Come Away With Me: New Orleans

We are well into 2013 but with the busyness of the holidays and getting back into the groove, I just never got around to posting about my trip with my husband to New Orleans back in December. It was Wes's birthday trip (the big 30!) and also his first time in NOLA so I was so excited to share one of my favorite cities with him. It was hands down one of the best trips we have taken! If you've been to New Orleans you know that you just can't beat the food, music and southern hospitality.

Day 1 - Friday, December 14th

We flew into to New Orleans and we were greeted with sunshine and warmer southern temps which was a huge change from the cold city of Richmond that we left behind. We went straight to our hotel, New Orleans Marriott on Canal and checked in (we were lucky and got checked in way before the rush of teen dancers who were there for a dance convention). Then we set out to Mother's Restaurant for some great Louisiana food. I'll tell you that the food is awesome but some of the women behind the counters aren't so awesome (think soup Nazi from Seinfeld.) We continued on to Bourbon Street where we participated in lots of drinks and enjoyed some great bands. Oh and there was some mid-day dancing involved (sadly, no pics of me breaking it down on the dance floor). When we had worked up an appetite for dinner we headed to Saints and Sinners which is a new bar/restaurant owned by the beautiful Channing Tatum and his equally as gorgeous wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum.

Day 2 - Saturday, December 15th

We decided to spend most of the day in the Garden District so we toured around by foot and walked up and down Magazine Street. The Garden District is gorgeous and Magazine Street is known for its antique stores, boutiques, art galleries and restaurants. We had lunch at The Rum House which was insanely good. I'm still dreaming about the mango guac! We hopped on a trolley and rode until we got off at an arts festival in Palmer Park where we browsed for local vendors. And finally I treated Wes to beignets at Cafe Du Monde (a must of you are in NOLA). After a fabulous day out and a bit of freshening up we headed back to Bourbon St for some cheap beer and live music.

Day 3 - Sunday, December 16th - GAME DAY

We showed up to the Mercedes Superdome a couple of hours early as we wanted to partake in the game day excitement. We had great seats and even got some autographs from a couple of Saints players as they were coming in and out of the locker room. If you are a football/sports fan, then you know how big this next bit is...Wes's bday trip, first time in NOLA, first time we were both seeing a game in the Superdome and WE BOTH GET DREW BREES'S AUTOGRAPH! The autograph of a future Hall of Famer. We were on cloud nine. The game was so much fun - the fans, the music, the food, the beer and the win (NO 41 Tampa Bay 0). It gets better...after the game we randomly ran into a friend from Richmond and because of her (she went to high school with one of the players), I got to meet and shake hands with Jimmy Graham (No. 80) as well as a couple of others! It was a night to remember!!

Hope you enjoyed coming away with me to New Orleans (even if it was last month). I'd love to know if you have been to NOLA and what you think about the city. Any recommendations for the next time I go? I'm thinking I need a dose of the dirty south at least once a year!

Jayme