Crescent City Coolers are Fabulous!

Well, we finally got to take our New Orleans trip!  Our planning took place in June.  About time huh?  CC was able to cover our trip well in his blog.  Feel free to read up and get the details there.  :)

This was my first trip to New Orleans.  I had such a wonderful time!  The traveling by train was fantastic!  I wish we had a better rail system. I would like to travel by train more often...

Train Depot

CC in our sleeper

The weekend weather was great!  The humidity was relatively low until Monday so it wasn't too bad walking around seeing the sights.  We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Avenue Inn.  It was on St. Charles and the streetcar ran right in front so it was easy getting to and from the Quarter.

Avenue Inn

Labor Day weekend is a great weekend for travel as you don't have to take as many vacation days from work.  However, you should always check the city where you are going for any festivals and activities that may be occurring during your visit.  We found out after our planning that Labor Day weekend was also the weekend for Southern Decadence (Gay Mardi Gras).  We got some sights we did not expect!

That is no kilt!

Christmas ornaments for sale

St. Louis Cathedral from across
Jackson Square

We visited St. Louis Cemetery Number One.  We saw St. Louis Cathedral and many of the old buildings in the Quarter were something to behold.

St. Louis Cemetery

One of the beautiful buildings in the Quarter

We ate wonderful food as well!  Cafe Pontalba had a wonderful breakfast.  It is right in Jackson Square with a great view of the cathedral.  Red Fish Grill was an excellent choice CC made for lunch.  It was a good place to enjoy great food and get out of the rain shower!  We had a Ferdi at Mother's Restaurant for supper the day we arrived.  It was excellent!   Cafe du Monde was another excellent breakfast choice.  Who can deny themselves those wonderful donuts?  Muffalettas could not be had at Central Grocery as they were closed for the holiday.  We settled for the Muffalettas at Frank's next door.  It was very good although CC says not near as good as the ones at Central Grocery.  We went to a place called Snug Harbor for dinner and some jazz music.  The food was good and the music was great!  CC describes the happenings during the show in his blog.  Needless to say, it had the potential to be a highly entertaining show!

Waiting for the music at Snug Harbor

Our big night out was Monday night, our last night in the Big Easy.  We went to dinner at Commander's Palace.  It was one of the most memorable dining experiences I will probably ever have.  The service was impeccable.  The food was out of this world!  We opted for the Chef's Playground with the wine/cocktail pairing.  Basically, we sat down and they just brought us food and drink of their choice and we ate and drank!  Again, CC covers this well in his blog.  I finally was served an oyster that I liked!  I have to say that I have been trying to like oysters for many years.  I have tried them every way I can find.  Crispy Oyster Meuniere is the ticket!  I must say that they had a cocktail that was out of this world!  A Crescent City Cooler.  I liked it so much, I had to ask for the recipe.  It has Cruzan Guava Rum in it.  Who knew rum came in guava?

Before we knew it, it was time to go home.  Like our other vacations, we have such a good time that it seems like it flies by.  CC was getting sick a bit come Monday so I suppose it was a good thing it was time to go home.  We didn't have to like it though...

At the NOLA airport.  Going home,
BOO!!!!!

It was a wonderful vacation spent with my favorite person on the planet!  Trouble is, we have not planned our next one.  We need to get on that!

CC is almost better from his cold.  It really wiped him out!  He has been down all of the week following our trip.  He is almost better now so for that I am happy.  :)