Minimallie: Po' boys and Plantations (NOLA Part 1)

Sooo we're still catching up on the trip here, though it feels like a lifetime ago that we returned! Going back through our pictures for this post was an awesome way to remind us of how much fun we had; it will be sad when we're run out of posts to do :(.

There are so many good things to be said about our experience in New Orleans, LA. It always comes up when people ask what our 'favorite places' were (which we've been asked approximately 2,456 times. Our other favorites were probably Napa, Telluride and Austin :)). We loved it so much that it was one of the only places we decided to stay in for more than one night!

Our drive from Austin to New Orleans was a longy. And of course, it was hot out. After a morning of driving it was time to eat...and by this point we were really trying to eat the food in the car rather than go out for all of our meals, so when lunchtime rolled around, what were we to do?? Pull over and make lunch of course!

It did the trick! As we got closer to New Orleans, we decided to explore the bayou before heading into the city. We drove down through Thibodaux (pronounced tib-eh-doh, and Jim literally couldn't stop saying it for the entirety of our time in LA), through Houma, and down to Cut Off (really, the name of a town), just to get a feel for the ol' BAYOU.

Allie kept her eye out for Eric Northman and Bill Compton, but...no luck. It was a gorgeous drive, with amazing views of house boats & swamps, and the most beautiful sunset either of us have ever seen.

After locating our hotel - which by the way was the most perfect price & location we could have asked for - we decided to explore the city!

Why is everything in New Orleans just cooler than the rest?

Everything is so gorgeous, mysterious, eery and OLD seeming in New Orleans. It makes you feel like you've gone back in time somehow, in the best way possible.

Then after an amazing night of walking around and listening to the MOST amazing collection of live music we've ever seen, we decided we deserved a little snack from the infamous Cafe Dumonde.

Ummm, YUM. Beignets are beyond delicious. We made a copycat version last week and they were awesome too, but nowhere close to Cafe Dumonde's. We really needed some ice cold whole milk, grouchy waitresses & peppy zydeco with us up here in Boston to set the scene.

We walked back to our hotel through Jackson Square(/Cinderella's castle?! how gorgeous is this place?).

The next morning it was off to see some sights. We checked out the Laura Plantation and then Oak Alley Plantation, and then went off in search of a swamp tour. It was really amazing to see and hear about the plantations - I'd definitely suggest that you all embrace your nerdy side and do a plantation tour if you make it down to LA anytime soon :)