New Orleans / Gulf Shores Vacation!

Just got back from a great vacation to New Orleans and Gulf Shores, AL with my friend Nora, who came over from Germany! We were a little anxious as the weather kept looking worse and worse and, indeed, Tropical Storm Lee did put a damper on things. It rained almost constantly in New Orleans while we were there but we braved the precipitation and made the best of it! I was most certainly on the fence about New Orleans before we went. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. And, I will say, it's like no place I have ever seen before.

New Orleans

Shortly after arriving (and before Nora got there), I took a ride on the old St. Charles Streetcar to get my first glimpse of the French Quarter. (It would be my only ride; the rain shut it down for the rest of the trip.) I stood toward the front so I could see how it worked. Very interesting; I imagine it takes some decent training to drive one of those. I found the Quarter is a hodge-podge of everything you can imagine. It's very unique and local; one doesn't see many chains there with the exception of Canal ST. (Just ask Nora if she ever found a Starbucks.) I didn't last long on my solo trip, but we made several other visits during our stay. I would say my favorite spot in the Quarter was Pat O'Brien's Pub. In fact, we went there three times, twice for music and drinks and once to eat lunch. They had a great piano bar, we had fun singing along and even visiting with a few of the locals (one of which took our photo, above). We had to try a Hurricane of course; which I found most delicious. I also had a Rainstorm or two.... it just seemed appropriate to have both. ;-) We had some good food, naturally, including Masperros. And I even tried some Jambalaya. We had beignets at Cafe Du Monde, as everyone told us we MUST do. They were pretty good; reminded me of funnel cake.

We did some things outside of the quarter too. We ventured out and explored the area around our hotel and had some Voodoo BBQ, which I didn't find that much different than regular BBQ, but I'm no expert. We had drinks two nights at a charming old tavern just down from our hotel. We had the friendliest bartender one night; she made the visit even more enjoyable.

Our visit included a trip to the Garden District, which was full of characteristic old homes. I loved the porches (I love a good front porch). Many were double-decker porches. We saw quite a few "famous" homes, owned by actors and sports stars or homes that inspired books and movies. The sidewalks were of note here; the old trees had rooted them up where it was quite an experience in itself to walk on them. You might be walking along and have the sidewalk jump up 2'. We visited an old cemetery in the area. We had heard of NO cemeteries in a tour earlier; they certainty do things differently there. It's something else to walk through one. At the end of our tour we stopped at a book store (which was a favorite of the author Anne Rice) for a rest and snack.

Our last day we rented a car (that we would later drive to Gulf Shores) and visited an old plantation called Oak Alley. The weather was absolutely beautiful; we were soaking up the sunshine. The plantation was beautiful as well; the 300 year old trees were a sight to see, especially from the balcony of the home. It was the perfect end to the first part of our trip, and we had a beach to get to....

Gulf Shores

I had last been to Gulf Shores in 2008 and I was excited to go back. The weather, which at the beginning of our vacation looked to be stormy had cleared up and it looked like it would be quite nice. Then, I get the call.... the building our condo was in had some time of electrical fire or other failure and the Fire Marshall had closed it for two weeks. But, thankfully, with a little help back home, we were successfully moved to another building and it only turned out to be a minor inconvenience. So, off we went!

The weather, it turned out, was marvelous. The sun shined upon us the whole time (in truth, perhaps too much according to my peeling skin). We had a very low-key time. A lot of laying on the beach, playing in the waves and trying out some local places for food and entertainment. Having a room adjacent to the beach is marvelous. We had a balcony facing the beach (where we had breakfast in the mornings) and I left the door to my bedroom open each night and let the sound of the rolling waves put me to sleep. Absolutely amazing. The people in Gulf Shores are the friendliest I have ever encountered. I don't think we passed a single person without one of us saying hello or having someone ask how we were. I guess everyone is in such a good mood because they're in a great place! I finally got a little homesick on our last day there; which was quite good for me considering it was our 10th day of vacation.

So, overall, a great vacation! It's taken me a little bit to transition back to normalcy!

Photos on Facebook

New Orleans: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2146821762522.114157.1605636710&l=618328dffc&type=1

Gulf Shores: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2170986846634.114987.1605636710&l=35369f415c&type=1