We've been in Florida for almost two months and we are bored. HA! How many times can we go to the beach? So, Matt and I started looking at a map and were checking how far things were from where we are in Florida. Just for future reference, Fort Walton Beach is in the middle of nowhere! In looking at the map we started talking about where to go and what to do, and we had talked about New Orleans. It has always been sort of a running joke with me and Matt about Mardi Gras and the whole bead issue. As in, he can have beads to give away but I wasn't "allowed" to get beads. Which is fine with me because normally you get beads by flashing guys with beads, since Matt is the only man who will ever see my boobs I was destine to never receive any beads anyhoo.
We wake up on Saturday morning (9/26/09) and Matt asks me if I want to go to New Orleans, and I say sure, let's go. So we pack up an overnight bag, grab the kids and are on the road by 10am. It's a 4 hour drive from Fort Walton Beach to New Orleans, it's a boring 4 hours too, I kept looking out the window at the swamps we were driving by trying to see an alligator.....I don't think I saw any, saw something but we went by to fast to be sure it wasn't just a stick in the mud. We drove through, Florida, into Alabama, then into Mississippi, and finally into Louisiana. We crossed Lake Pontchartrain, a very, very long bridge and we got into the outskirts of New Orleans. I think Matt put it best, "It looks gamey." There were so many water damaged houses, and half finished repairs, it looked very depressed. I would have loved to see the area before hurricane Katrina to have a basis of comparison.
I had the GPS set to the French Quarter of New Orleans so we got off the 10 freeway on Canal Street and then drove down through downtown New Orleans to Bourbon Street. I think most adults have heard stories about Mardi Gras and know that the French Quarter is all about partying. Let me tell you Bourbon Street isn't very kid friendly, with Larry Flynn's Hustler bar, and every imaginable sex shop dealing their wares right out on the street. I was worried that we had made a horrible mistake. So we drove down Bourbon street, and then got off of Bourbon street and on to Royal Street. We were looking for a hotel, so I was calling places as we were driving by to see what their rate for the night was and if they had any rooms available. I had read about the Andrew Jackson Hotel online before we had left and it sounded nice, and so when we drove by it, I called and they had a room at a reasonable rate ($119 per night, some of the other places I called wanted $250 a night).
Now parking in the French Quarter is non-existent. We were able to stop long enough to unload me and the kids with the luggage and then Matt had to go off and find public parking a few blocks away.
After getting settled in our room, and Matt had made his way back to the hotel, we set off to explore. In the entry way of the hotel they had all of those many, many flyer's telling all about the many, many things to do in New Orleans. Madeline LOVES to grab one of each of those things every time we go somewhere new. I was looking at them along with her and I found one that talked about a Haunted History Tour of the French Quarter. It started at 6pm and went to 8pm. Perfect, not too late but late enough that it would be dark by the time we were done. It was to meet in front of the Rev. Zombies Voodoo shop. We were off, we walked down Royal and then we went up to Bourbon. I should have known better, from our drive in, but it's Bourbon street, you have to go to Bourbon street.....right? Well, we walked the entire length of Bourbon street, and let's just say the kids are fine, but I am mentally scared for life. The "shillers" on the street were crazy. One guy told Matt, "If he's (Connor)got a fake ID he can come in too." He was trying to get them into a strip club. Another "club" had a girl in a very small bikini in the door way and directly behind her was a photo of two girls getting "busy". Very explicit.
On the good side of that, there were musicians playing music in the streets, and it was good music, very festive. There were magicians, and all sorts of different performers. The atmosphere was very much like carnival. Needless to say, I had one kid and Matt had the other one by the hand at all times. It was hot and muggy and at one point started to pour, and of course we were on Bourbon street....where to go, where to go.....we found a gift shop/voodoo shop and went in and looked around while we waited for the rain to stop. Just like in Florida it never rains for very long.
We were getting hungry so we were looking for a place to eat and saw an Oyster Bar, it looked good so we went in, just in time because it was starting to rain again. I ordered a Muffaletta sandwich, and Matt had crab corn bisque. My sandwich was HUGE. There was no way I was going to be able to get my mouth around the whole sandwich, so I took it apart and ate it piece by piece. Oh man, it was sooo good. Ham, prosciutto, and salami topped with an olive salad. Yummy has a new name and it's Muffaletta.
After dinner it was time to meet up with the Haunted History Tour. We had a really good guide, his name was Midian and was very informative. He took us to a lot of different haunted houses and businesses. While we were going we noticed that we were close to our hotel, so I leaned over and asked Matt if I should ask about our hotel, he said sure, so when Midian was done with the Corn Stalk Hotel (apparently where Elvis stayed while filming King Creole) I asked him about the Andrew Jackson, he asked if we were staying there, and I said yep, and then he goes into these stories about how it was haunted by small boys from when I was a boys school and guests can hear children playing in the courtyard when there aren't any children staying at the hotel. Then he tells us about how one couple had a few photos left on a disposable camera and when they went to have them developed they were shocked to see three photos taken of them in the hotel while they were sleeping, and they were taken from the ceiling!!! The kids eyes got huge at that one. He also told us about guests who had the covers pulled off of them in the middle of the night. Okay, so we are staying in a haunted hotel. That was on my life's to-do list, so I can check that off.
The Haunted History Tour was very good. It took us all around the French Quarter and showed us things that weren't Mardi Gras and was filled with history. We saw Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, the oldest building in New Orleans, originally built in 1770. Then we saw the most haunted house in New Orleans, the Lalaurie House. This place was the sight of some gruesome experiments done on the slaves, and murders. Presently, the house is owned by Nicholas Cage. Apparently, he will have dinner in the house but will not sleep there. The stories churned my stomach, and I was a little worried it was a bit much for the kids. But the kids seemed to be fine, listening and not freaking out. After the tour ended back at St Louis Cathedral, we went and had gelato for dessert. I had a mojito gelato that was super yummy.
The night went by without incident. The only strange thing that I could see was that I was freezing. Matt was laughing at me because it was crazy hot outside, but I was freezing cold. I had to get an extra blanket out of the closet and the instant I got that extra blanket, I fell asleep.
The next morning, we got up and went down to Cafe' Du Monde' It is a famous cafe' at the French Market. It has been open 24 hours a day 7 days a week since the early 1860's. We had cafe' au lait with beignets. Oh, so good. The coffee was so good and the beignets were fresh and hot and covered in powdered sugar. The kids were happy because they were basically getting a donut for breakfast. We walked around a little bit more and I have to say that the atmosphere of the French Quarter from Saturday night to Sunday morning changed dramatically. There was no traffic and hardly anyone was out and about. While we were trying to find Connor an alligator head (that's what he wanted for his souvenir) we saw street cleaners and sidewalk washers. Wow, I have to say how nice it was to smell the sidewalk washer's cleaning solution rather than the icky sewer smell that continually wafted up as we were walking around. New Orleans smelled of sewage and old beer, mixed with an undertone of puke. Of course you have to understand that over the years a ton of people have come through and the smell I would think is to be expected.
We left about 24 hours after getting there. It was a fun trip and memorable. I am glad that we went.
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