Note for our readers: this blog was written entirely by Keith with no additions from Cori. They may come later, we'll see.

Day Zero: Travel Day

We arrived Sunday evening around 7, but with the time zone change and switch from DST it felt like 9. And to beat Cori to the punch, we are staying at The Pelham Hotel which is right off Canal Street. It has the same vibes as the Hotel Monaco in DC, in that the building is a bit older and the decor is similar. We ordered Moe’s to our hotel, because when given the option, that’s what we do. Then we went to bed, at which time I learned that New Orleans likes to make noise at night. And I don’t mean sirens or drunks like any city, more like municipal waste emptying dumpsters. This plus the bed led to not restful sleep.

Day One in Town

Cori was up before me, which is abnormal. She enjoyed walking the city and got coffee. When I arose, we decided to try The Ruby Slipper next door for breakfast. I had a Southern breakfast (eggs, bacon, grits, fried green tomatoes, and a biscuit) and Cori had the biscuits and gravy (biscuit, gravy, eggs, and bacon). I also had the first drink of the day with a pineapple mimosa. During breakfast, we made some plans for the week and booked the city hop-on-hop-off bus tour, including a visit to the WWII museum. The closest stop for the bus is on Canal Street right near our hotel, so that is convenient. We took that to the museum, which is truly something I recommend anyone do if anyone is visiting. It was originally going to just be a D-Day museum until it was made the National WWII museum and they expanded their exhibits to include pretty much every part the US was involved in the War. Much of the museum was sponsored by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in memory of their relatives. 

For lunch, we split a hot dog at the museum soda pop shop before heading back on the bus to do a full loop to scope out what we wanted to do the following days. 

We then made our way dinner and drinks at Acme Oyster House. We split some chargrilled oysters, I had my first but not last roast beef po boy of the trip accompanied by some hush puppies, and Cori had some bang bang shrimp. To wash it down, I had an old fashioned and Cori had a prickly pear mojito. 

After food, we went to the Carousel Bar for more cocktails. Cori had French 75s and I had a Pimm’s Cup and a Sazerac. We then wandered to Toulouse Dive Bar which had two great things going for it: it was empty and it had a mostly metal jukebox. Third thing it had going for it: I found out when we got the bill that it is dirt cheap.  After a few more drinks, we walked home via Bourbon Street. Had a cheeky little stop at Krystal (Cori was not impressed) and went back to our hotel for a long autumnal nap.

Day 2

Cori again arose before me and went about town taking pictures and getting coffee. Sleep was still not great for me, but it was better than the first night. In her great wisdom, Cori secured ear plugs for me. We then made our way to breakfast at one of Cori’s faves from her work trips, The Fourth Wall. It was a great coffeehouse and I had a boudin roll and a pumpkin scone to accompany my macchiato. We then hopped on the bus for another tour guide’s interesting facts about the city.  We landed at the French Market for a quick bite: a muffuletta for me and grilled cheese for Cori. We then did a bit of shopping before our river cruise. 

We hopped aboard the Creole Queen, which took us to the 1815 Chalmette Battlefield. Since the government is shut down, the boat’s tour guide was happy to give us the history of the battle there. It was a very interesting history of how the American prevailed against the British with the help of some pirates. Afterward on the boat ride back, the guide gave us a history of Hurricane Katrina. 

We then made our way to Dragos for dinner. We had a crab dip that was more reminiscent of cream of crab soup. Cori had shrimp and grits while I had red beans and rice.

Day 3

When I arose Cori was already down at the Ruby Slipper, doing her morning things. I met her down there for breakfast. This time I had the biscuits and gravy and she had avocado toast. We then made our way back on the bus for another tour as you get much different information from the different tour guides. Except they almost always mention the house that was on The Real World. We took that two times and then got off at Jackson Square. 

We strolled along until we found lunch amongst creatures of the night, albeit in the middle of the day. That’s a long way to say we went to The Vampire Cafe. We had drinks served in blood bags and salads for some much-needed veggies. We finished our meal with little bat chocolates. We then set our eyes to our next destination which was a shop to satisfy my travel souvenir needs: dice for DnD. This particular store was pretty cool since it specialized in designer playing cards. I got one based on the Mistborn book series and Cori got one that the owner of the shop had designed based on New Orleans. 

After that, Cori and I were pretty beat and decided to head back to our hotel. There is a risk associated with going back to the hotel to relax. Sometimes that means we are done for the night. We ordered in from a Place called Tacos and Beer. I had a birria torta (aka Mexican Po Boy) and Cori had a Quesadilla. I also put on the Caps game to see them win 6-1 against the Blues and Ovechkin score his 900th goal.

Day 4

I doubled checked some recommendations I received before the trip and we hit up Mother’s for breakfast. This was recommended by a coworker and all the bus tour guides and they did not disappoint. I had and egg and debris brisket along with Grits and a bran muffin. Cori had a waffle, sausage and a cookie. While sitting we found they offered free ham cracklins. After that delicious meal we headed over to a coffee shop called Lagniappe Bakehouse before the Southern Food and Beverage Museum opened up. It was a pretty cool museum that showed state by state their influence on  southern cuisine and bars. I would say the Maryland portion was well done. I would be remiss to say they missed Pepperoni Rolls in WV. 

We then decided it was a good time to pamper ourselves at a spa.  And by spa I do mean a foot massage parlor which was very relaxing. We then made our way to lunch at Pierre Maspero’s. I had gumbo and meat pies while Cori had a caesar salad.  We had some time before our show at Preservation Hall so we did some shopping before stopping at a bar on Bourbon that I liked from my last visit Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub for some libations.  After that we decided to grab few more and one to go at Toulouse Dive bar before our show. 

We then went to Preservation Hall for a Jazz show. It is a very small room so you in there close with the musicians and I highly recommend it. Then as the night got ahold of us we grabbed some street food and made our way to the hotel.

Day 5 

The journey home. We went to the airport and went home.