New Orleans Part 1

New Orleans was at the top of our list for weekend travel before our flight benefits end at the end of the month! This city is full of history and food, and it's not a likely option for somewhere we'd pay to go, so we figured it was the perfect option for an overnighter!

And, we each got our winner shot with Tatum, so I'd say lugging the SLR with the 50mm was worth it :)

Our primary goal was to try N'warlins food.  We went to ACME Oyster House for Jambalaya and Gumbo, but ended up ordering etouffee too, which ended up being both our favorites!  

 The first restaurant we went to was closed (chef on vacation) so we ended up waiting in the 45 min+ line at ACME starting around 7:30pm with a tired, tired Tatum.  We must have been in the good graces of the hostess, because with at least 20 parties ahead of us, she called down the line, "SCOTT!" and we raced up for our table for 3, acting like we won the lottery!  Several of the people ahead of us in line were still waiting to be seated when we walked out-- you better believe some dirty looks came our way!

Scott ordered the sampler which had this good sausage, jambalaya, gumbo, and red beans and rice.  This was the perfect place for us to get the feel for southern food and try lots of items in one sitting!  And our waiter was a crack up too!

 This girl.  I swear. She is always up to something.

 I mean...

 Another great feature of being an airline employee is the hotel deals.  This Marriott was the cheapest place we could find, a big upgrade from our usual Motel 6.  We've decided that we are tired of traveling like slum dogs and we should get a Marriott card.  It's just so comfortable there.  Especially with a baby, it just makes things really nice.  Are we getting soft?  No.  Just getting smart :)  We still love to travel and if that means doing it within our budget, so be it. 

 There's nowhere Scott would rather apply sunscreen than on a tufted velvet high back.  You know?

 

 Rifling through my purse has got to be Tatum's favorite past time.  I swear she can find anything in there!

 Thanks Yelp for all the food recommendations!  Johnny's Po Boys (sandwiches) did not disappoint!

I had roast beef:

 And Scott got sausage.  

 Now on to the really good stuff:

 Beignets.  There are two shops vying for the fame in the French Quarter.  Cafe Du Monde and Cafe Beignet, which I will go over in the Part 2 post.  

 Basically, scones.  Really hot, delicious scones with more powdered sugar on top than you can dream up. They are puffy, buttery, sweet but not too-- they're delicious.  And if we're cutting to the chase, Cafe Du Monde won out!

 I just love this little girl!

Here is our only family shot in front of the Plaza de Armas:

And a walk through the French Market.  Just for the record, it is really, oppressively hot and humid.  We almost died.  Actually, Scott almost died, the girls held it together fairly well.  

 Alligator heads everywhere!

 Oh, and the band. Tatum's highlight was watching and dancing to the jazz.  Maybe Blues.  We're not super sure.  

The lowlight for me was tripping off a step and rolling my ankle whilst holding Tatum and landing us both in a gutter.  I still can't believe that even happened. One second I was walking along, the next, I was literally in a gutter calling for Scott to come get the child.  It really was the craziest thing!  And then Scott's like "Well, get OUT of the gutter!!  Are you serious?!?" and so I scooted myself back up onto the sidewalk but I was in too much shock and pain to stand up right away.  I just sort of walked it off and it all turned out fine, but that was super weird.  And, the rest of the night I saw 4 more people fall down.  One lady fell right into/bounced off a garbage dumpster.  Lets just say the streets there aren't super well maintained. Stay tuned for Part II. 

xo,

Stefanie