ROAD TRIP TO NYC - DAY 7 & 8

This will be a bigger post just cause Day 7 is pretty small and Day 8 is pretty big. So here it goes. We woke up pretty early in Austin to leave and head to New Orleans. We went to this place called, Magnolia Cafe. Got a bomb ass omelette with lemon sour cream on it. Twas very good.

Leaving, we saw this guy. Which made me smile.

Not much else to see on that drive. We stopped in Houston to grab some food. Went to a highly recommended pizza place called Luigis. It did not disappoint. 

We finally got into New Orleans around 8 or so. And were starving so we walked around the streets for a little bit. Went down Bourbon Street and realized it is even more gross than what people told us. 

We ended up at a pub and got some chicken sandwiches and some drinks. Really good Lynchburg Lemonade. And Mal got some sort of sugar blasted frozen drink. Also pretty tasty.

We were pretty beat from driving all day after that so we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep and then waking up early for a full day of New Orleans.

Road Trip to NYC - Day 8

Mal and I stayed at this super old hotel right on the edge of the water called the French Market Inn. We booked a room with no windows, but were surprised when we walked into our room and it had a view. And one of the springiest beds imaginable. You win some and lose some. Mal kept raving about this place called Cafe du Monde. So we went there for breakfast. And by breakfast I mean dessert. We had what tasted just like a funnel cake. But in sphere form. Covered in powdered sugar. A Benign or something. Perfect for a diabetic.

One of the coolest things about New Orleans is the architecture. It is amazing. It’s like walking around Disneyland all day. 

It was also very cool to see the two colleges in the the city. Tulane and Loyola are both beautiful campuses and right in the center of the neighborhood, which is awesome.

It was also highly recommended that we go up to the cemetery district and just walk around. Seeing graves that had been there for almost 200 years is almost a bit overwhelming.

Like I said before, we had an awesome friend giving us tips of where to go. She hadn’t steered us wrong yet, so we decided to go with her recommendation on fried chicken. Willie Mae’s Scotch House was by far the best fried chicken I have ever had. Every bite had a distinct flavor. Whether it was the saltiness, the juiciness, or the crispness of the fried skin, it was amazing. Also some of the best cornbread I have ever had. 

After that meal, which was just lunch by the way, we decided to walk it off by heading to the north west area of New Orleans. Tons of awesome houses and we came across this park which looked like a scene out of a movie.

We took another recommendation and went to a place called The Columns Hotel for a mint julep. This place straight up looked like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. 

And had by far the best Mint Julep I have ever had. 

We were told to go to a street called Magazine Street and just walk around. Reminded us a lot of North Park. Which we liked. We ended up passing this. Which really just made Mal’s day.

Then we found a bar called the Bulldog. They had by far the best beer selection that we had seen so far. Mal and I both had a couple. I became a big fan of Abita at this place. More specifically Abita Andygator. Mmmmm.

Plus, in their little courtyard outside, they had this insane fountain. Just stare at it for a little bit. Take it in.

So awesome. That night we knew we wanted to see a good jazz show somewhere far away from Bourbon Street. (which I am pretty sure gave me the clap just by walking on it). So we went to the eastern area of New Orleans to a bar called The Spotted Cat. Pretty packed in there for what looked like the most hipsteresque band I could have imagined. But to our surprise, they were very jazz oriented. And pretty good. Drinks were a little bit expensive so we crossed the street and went to a bar called D.B.A. where to our surprise, The Treme Brass Band, the real one, was playing for 5 bucks. Naturally we stepped in and enjoyed ourselves for a couple hours.

From walking and eating all day, we were pretty exhausted. So we headed back to the hotel around 1:30 in the anticipation of waking up early and heading to Nashville.