New Orleans! (Part I)

If Amsterdam and Paris had a love child who was American, it would be New Orleans! I love that you can turn a corner and find people dancing and singing.  Or that you can smell wonderful food all the time. Or you can get lost roaming the streets while ohhing and ahhing at the mind blowing houses.  For all these reasons and many more, New Orleans has a special place in my heart.

As such, I consider it a minor miracle that eight adults were able to coordinate their busy schedules and spend a week in this beautiful city.   Our vacation was a perfect blend of relaxing times with the family at the house on the Bayou and walking (and eating) in the various neighborhoods of New Orleans!

Even with four kids I am surprised at how much we were able to fit in, including a fancy brunch at Commander’s Palace.  For those who might have been to NOLA in their younger single years, I can assure you that the city is still fun with children in tow.  I felt like they pretty much self entertained themselves looking at the busy streets, the stores, and dancing to the street musicians! And while we didn’t partake in this too much, it is also good to know that the stroller cup holders can legally carry a libation if you so choose.

I feel like I didn’t take enough pictures as usual but I still got some good ones! I hope you enjoy.

**Since it was their first time for many of us. I had to take them to one of my favorite spots, The Roosevelt Hotel.  Since the Sazerac was invented here, it was only fitting that we all have one.  The bar doesn’t allow kids so we hung out in the beautiful lobby instead. After drinks we had dinner at Dominica which is attached to the hotel. We had a 5 o’clock dinner reservation which is pretty early but that’s how it goes with kids. We ended up getting there about 15-minutes early and were told that it was happy hour with pizzas and beers for half off…score! One of the stand outs was their roasted cauliflower appetizer – it was an entire head of cauliflower instead of mushed bit which is what I was expecting; the whipped feta cheese dipping sauce was incredible! Again, a very classy place  with incredible food and also kid friendly.

**After dinner since it was still pretty early, we went down for a walk in the French Quarter. Bourbon Street is a bit much with little kids so instead we went over one block to Royal Street which runs parallel to Bourbon and is quieter (comparatively) with lots of art galleries, shops, and street musicians.  We ended up at Jackson Square where a band was playing Jazz. The kids loved it and eventually started dancing to it as well (see what I mean about self entertaining). Through the park we headed to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets and then walked back to our cars on River Walk.