New Orleans - Day One

At the end of February my sister in law was blessed with a baby.. so we packed our bags and flew down to Houston to meet the munchkin. This was not our first trip to Houston.. and since most of the family was house bound with the baby we thought we'd take a little drive to New Orleans before heading back home.

We got a rent a car and drove the six-ish thank god almost uneventful hours to the Big Easy.. 10 minutes away from the rental car office H threw up in the car. We had to pull over and clean everything.. returned the car and hoped in a taxi to our hotel. Not a great way to start the trip. We were staying at The Whitney don't you just love the name. A little history.. The Whitney is a Louisiana based bank.. and the hotel is based inside the city's first Whitney Bank branch dating back to the 1980's. They have restored the bank's original lobby to function as the hotel lobby. We got cleaned up and headed out to dinner.. just a short walk away. Just like Florida and Houston, New Orleans was cold. :(
We ate at Juan's Flying Burrito. There are no food pictures because we were tired and H was not in a very sit in his seat type mood. And while this place was supposed to have the best Mexican food in NOLA we have had better.. it was alright. We wandered about a bit in the cold before making our way back to the hotel.

We started of the next slightly chilly day off with some breakfast at the Ruby Slipper Cafe.. another place with great reviews and a long wait to prove it. M had the Corned Beef Bennie and I had the Louisiana Shrimp Omelet and D had the Double Chocolate Pancake

D dove right into his pancakes immediately and everything was going pretty good until it wasn't and D threw up everywhere. That pretty much ended breakfast.. we got him cleaned up and headed towards the French Quarter..

We roamed French Street and Royal Street.. Bourbon Street.. saw street performers and art.. so much art.. D was especially taken by the rotating dog.

The St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square..  and while we sat on the steps being entertained by the hilariously talented Dragon Master Showcase troupe M stood in line for the famed cafe au lait and beignets of Cafe Du Monde. We take our first sips and first bites and D hurls up some more of his chocolaty breakfast..!! Thank God I was carrying plastic bags.. but what exactly is the protocol for cleaning up/leaving vomit sitting on the steps? We covered it with all the tissues and napkins we had and just left. Escaped to the River Walk.. ate our cold beignets and tried to cool down our  my temper, frustration.. the fact that cafe au lait's are gross and a sorry excuse for coffee did not help. It tasted like warm watered down milk..

We walked along the River Walk but D was now without a sweatshirt.. it was cold and the last thing on our mind was lunch..

Back at the hotel the boys settled for a nap.. but it wasn't long before D vomited yet again.. and this time in bed.. he bathed and went back to sleep while the very helpful and nice hotel cleaning service changed the sheets. D woke up just before dark and we bravely headed back out.

We rode the St. Charles Street Car.. D had been waiting to sit on it all day.. we bought a 3 day pass which was very convenient and rode through the Garden District taking in all the big beautiful houses. Our destination The Camellia Grill. There are usually lines around the block to a seat.. lucky us.. we were early and there was three seats open. The landmark diner has an interesting seating arrangement.

and while the food may not have looked very appetizing.. it was so so good. 

I had the Harry Yankee's Special and M the Chicken and Waffles and we ordered a slice of Chocolate Pecan Pie to go.. D has nut allergies so we saved it for after the boys went to bed and destroyed all the evidence.

I really thought I'd be able to sum up our whole Nola adventure in one post.. but it seems to be getting long and we have two more days to go.. So I'll see back here next week :)

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