On BOURBON STREET in New Orleans

New Orleans was a lot of fun! Our friend Jane sent us a long list of places to go during our stay. (Thanks Jane!) Once we checked into our hotel with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street (it was awesome!), we headed out to explore the French Quarter. We walked around a bit and made our first stop at Café du Monde. It’s a cute outdoor café that’s known for its coffee and beignets (French donuts). We had one of each and then walked down a little further. We came across Molly’s on Market, which apparently has “the best bloody marys … ever … and I even hate bloody marys,” well, at least according to Travis. They put a bunch of stuff in them, including Guinness beer and asparagus juice. I didn’t like it very much (as I don’t like bloody marys to begin with), but Will, who also isn’t a big fan, enjoyed it. It was too spicy for me. The bar is also known for their frozen Irish coffees so I got one of those instead. Very tasty! However, the bar got a big thumbs down when we heard the bartender say “We don’t have Jager. Do you want a shot of Rumplemintz instead?” (Mike, we thought of you!) I think they were just out of stock.
We then continued to walk around some more, past the rainbow flags, and then headed back to our hotel. We showered and then ventured out to dinner at Acme Oyster Bar. Jane said they had the best oysters in town and since Will loves seafood we figured we’d try it. When we got there, the place had a decent sized line. The seating arrangements are a bit odd. For example, Will and I sat at a ten top, with eight other people that we didn’t know. The food was good and Will braved a shot that had two raw oysters, two shots of Citron, Tabasco and spices. It looked and smelled gross, and the look on his face confirmed that it wasn’t quite tasty. Well, I shouldn’t say that, it was just a lot more alcohol then he had thought. He was a champ though. I never could have done that. I wish I had taken a picture. Anyone who takes that shot deserves a free dinner.
After dinner, we ventured out onto Bourbon Street. We went to Tropical Isle first to get a famous “hand grenade.” It’s a potent green concoction that they serve in grenade looking glasses, or with a baby grenade on top. They were quite tasty, but it was strongly recommended that we only drink one. After that we ventured to Pat O’Brien’s which is famous for their hurricanes. The place is huge and has a dueling piano bar in one room called the “morgue.” (I think because it was so cold in there.) The also had a great patio with a fire shooting out of a waterfall in the middle. Once we downed the hurricanes, we walked around some more, going in and out of various bars. There were a ton of business conventions going while we were there too. They had rented most of the hotel and restaurant rooms with balconies so the drunken business men and women were throwing beads down onto the street in business suits. Will commented that the streets were really empty, which makes sense… mid-week, off season. Regardless, it was a fun atmosphere, but I can’t even begin to imagine how crazy it would be on Mardi Gras. Maybe I’ll find out one day! Will said that it was one of the wildest craziest parties he has ever been to.