Just like any knightly quest one is faced with many obstacles before obtaining the grand prize found at the end of the journey.
My partner-in-crime and co-pilot was one of my besties, Rachel, and we were headed to the big easy, New Orleans.
Here’s a short recap of what our adventures consisted of over the past couple days.
Keeping Costs Down
I’ve never stayed at a hostel before so that was something new. Basically it felt like summer camp in a house. We met some of the coolest people. Two of our bunk mates were from Australia and got excited when we said we were from Texas.
Off the Beaten Path
The fact that the weather was so cold, rainy, and windy we ended up bypassing some of the more famous spots in NOLA and finding equivalent experiences.
Felix’s Sea Food came as a recommendation from our Lyft driver as an alternative to ACME Oyster Bar. There are a few reasons why this place was great. 1) the wait was waaayyyyyyy shorter, 2) the jambalaya was perfectly spicy and 3) it was across the street from ACME.
Shrimp po’boy and jambalaya
Drinking & Eating Through NOLA
Thursday we managed to fit everything in pretty well. We started the day off by taking the St. Charles Streetcar to brunch. After two tries, we finally got on the right streetcar to take us the French Quarter but with our detour we got to see many of the fancy houses in the Garden District.
Excited to not be walking in the cold
We ate brunch at the Ruby Slipper Cafe where we split a pancake flight (Cinnamon Swirl is where it’s at), candied bacon (a must have), and a Ruby Mimosa (Pomegrante + OJ).
Pro Tip: use the NoWait app to minimize your wait.
After we were nice and full, we trekked to the Monteleone Hotel to take a spin on the Carousel Bar.
This place gets really busy so get there early.
After the Carousel Bar, we continued our drinking tour to Pat O’Brien’s, a NOLA classic. I got a mint julep because Rachel ruined fruity drinks for me on my 21st birthday (looking at you fish bowls). She ordered the hurricane for tourist-y sakes. We sat on the patio (with heaters) and bonded with our bartender, Keifer.
We took a break from drinking to check out the voodoo museum. We bought a friendship voodoo candle and lit it since it was Thursday. But our 18-year old friendship doesn’t need a voodoo candle to last.
Just around the corner is the oldest bar in America. 
Lafitte’s probably has seen quite a few bar fights in its day. Also, Rachel got quite a few people to Dilly, Dilly with her. (We were a few drinks in and there’s a GoPro video to prove it).
From there we made it to Jackson Square and once we saw the line for Cafe du Monde we hopped into Monty’s on the Square (with no wait) across the street and grabbed some beignet fries to satisfy that craving.
For dinner, we took a trip out to the St. Roch Market. We split a gumbo empanada and crab mac and cheese.
Later that night, Rachel’s old college friend showed us the dive-y side of NOLA. We ended the night with a $5 pint & slice of pizza deal.
Abita Amber is a great end of the night beer.
Hotel Hoppin
Since it was so cold (I’m convinced that Canal Street is just a wind tunnel) we ended up dropping into the different hotels to escape the cold. My favorites were the Roosevelt and the Saint’s hotel.
The Holy Grail
The entire trip Rachel really wanted to find Boudin balls, but we never came across any in NOLA. On our way back to the great state of Texas, we drove through Scott, LA (ever heard of it? Yeah, me neither) which is known as the Boudin capital. It was here that Rachel finally completed her quest.
I made the mistake of reading what was in Boudin. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.
Our Adventure Book 