Firstly, I need to thank all of you for the great information that led to a great trip. I went with my 8-year-old, my husband and met my dad there.
The trip was great except for one big bummer. Our last night (Friday) the power transformer next to the hotel (The Monteleone) caught fire at about 5:30 pm and power was out in a third of the French Quarter. We were dressed and heading out for a really nice dinner and we had reservations at The Pelican Club for our last great Nola meal but they had no power. After much aimless wandering we ended up at Bubba Gumps - not our first choice but turned out not to be the culinary disaster we feared. We got back to no power and no water so we had to walk up to the 15th floor with a hotel employee with a flashlight. I had to pack in the dark and struggle to figure out a wake up for our early flight. Woke up at 5am still in the dark and no water. No teeth brushing or flushing. We had to walk our bags down the stairs for 7 flights to catch the only working elevator. Not the hotel鈥檚 fault in any way and they did their best. They comped the night for both rooms and we were able to score a cab to the airport right away but what a way to end. And several of our floor mates decided to go out for more drinking and then came back trashed, screaming, and then barfed on the floor. It was the one bad night of an otherwise great hotel experience. I would definitely stay there again.
OK, the bad is over. The rest was divine.
Hotel: The Monteleone was awesome. I%26#39;m so glad we went there. Great location, very friendly and knowledgable staff, quiet for the most part, and very enjoyable for all of us. Very clean and super comfy beds. They did everything the could on the power outage which wasn%26#39;t their fault to begin with. The rooftop pool was like a spa and after miles of walking during the day was the best medicine for tired feet and legs. We bought a $2.99 beach ball at the Walgreens next door and had more fun playing with other guests in the pool.
For those of you who wonder if Nola is for kids - the answer is absolutely yes. We saw lots of kids and my daughter loved it. We felt very safe everywhere we went. And there was a whole lot to do to please everyone in my group. Saw lots of crazy characters but never felt unsafe. Had to dodge barf on the street a few times, even at 11am, but this is a city built around drinking. Met so many nice people and I couldn鈥檛 believe how tolerant everyone is of everyone else. That was great.
Activities: We did the Honey Island swamp tour and got right next to a 10ft. gator which we all loved. A van picked us up at the hotel and made it very convenient. I highly recommend them. We bought a IMAX, aquarium, zoo and insectarium pass and all were all spectacular. The one thing to note: we took the streetcar to Audabon Park and waited 30 minutes for the free shuttle. A college kid in a Jeep Cherokee (seats 4 plus driver!) finally showed up and the 10 of us waiting had to figure out who rode and who walked. We walked and had we known would have walked sooner. We all thought the zoo was the best we%26#39;d ever been to. We did Haunted History%26#39;s cemetery tour and it was terrific. WWII Museum was very good. The glass blowing place on Magazine St. on the way to there was most interesting to my daughter. The French Market was a big hit with me and my daughter. My husband and dad liked the cafes around it that had cold beer on tap. Again, something for everyone.
Eating: Had the best shellfish ever. Our best meal hands down was at Mr. B%26#39;s. I had barbequed shrimp and ate like a sea otter. The lug nuts next to us demanded theirs be served without heads or shells - what idiots. Ate gumbo almost every day and loved it. Our best gumbo was at a place I can%26#39;t remember the name of on the corner of Magazine and St. Joseph - no white table cloths but the owner made the best gumbo and it was $3 for a giant bowl. We got lucky there. Never had a po鈥?boy or a muffaletta but that was just because I couldn鈥檛 get to it. I think you have to try really hard to get a bad meal in NO. And for Bubba Gumps - they have a steamed shellfish entree for $21.50 that has mussels, clams, a lobster claw and half a snow crab and it was dare I say it delicious. Go figure. Had burgers at Pat O%26#39;Briens courtyard and they were delish. That was a perfect stop after the cemetary tour. Had crawfish at Acme Oyster House and tried other things. Super.
I didn%26#39;t get to the plantations, a Garden District walking tour and many others on my wish list. Just means I need to go back again.
Trip Report - March 21-28 - NO, nice to eat you
Nice report - sorry about the electricity - looks like you%26#39;ve got great attitudes anyway! Good for you. Life%26#39;s too short to get upset about things out of anyone%26#39;s control.
Trip Report - March 21-28 - NO, nice to eat you
Thanks for a great trip report! The power outtage just gives you a great addition to your stories! You were good sports about it all! Sounds like you had a lot of great food, too, and activities! So glad that kids can have fun, too!
Mimi
Glad you had a good time - those weird things are what great stories are made of.
The best thing is that you did not let it ruin your trip...my kind of people!!!
Txs for the report! I%26#39;m going to NO for the 1st time next week, and I can%26#39;t wait to eat my way through too. :)
Thanks for your report! I%26#39;m glad you didn%26#39;t let that one experience color the trip! And do come back! :)
Hi Wegs, I am so glad that you had such a great trip and that your daughter enjoyed New Orleans!! That is too bad about the power outage, I read about it on-line in the Times Picayune. But it sounds as if you made the best of it and since you got comped you can apply that money towards your next trip to New Orleans!! We had had good meals at Bubba Gump%26#39;s too, in fact, it was one of my granddaughter%26#39;s favorite places to eat when we were there (that might have had something to do with the cute young waiter that we had).
Cute waiters do help the meal, I agree!
I forgot to mention one other good meal we had - we ate at Ralph %26amp; Kacoos on Toulouse on Tuesday night so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We shared an appetizer of blackened alligator, fried crawfish tails (which my daughter hogged all to herself) and fried shrimp that was really good. I had seafood au gratin and loved it. All the meals in our group were really good.
My worst meal was at the Red Fish Grill and boy was I disappointed. I got Pasta Jambalya and it was so mediocre. I should have known better then to order a dish named with two words that shouldn%26#39;t go together. Not helping matters was that we had three servers but the worst service of the trip. We couldn%26#39;t catch them and we waited a really long time to order and then get food etc.
I missed my cafe au lait this morning...
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