I have been to New Orleans a few times now throughout different times of the year. There are cities in the US that have their own sense of being to me. Places that are totally unique to the rest of the country. New Orleans is the epitome of these cities. The food is unlike what you find in other places, the music has it’s own vibe, the drinks are stiff, and the people wildly fun. New Orleans is a city I usually happy to go to and try to get to every other year or so.
This trip was a trip from Austin with a group of people for a friend’s fiftieth birthday. We camped out in a large suite with around ten of us in one suite and another five in a second room. The plan was to hit a few bars and resteraunts, checkout the World War Two Museum, and wander around some together. The trip was a long weekend with plans to work remotely on Friday and then enjoy the weekend with friends.
Going in August to New Orleans is pretty warm. It was in the low 90s with high humidity the entire time. There was a decent breeze at times, but it was still a practice in being sweaty pretty much any time we were outside.
Getting into New Orleans
I took an afterwork flight out with a few friends. We got in and got settled. We didn’t really do much other than the initial greetings.
First Day
For the first morning, we walked from the Business District to the Quarter and went for lunch at Napolean House for muffaletas, red beans and rice, and gumbo. After that, we walked to Loretta’s for beignets, afterwhich, I had to go back to where we were staying and do some work for the day.
As I was spending the afternoon with work, people started to trickle back in. As everyone met back up, we plotted the course of the night. We started by hitting Latitude 29 and grabbing dinner and cocktails. Latitude 29 was good and their pimento cheese rangoons were a huge highlight. After a few rounds of drinks, we split up with some of the group walking to Frenchmen Street and the rest barhopping back to where we were staying. I ventured toward Frenchmen where we checked out some local music before heading back to condo we were in.
Second Day
In the morning, we grabbed some brunch at Ruby Slipper. It was good all in all, but the server we had seemed pretty new and overwhelmed. It was the weekend of the Red Dress Run, which is local party / race where as far as I can tell, people dress in red dresses and hang out drinking. It looked fun and seeing all of the people in dresses was highly amusing.
After brunch, I walked to the World War II Museum and met some friends there. It was a bit overwhelming how vast the place was. I have always heard really good things about the museum but never been and going had been high on my list of things to do on this trip.
It was giant. It was really well done and the three and half hours I spent there seemed to only scratch the surface of what there was to see. I missed the March to Berlin content as well as the submarines. Really, I regret not going earlier in the day and would love to go back sometime again to see it all. I do not think I can do an adequate job describing how awing the place is.
After the museum, we went back to meet everyone. We then went to Cochon for dinner. It was fairly good but a lot. Kind of loud and crowded, but it was a Saturday evening. After dinner, we went back and hung out for the rest of the evening.
Last Day
We did not have plans for Sunday but had an evening flight back to Austin. After checking out, we grabbed breakfast at Chapter 4. I dug it a lot. The food was good and the staff were super accomidating. Only thing that made me scratch my head was charging for refills of iced tea. Weird as fuck.
From there, we walked to the Ogden Musuem of Southern Art. It was really kind of a time killer, but I was impressed with the museum. I liked it a lot and recommend it. We then went across the street to Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, which was not impressive. After, we walked to Cafe Beignet and had a snack before going to Mr Ed’s PoBoy Shop. Both were pretty forgetable compared to other places we went over the weekend. After, we headed to the airport and back to Austin.
Overall Thoughts
New Orleans is certainly a favorite city in the United States for me. I plan on going back in a few months for the Krewe of Boo Parade. This trip was pretty in and out compared to other trips to New Orleans. The food is always good, but the heat in early August is just absurd to be out in. I like that the city is so walkable, but doing so when it is 90 with a high level of humidity is less than ideal.
