this (long) weekend: new orleans {part 3}

Sunday was our most touristy (it's a real word, I looked it up) day in New Orleans. We started of at Jackson Square, browsing the art vendors' works, but were focused on our primary destination, Cafe Du Monde, on the other side.

We waited about 15 minutes to get seated, ordered the requisite beignet's and hot chocolate (coffee for me), and chatted until I felt a warm, wet sensation on my lap.  Ella had completely peed through her diaper.  I quickly got up, grabbed my diaper bag and we headed to the restrooms at the Cafe.  Big mistake!  Has anyone been in these things before?  They were tiny and GROSS.  But what choice did I have.  The pee was continuing to seep through her pants as I contemplated my options.  No where to set my bag down except the floor.  No where to change her except the floor.  So, the floor it was.  I luckily had a changing pad in my bag to layout before putting her down but, after I changed her diaper, I realized that I had no back-up pants!

So I dried her pants as much as I could, pulled them back on, and we went back to our table to enjoy our beignet's.  They were delicious and immediately snapped me out of my pee-induced funk.  And after we finished we headed to Baby One, right down the street, for a new pair of pants.

With the new, dry pants in place, we headed out on our walking tour of the French Quarter.  We hit-up Molly's on the Market for an Iced Irish Coffee (amazing), strolled down Royal Street browsing the galleries and antique shops, and then, as soon as Ella fell asleep, began to make our way down Bourbon Street.  It's one of those places you just have to see (and smell) to understand what it's really like.  We came, we saw, we gawked, we held our noses, and we left.  Perhaps the one place on Bourbon Street worth visiting, however, is Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, believed to be the oldest building used as a bar in the US.  This is also the first (and hopefully last) location at which Ella received a strand of beads.  That's what you get for being overly friendly to a nice drunk wandering by.

We ended our tour at Bar Tonique for an excellent cocktail and then went in search of a place with great food and good happy hour deals!  Borgne was the perfect respite from the grit of the Quarter.  We snacked on Catfish Sliders, Pork Empanadas, Duck Poppers, and Crawfish Croquetas.

This is the last post on our fantastic trip to New Orleans.  We didn't get to visit nearly everything we would have liked to so I guess we'll just have to go back!

this (long) weekend: New Orleans! {part 2}

Saturday, our take-it-easy day, started at Palmer Park, just down the street from our gracious host's home. Ella hadn't been on an outdoor playground since our December visit to see my mother in Florida. It was incredible to see how much she's grown and learned. She has gained an amazing steadiness, and the increased coordination of her arms and legs is amazing to see. She rode on her first big girl swing and tackled her first climbing wall.

We hit up Crabby Jack's for lunch: gigantic shrimp po-boys and gumbo.

With a babysitter lined up for the evening (from Cincinnati even, go figure), we went to dinner at The Country Club with our hosts and several of their good friends.  The meal was solid but had a clear winner: a grilled duck confit with nutella, apple butter and mozzarella sandwich.  Sounded so crazy, we had to try it!

Afterward, we headed to Blue Nile on historic Frenchman Street to hear Big Sam's Funky Nation.  I had no idea what to expect, but the music was incredible and the dancing, even better!

this (long) weekend: New Orleans! {part 1}

This post is a few days late but certainly (at least I hope) NOT a few dollars short!  I put in lots of Adobe time for this one folks!

This weekend we traveled to New Orleans, a first for everyone in the family, to visit a good friend of my husband's, and his girlfriend. The trip did not disappoint! Thanks to our wonderful hosts, we were able to experience the great food, drinks, and sites of character-rich New Orleans.  And because I have so much to share, I'll post the details over several days.  First up: Friday!

It was a cool 45 degrees, but being the sun starved northerners we are, we thought it would be great to spend it outside, walking the almost 3 miles to the Audubon Zoo. In retrospect, we probably should have taken the bus. I have never seen sidewalks in worse condition than those in New Orleans! Between the ancient oaks and poor maintenance, we had a challenge getting the stroller up and over all of the cracks and seismic steps! Ella's first visit to a zoo was fantastic and ended with her first carousel ride (on a panda of course). 

We headed north to Lakeview to Susan Spicer's Mondo New Orleans for dinner; a great neighborhood restaurant with amazing food and a family friendly atmosphere. We started with a huge selection of appetizers: steamed pork buns with sesame snow pea slaw, chicken lover pate with creole mustard and crostini, and a duck pizza with eggs over easy (trust me, it was delicious). Is your mouth watering yet? I enjoyed an order of steamed mussels and chorizo in a garlic sherry broth for my main course. I was so consumed with my own meal that I can't even tell you what my husband ordered!