The Big Easy

It's a good thing I didn't resolve to blog more this year since I've gone 10 days without posting. 

Hope your year is off to a great start! 

We rang in the new year from New Orleans, from the comfort of our "boutique" hotel room because we're an old married couple and still jaded about large crowds. 

As Nathanial puts it, our trip to Louisiana was great minus the few hours we spent at the Sugar Bowl. Ah the life of an OSU fan. 

We got into New Orleans the afternoon of New Year's Eve. We drove around the French Quarter for nearly an hour trying to find a parking spot so we could see the parade. We finally decided to check into our hotel and then ride the street car over to the parade. There wasn't much in the way of signage so we were lucky to hop on the right route. The street car was jam packed with people. 

The parade was short but so fun. My favorite parts were the local bands. They definitely had swagger. 

After the parade, we met up with some of Nathanial's college friends to catch the end of the OU game. 

We headed back to our room after dinner. We used Uber for the first time and it was a great experience! We even missed the surge pricing because we headed back so early. 

Our hotel was labeled as a botique hotel but apparently that just means super tiny room. It was fine for the short time we were in the city but I wouldn't recommend it for a long stay. 

We tried to do all the touristy things before the game Friday. We had beignets at Cafe Du Monde. 

We walked around the shops of the market and surrounding French Quarter. Our best finds were a Sugar Bowl ornament and some yummy beef jerky. 

We had lunch at Mr. B's as recommended by my brother who frequents New Orleands for work. 

I had the shrimp. It was so messy.  

Nathanial got the bourbon pork chop and had a much better dining experience. 

We spent time after lunch exploring the city and then it was finally time for the game. 

It was raining pretty hard so we used Uber again. There was a pretty long line to get into the Superdome. Nathanial forgot he had his pocket knife on him and got scolded and had to throw it away before we could go inside. Criminal. 

Our seats were on the 50 yard line. Despite the blowout, it was still a fun game. 

We didn't get back from the game until after midnight so we had a pretty leisurely start to the day on Saturday. We decided to stop by the Oak Alley Plantation on our way home. It was my favorite part of the trip!

The tour was fascinating. I was especially impressed by the cedar wood surround that was painted by French artists to look like marble. 

Nathanial also took Monday off so we rounded out the weekend with some time outdoors at the family property. 

Some Mondays aren't so bad!