27th Birthday
in New Orleans
We at the Hotel Motel Holidayyyy Inn
I cannot recommend the Holiday Inn French Quarter-Chateau Lemoyne enough. Not only is it in the PERFECT location, the rooms are reasonably priced, super cute, and supposedly haunted! The hotel’s restaurant/bar Cafe Bienville is also worth talking about, it’s super convenient to stop by and grab a regularly priced drink before heading out to bourbon street, where the drinks can be much more expensive. The bartender even made me a custom birthday drink with cucumber, mint, pineapple juice, and rum which later became that days special (I’m kind of a big deal). But really, it was sooooo delicious and fresh, I drank at least 5 of them.
Beignet, done that…
A trip to New Orleans is not complete without stuffing yourself full of beignets... probably multiple times. So of course, you have to go to Café Du Monde, because that’s just what you do in NOLA. Their menu is short, it basically consists of coffee and beignets but so worth it, also I recommend the Café Au Lait for a nice warm drink. If you want to switch it up and maybe grab some other traditional breakfast foods alongside the beignets, consider trying Café Beignet! Personally, I preferred the beignets here more than Café Du Monde, but either way a beignet is a beignet.
Voodoo and such:
You haveee to do a spooky tour! We did our tour with (hauntedhistorytours.com) and we chose the 5 in 1 tour. Our tour guide, Drew, was the absolute best (you should totally request him)! He was so knowledgeable and a great storyteller, you could tell he’s very passionate about what he does.
If you enjoy voodoo/hoodoo or just the spiritual, strange, and unusual you for sure have to check out Haus of Hoodoo and Marie Laveau's House Of Voodoo. Keep in mind you cannot take pictures inside of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo, It doesn’t hurt to educate yourself on hoodoo and voodoo and the differences between the two prior to your trip.
If you are into taboo, macabre, and just downright dark things I highly recommend the Museum of Death. Here is the warning you don’t get at the museum: *There are tons and tons of videos and pictures of actual dead people, like gruesome deaths*. I just personally feel like you should understand what it’s all about before going in. But that aside there is a ton of super interesting stuff in there like actual original art made by serial killers while they were in jail. So, if you have the stomach for it totally check it out!
Street Performances
CARRY SOME CASH just about anywhere you go in NOLA there are tons of street performers of all varieties. There are musicians all over the place and there is ALWAYS jazz music in the air. There are also magicians, painters, and tarot readers you should totally stop and admire their talent and take some pictures, but if you do that you should also TIP THEM don’t forget, you are taking advantage of their services, just keep that in mind.
Food:
I already touched on beignets, but you also have to get some po boys, gumbo, or etouffee… or all three (; . I will say though that my FAVORITE place to eat white there was a pub called Turtle Bay. They have this amazinggggg ribeye steak that is smothered in garlic butter and also comes with a stuffed potato skin and garlic bread. Best of all it is super reasonably priced. The other menu item that I have to mention are the pizza fries, you guys…. I cannot put into words how amazing these things are. They’re thick crinkle cut fries with a layer of pizza sauce and a ton of melted cheese and finally topped with pepperoni. I highly recommend getting a side of their ranch to dip them in! (insert drooling and heart eye’s emoji here).
Sights
I’m a sucker for unique buildings and beautiful architecture so New Orleans was very aesthetically pleasing to me. I know its tempting to be drunk and partying on Bourbon Street the entire time, but try to take a break at least once and explore and check out the historical parts and architecture of this town.
Overall my 27th birthday was a total success, I had a great time with some amazing friends and I’m so thankful for the experience I had in New Orleans. I will leave you with my NOLA pro tip, which is this: BUY LIQUID IV OR PEDIALYTE PACKETS! Every day as we left the hotel I ate the powder packet like candy and chased it with water, it honestly didn’t taste bad at all.. guys I had Z E R O hangovers while there. Trust me.
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