New orleans
New Orleans was the first trip we took together…and the city where we fell in love.
It was a disaster of a weekend, but bad days make good stories and good stories make us interesting at parties.
We hope you enjoy the city as much as we have
Things to See
Our Recommendations
The Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge is the only revolving bar in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bar is inside the Hotel Monteleone and overlooks Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Installed in 1949, the 25-seat circular bar rotates at a rate of one revolution every 15 minutes. This may seem slow but speaking from experience, it gets a lot more tricky once you’ve had a few of their delicious drinks.
The carousel bar
The Roosevelt Lobby
The Roosevelt’s lobby is a dazzler during the holidays. Take a stroll through a winter wonderland of birch branches and Christmas trees, twinkling with more than 60,000 lights. There’s even a gingerbread village illustrating the beloved Louisiana holiday classic “Cajun Night Before Christmas,” with alligators replacing Santa’s reindeer. Careful though, according to Cody it can get claustrophobic with the crowds.
Hailed as the oldest bar in the United States, and most definitely the oldest building currently in use as a bar, Lafitte’s is housed in a French-built structure that dates from roughly 1722 -- the details, like so much of New Orleans lore, are sketchy. Originally a blacksmith shop owned by Jean Lafitte, pirate turned American war hero, the building was supposedly used as a smuggling front. Located on Bourbon Street, it is a sanctuary from the beads and chaos. You can even catch a piano player that knows a shocking number of songs and will play you anything for a tip.
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar
New Orleans Staples
Located right across the street from St. Louis Cathedral and steps away from the Mississippi River, this square and its central monument, have become one of the most popular places for tourists to take a selfie in New Orleans. In addition to providing an excellent photo opportunity, this location is also one of the most popular parks in the city. Be sure to check out the street performances, art and maybe even have your cards read.
Jackson Square
Mardi Gras World
A behind the scenes tour of one of America's most renowned (and most raucous) celebrations with a close-up look at some of the flamboyant floats and costumes used during New Orleans' famous party. One thing to know upfront: This isn't a museum – it's a warehouse workshop where new floats are being completed and old floats are stored. Take the self-guided tour through the maze of props to learn about the festival's history.
JAMNOLA
JAMNOLA stands for "joy, art and music New Orleans," and is one of the city's more unique and relatively new attractions. Described as a "cultural funhouse," the pop-up art installation opened in 2020 and houses 12 exhibits. Each Instagrammable room in this experimental space tells a quintessential New Orleans story through the creations of more than 20 local artists. There are plenty of opportunities for fun photos and is a great activity for all ages thanks to the interactive nature of the displays.
Things to do
our recommendations
One of my favorite parts of New Orleans is the magic of the city. There are tarot and palm readers on every corner, voodoo shops lining the blocks, haunted houses, cemeteries and ghost tours everywhere you look. Explore the mystic and see what your future holds.
Explore The magic
New Orleans is one of the few places in the United States where pirates once reigned. Learn all about this exciting chapter of New Orleans history on a pirate-themed history tour of the French Quarter. As you walk through Jackson Square and other historical areas, your guide shares stories of sword fights, smuggling, and the Battle of New Orleans that keep you hooked. Check it out here!
Pirate Tour
Got an hour to kill and want to test your problem solving skills? Try an escape room! It was a long standing tradition for my second date to be an escape room, if you couldn’t handle me stressed trying to win a game how on earth would you handle a real life crisis? Luckily, Cody passed the test. Check out rooms here, here and here.
find an escape room
new orleans staples
Explore The Swamp
For something truly different from ghost tours and bar crawls in New Orleans, immerse yourself in details of the conflict that rocked the world at the National WWII Museum. The sprawling, state-of-the-art campus presents a fascinating personal and political overview of World War II through human stories, interactive displays, 4D videos, and original artifacts including war machines. Tickets here
WWII Museum
New Orleans is the city of Jazz and music is in the air. You can find something to catch your ear everywhere you go. Walk down Bourbon Street and stick your head in a few clubs, Visit the Jazz Museum, try and catch a second line marching downtown, or even wander around the French Quarter to catch a street performance or two.
Find some music
Things to Taste
our recommendations
A Bourbon Street classic — a plastic fish bowl with a lid, straw and strap comes in only one flavor ~ red fruit punch. It's a version of "Jungle Juice" just like the days of College or High School for some, filled with fruit punch Vodka, Tequila, Rum, and Everclear. Be warned the strap is NOT strong enough to hold a full fishbowl — so better drink up!
fishbowl - Fais Deaux Deaux
pizza - Crescent City Pizza Works
The first time I had this pizza it was New Years and absolutely pouring. We were soaked and definitely not sober and this pizza became the highlight of our evening. The next day we chalked it up to drinks and sleep deprivation, especially since we couldn’t find it again, but when I returned years later with Cody we had to find it and give it a try, and it did not disappoint. The slices are huge, the atmosphere shockingly chill for being just off Bourbon Street, and the pizza appropriately New York Style. If you are looking for a quick, cheap bite (sober or not) this is definitely the place to check out.
While not a New Orleans exclusive Olive Garden makes the cut for one simple reason, tradition. Kaelyn has had a long standing tradition on her trips of visiting an Olive Garden. While this New Orleans location does not have the elusive Olive Garden ranch you should be sure to ask for some scissors if you order the spaghetti. Remember, when you’re here you’re family.
Olive Garden
new orleans staples
Since 1862 the Original French Market Coffee Stand serving Cafe Au lait and Beignets. A New Orleans landmark, located on Jackson Square, Cafe du Monde offers the original beignet, the state doughnut of Louisiana. Coffee and Chicory is a New Orleans favorite, served mixed with hot milk as cafe au lait.
beignets - cafe du monde
Coop’s Creole jambalaya is truly outstanding. It’s packed with local seasonings and comes with boneless rabbit, smoked pork sausage, plus tomatoes and the trinity. You can also get a jambalaya and salad combo. Coop’s excellent Cajun fried chicken plate comes in a variety of pieces and is served with jambalaya and coleslaw. Pasta jambalaya also makes an appearance, with shrimp, smoked sausage and tasso. Coop’s is popular with locals and tourists, so it can get busy and loud. Please also note that it’s 21 and older only, even the restaurant seating area, because of the video poker machines on premises.
jambalaya - coop’s place
po’ boy - Parkway bar & tavern
This Po Boy shop and tavern, which opened in 1911, over a century ago, became ‘destination dining’ for tourists visiting the Crescent City. Parkway Bar and Tavern isn’t fancy. The walls are covered with old menus and other memorabilia. But the kitschy decor, while charming in its own way, isn’t the reason why both locals and tourists trek to Mid City. They come for the Po Boys.
