Down Nawlins: Good ol' Crescent City. It's perfect for a long weekend with friends. There are really two things to do in New Orleans: music and food. You can do some of the historic tours or visit the Garden District, but that's one day tops. After that it's all about eating great food and enjoying the music. And that, for the most part, means you're going to be centered on the French Quarter, and Fauboug Marigny for some added options.
And that's what we did (Me and Miss Kate and HRH Miss Anna). Gumbo at Mr. B's. Beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Et touffe and muffalettas and jambalaya, oh my. Trolling the crypts in St. Louis Cemetery. A Pimm's cup and Napolean House. Nightcaps at the Monteleone. New Year's Eve with some traditional jazz at Maison Bourbon. Strolling around St. Louis Cathedral and the French Market.
Oh and there was a football game. We were on a package tour for the Sugar Bowl. It included a pep rally which was wedged into such a small space that we watched from a store window behind the stage, a short paddlewheel boat tour where we were to be served "heavy hors d'oeurves" and had a waiting line so long and was so obviously going to be crowded enough to capsize that we skipped it altogether, a "tailgate" held inside a hotel ballroom with an expensive cash bar and a chintzy and crowded buffet line and not enough chairs so we were sitting on the floor, and tickets to game with seats in the last row of the Superdome which is one of the least hospitable stadiums in the world.
The game itself was an amazing, undeserved overtime victory for Michigan and that made up for a lot. And we were in New Orleans, that made up for everything else and more. Miss Anna has decided she wants to go back to the French Quarter with her friends on spring break (what could possibly go wrong with that?). If we ever go back to the Sugar Bowl, we'll get game tickets only. A long weekend in New Orleans requires no guidance from the outside.
