new orleans!
we’ve been in new orleans the past few days! earlier this summer, the city of new orleans invited us down for a few days to explore and we decided it was too good of an experience to pass up! josh and i had never been before, so we were excited at the chance to explore a new place full of so much history (and good food! who are we kidding.) thank you to everyone who gave us such great recommendations via twitter and instagram this past week on where to go and what to do! we have done several of your recs and you have not disappointed!
several photos below if you’d like to see…
^^^breakfast at elizabeth’s in the bywater. if you go, the biscuits are a huge must. (we put honey on them.) we keep talking about them.^^^
^^^we grabbed beignets at cafe beignet on our way to a concert one evening and they were delicious. a tiny bird landed on our table while we ate and eleanor tossed him a little piece of her beignet so he stayed and ate with us for a good 30 seconds! the kids were so thrilled to have a birdy join us for dessert! when he flew away we were all a little bummed, but we sat a few feet away from the steamboat willie jazz band, so it was all good.^^^
^^^quick walk past the famous bourbon street on our way to dinner one night. that’s an interesting place! ;) ^^^
^^^we saw a jazz concert at preservation hall, and hands down, our favorite part of the trip! i will never forget eleanor and samson’s faces as they listened to that music. they clapped and clapped and samson kept asking if he could give them money (he’s used to tipping the street performers in new york city because we love them so much, and he takes his job of supporting the arts very very seriously. haha!), so we let him tip them a couple times during the show. eleanor has also requested clarinet lessons, so that was kind of adorable as well. but seriously, what incredible music!^^^
(ps. there are so many photos in this post (sorry, i can’t help it), i made it a “CLICK TO READ MORE”. so click the yellow button to see the rest…)
^^^po boy sandwiches at parkway bakery and tavern! we tried the fried oysters po boy and the classic hot roast beef with gravy. the fried oysters was our favorite. and that’s saying something because i’m not an oyster girl.^^^
^^^um. can i live here? how happy is this darling little home?^^^
^^^we spent an afternoon in city park where samson enjoyed trying to play with the ducks while eleanor napped in the stroller.^^^
^^^we planned to stop by the carousel gardens amusement park at city park, but sadly they are closed on mondays and we didn’t think to check that beforehand, so that was a little disappointing. from the closed gates though it looked pretty fun. guess we’ll have to come back to new orleans again someday!^^^
^^^we made up for the closed amusement park by canoeing in the big lake across the street instead!^^^
^^^and a quick stroll through the new orleans museum of art’s sculpture garden.^^^
^^^our beloved new orleans imperial woodpecker snoballs stand that used to spend summers in new york city has moved back to new orleans this summer. i have been bummed about this all year missing out on my new orleans snoballs in new york, so we made it a top priority to find neesa’s snoball stand in new orleans on our first day. it was so fun to see her again and get our fill of shave ice (with condensed milk on top! the only way! so so good.) ^^^
^^^we did a walking tour of the garden district one morning in-between a few crazy thunder storms! that area is full of some of the most beautiful homes and it was fun to hear all about the history of the neighborhood. apparently it’s been infiltrated by celebrities. i felt like many of the homes were introduced as, “so and so lives here, or so and so lives here.” i can see why though – it really is something else.
^^^see what i mean? breathtaking!^^^
^^^we also toured the layfayette cemetery no. 1 while in the garden district.^^^
^^^thanks to everyones recommendations, we had dinner at EAT one night. josh tried the crawfish pie and i had the chicken and dumplings. the chicken and dumplings was probably my favorite meal of new orleans. it was really good.^^^
^^^we brought umbrellas with us one morning because it kept raining on and off. i think it must have felt like christmas morning for our kids to get to carry those around with them. it’s so funny what makes them so happy sometimes. ^^^
^^^and riding the street cars is always a family highlight!^^^
new orleans, you’ve been a lot of fun so far! even if you are terribly humid and hot during the day. thanks again to everyone who helped recommend fun things to eat and do here.
this post is in partnership with the city of new orleans (NOTMC). thank you again for inviting us to experience your beautiful city.
ps. for those who’ve asked below, my tee is from HERE (it’s not maternity, but works well either way!)
