We were supposed to spend or Spring Break at the beach - Seaside, Florida to be exact. I had a house rented and everything. An email from my son's Language Arts teacher sent me into a spiral of panic when I realized that I had booked a house for the wrong week. The week after Spring Break. DOH! Fortunately, the owner of the lovely home we had put a non-refundable deposit down on, took pity on me and gave us our money back. But that left us without any place to stay 2 weeks before my son's school vacation and we had to scramble for a Plan B destination. My friend and OSC Contributor, Jayne Chobot, got married in New Orleans a few weeks ago. We had been invited to the wedding but weren't able to attend and I had enjoyed the event vicariously through her Facebook posts. So, when the bottom dropped out on our plans, I said to my husband, "What about New Orleans?"
I have spent many a romantic and drunken weekend in New Orleans over the past 20 years. New Orleans is an inexpensive 45-minute flight on SouthWest Airlines. The Big Easy is where my husband and I first said, "I love you" out loud to each other - sober. And the courtyard of the Maison Dupuy hotel is where we got married, surrounded by about 30 of our closest friends. When we drive to Seaside, we always make New Orleans our overnight stop, so my son has been to New Orleans several times - briefly. But could New Orleans be fun for 3 days with a teenager? We decided to find out and headed out on our Spring Break Road Trip Adventure...
Day One: We decided that en route to the Big Easy we would trek through Monroe, LA. and visit the Duck Commander warehouse. Duck Dynasty (A&E, Wednesdays at 8pm) is the top-rated cable show these days and our family has fallen in love with Willie, Jace, Phil, Uncle Si and the rest of the Robertson family. The show is a sort of modern day Beverly Hillbillies, packed with Redneck humor that always ends with a wholesome family message. We saw Missy and Jessica at the warehouse and heard that we had just missed Jace. It was awesome just to be at the compound where they film and actually work.
Happy, happy, happy!
About 4 hours later, we pulled into NoLa and checked into The Roosevelt Hotel. This Waldorf Astoria property is a luxury hotel just off Canal Street and just a few blocks to the French Quarter. It has hosted US Presidents, Elvis and now me! The room was lovely, spacious and had a great comfy bed (very important). The property is jaw-droppingly beautiful, all gold and marble and dripping with crystal-laden chandeliers. It's a throwback to a bygone era and has been wonderfully restored to its original glory.
Standard Double Room
When the current owners took over about twenty-five years ago, they turned the sleepy little cafe into a phenomenon, just by jazzing it up a little and serving fresh, fantastic local dishes. There is always about a 30-45 minute wait. Always. But don't let the line deter you. It is worth the wait!
After dinner, we wondered around the Quarter for a bit, taking in the neon lights and stopping to watch street musicians perform or sing and dance for tips, then decided to call it a night. Why is it that a road trip sucks the life out of you? You are just riding in a car, but it's exhausting!
Stay tuned tomorrow for Day Two's of our NoLa adventure...
The Roosevelt Hotel, 123 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70112, (504) 648-1200
Acme Oyster House, 724 Iberville Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, (504) 522.5973
This post was sponsored in part by The New Orleans CVB. For more information on New Orleans attractions, lodging and dining, visit http://www.neworleanscvb.com/. While I did receive compensation for authoring this post; product selections, descriptions, and opinions are 100% my own. Interested in a sponsored post or product review? Contact me for rates and details.
