or not, but hopefully if you pass by, you'll have a much more inviting and helpful worker. I asked what they may recommend and they replied, "they're all coffee, it's up to you and your preference." I honestly don't fancy that kind of atmosphere and it wasn't helpful for me either since I honestly don't drink coffee often to know what to get at a coffee shop. If it wasn't for that in the beginning of my visit, I may of passed by the following day to try another cup of coffee. They have several locations, I wouldn't recommend going to the one I went to which is on Chartres Street.
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Once I had my cup of coffee, we started to walk the streets and explore a bit more. Admired the architecture of NOLA and visited New Orleans Musical Legends Park. Statues of jazz legends decorate this cozy park hosting live local bands daily. Once night hit, we started on the route of the parades that were occurring during the weekend for Mardi Gras season. Be sure to ask for a schedule and map to plan which routes you would want to follow and wait for the floats to pass. We waited on Tchoupitoulas St. and grabbed drinks from the bar across the street (F&M Patio Bar).
We were able to get a view of all the participants for the night parade which was fantastic since we weren't going to see any other parades. Those who are part of it are so enthusiastic they are all dressed according to the theme of their group, and sometimes hand out little gifts. It wasn't Fat Tuesday, but it was nice to get a glimpse of what will happen for the big day. We visited Cafe du Monde one last time and enjoyed more beignets, and ended the night eating at SoBou. We ordered the fried oyster tacos and the cast iron seared beef. The place was modern and sophisticated.
Pickled okra, lemony mayo and grilled flour tortillas
Black garlic & smoked sea salt, confit marble potatoes, crispy leeks, black truffle butter, charred sweet peppers
DAY 4: HOME BOUND
Since our flight was early afternoon, we woke up, packed, and headed out to the airport. If ever your flight schedule is around the early afternoon and don't have time to grab something to eat prior, the airport has a lot of options. Thankfully our gate was by shake shack so we were able to get that right before our flight out. The amount of time spent in NOLA was enough for the exploration we did. I hope you are able to take a trip out to NOLA even if it is for the weekend.