Tackle New Orleans in 48 hrs

NOLA Darling!

You don’t have to break the bank to go on an adventure and immerse yourself in culture. New Orleans is proof of that. Social media has us trying to go to Greece on an Arkansas budget. I’m not saying don’t save to travel to your dream destination, I’m saying you don’t necessarily have to go that far for a getaway.

I’ve been to New Orleans before but always for Mardis Gras when everyone else and they mama were in town. This time I wanted to experience the city for what it really was. Here’s a rundown of my experience in 48hrs. If you’re only here for my itinerary scroll down to the bottom for a snapshot of how my days were planned. It’ll be worth reading though because I did include stuff that I didn’t do that might be worth trying.

Being the OCD planner that I am, I had this all planned way in advance. I forgot to account for the rain -_- but I still ended up achieving everything I intended to #boss. I went on this trip with my soul sister Maria and I’m truly grateful to have friends who just let me run on out with the planning LOL. We stayed at the fabulous Eliza Jane and I picked this strictly for my instagrammable pictures AND the fact that it was 2 blocks away from French Quarter. I strongly advise staying closer to the French quarter makes Ubers cheaper but also allows you to be walking distance of many attractions. Other fab options will be Henry Howard hotel and Catahoula hotel (Double check their locations).

It was raining Friday when we got to New Orleans so we proceeded to do most of my indoor activities first. We had brunch at a little café and you’ll have to forgive me I forgot the name. We initially intended to go to Brennan’s but it turns out they only take reservations and they were booked ALL DAY. The effrontery! That, however, speaks to the food and service so definitely make a reservation. From brunch, we walked French Quarter for a bit ( the rain has stopped at this point) and joined a parade! Parades are a big deal in NOLA and anyone could do it as long as you follow protocol. Watch my Instagram stories to see a live feed of the parade, and band. You might run into one on your trip if you’re lucky! Sticking to our indoor plans, we headed to Ashley longshore studio. I'm not one to do museums (if you are, there's a WW2 museum worth checking out) so this studio was the next best alternative. They only let in a few people at a time but there was no wait when we got there.

Soul Sister! <3

From the studio, we headed to Cafe beignet another alternative to the ever so famous Cafe du Monde- less of a crowd. To be honest, I didn't like their beignets. I found them too oily but they do have other stuff on the menu and it's a pretty neat spot. Right after we went to Mother's restaurant which appeared in the girls trip movie. They have the best ham known to man and you guessed it there's always a line! If you're in NOLA for the food which you should definitely go here. I was in a food coma after this and didn't do anything at night but sleep. I put in some good steps in one day.

Saturday we woke up at 5:45am and left the hotel at 730am to get this shot! If you google New Orleans this building is all over and in the heat of the day there’s a lot of tourists walking around and there’s no way you get a clear shot but then in the morning you get to deal with the all the trash from the escapades of the night before. It’s wild!!! Lucky for me the trash truck had somewhat cleaned most of the street so I had the few cars wait while I got my shot LOL. The easiest way to get here is to put in the address to Gumbo shop and the building is literally right there at the corner of Royal and Dumaine street.

From there we went to Jackson square which houses the famous St. Louis Cathedral and a mini-park. The weather was very gloomy but I did my best to get some clear shots. Tell me why 2 hours later the sun came out but by then thousands of people flooded the park. Right across from the park is the ever so famous Café du Monde. Now they really do have the best beignets but if I can get partners and we open up a beignet sucre (My francophones know what this is) shop in NOLA we taking over. Beignet sucre wins hands down. Did I mention there’s always a line at café du monde? Just stand in it, it never gets shorter. The amount of live music in NOLA is second only to Nashville. There’s always someone entertaining on the side of the street, love it! My favorite is bongoman who sits at the bottom of the stairs of the NOLA 300 sign. His voice is phenomenal and he has a trained dog who gets money from passers-by. Cutest thing ever- again video on IG stories.

We left the Square and headed down to garden district- a more laid back but still scenic part of town. We grabbed breakfast at district donuts slider brew a small rad spot and proceeded to walk around the district where we came across these gorgeous houses and streets. Not that this is peculiar to NOLA but there's a sucré shop on your walk. I burned the calories walking so we good ;). After all the walking we caught the good ole olden day trolley back to canal street. It takes you past Charles Avenue which is NOLA's Beverly Hills. It's a $1.50 for a ride one way and they only take cash.

Trolley from Canal street

Dinner Saturday we attempted to go to Neyow's and when I tell you I don't understand why I waited an hour to get a Po'boy aka pain chargé but the place was packed so their food must be good. To be honest I was so hungry I needed the quickest thing on the menu. If you're looking for just Po'boys definitely do Killer Poboys but if you want the whole creole nine yards then Neyow's is it. After dinner, we checked out a rooftop bar, Hot Tin. The building has another bar in it with live music if there's a wait to get the elevators. The real highlight of the night was when we hit Frenchmen street. I was in jazz music wonderland. Bourbon street is more popular for its nightlife but what they don't tell you is bourbon is popular for top 40, Frenchmen, on the other hand, is Jazz infused with live bands in every single bar!!!! So many options, just hop around. I had so much fun!

I'd go back to NOLA in a heartbeat. As promised here's my itinerary even though it changed a little. I certainly encourage you to check out preservation hall for a more in-depth hour jazz concert they have shows on the hour from 7 to 10 pm and definitely go to carousel bar and send me videos so I can be jealous!