Ichiche Weekend Travel Journal: New Orleans
A long weekend exploring a petite selection of New Orleans offerings.
WEDNESDAY. We arrived in New Orleans, settled in and kicked off our visit with a proper Southern dinner of deliciously rich shrimp & grits followed by a surprisingly light and utterly scrumptious dessert of homemade salted caramel ice cream at La Petite Grocery
THURSDAY. After a leisurely morning we strolled around the French Quarter soaking up the atmosphere and getting a feel for the city. Later in the afternoon we joined a cemetery tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and owned by the Roman Catholic Church, the cemetery can only be entered with a licensed guide or by family members of those who are buried in the tombs. Our guide, Justin from French Quarter Phantoms, was a wealth of knowledge and quite entertaining. On our walk to the cemetery we learned a bit of the history of New Orleans and what lead to the city’s unique above ground burial vaults. As we wandered through the tombs Justin explained the architecture and ritual of burying people in the same tomb, which interestingly enough requires one year and a day between burials.
In the evening, we were craving an experience of the contemporary and hip side of the city, so we headed on over to the James Beard Award Winning cocktail lounge Cure for unique drinks and a charcuterie plate. We kept dreaming of the salted caramel ice cream we had had the night before and decided on our way back to our hotel we would stop by La Petite Grocery again for dessert.
FRIDAY. We dedicated the first part of our day to exploring the six-mile long stretch of Magazine Street. We started off browsing the mix of vintage and new clothing and jewelry at Saint Claude Social Club and housewares at Sunday Shop.
I bought sunglasses at local eyewear design company Krewe. After some shopping we continued to stroll and enjoy the unique houses that were still decked out from having celebrated Mardi Gras.
A unique bit of trivia about New Orleans is that the Sno-Ball (aka a Snow Cone) was invented in New Orleans. The weather was warm and humid and sno-ball shacks around the city were open so we stopped to cool off and enjoy one of the local treats.
We wandered the streets of The Bywater Neighborhood admiring all of the colorful graffiti on the warehouse walls.
Towards the end of the afternoon we headed to Studio Be to see the wall-sized murals of New Orleans based visual artist Brandan Odums (@bemike2c).
SATURDAY. We enjoyed a very lazy morning after a couple of busy days exploring then headed over to The Music Box Village, an outdoor installation art complex by New Orleans Airlift where every structure is a musical instrument. We let our curiosity free as we made our own music in the odd but wonderful playground.
That evening we celebrated a friend’s birthday with dinner at Cochon enjoying the chefs’ takes on authentic Cajun cuisine.
SUNDAY. Our final day in NOLA started with yet another decadent meal for brunch at Gris Gris. Afterwards we headed to Bacchanal Wine where went spent the rest of our afternoon into the evening sitting in the breezy garden sipping wine, nibbling cheese, and listening to live jazz.
