New Orleans!

When we first arrived in New Orleans, we took a taxi from the airport to our friend's place where we were staying for the weekend. I had never visited New Orleans before, but the smell of Jasmine in the air and Spanish Oak trees dripping in moss had certainly stolen my heart before I had anything to do with it.

We arrived and spent the afternoon catching up before heading down to the French Quarter for some exploring! We took the Canal Streetcar down from mid-city, which I definitely recommend if you haven't had the change to take a streetcar before in your life (I hadn't!). Riding on the streetcar, I took in the beautiful homes and old-fashioned French architecture.

Our first stop was Café du Monde on Decatur St in the French Quarter, a historic coffee stand that serves beignets, a French powdered donut that New Orleans is known for. Then we strolled around Jackson Square, where artists were set up selling their works. Next we strolled around the French Market, where local goods, arts, and food are sold.

We found some cool items and returned back to the place we were staying to drop off our shopping scores before heading down to Frenchman Street for some live music.

When we got down there, we figured we should get some food in our stomachs so we stopped in Dat Dog, a local New Orleans restaurant famous for gourmet hot dogs and sausages. They even have vegan options!

The entire street is basically bars with live music, each having a slightly different flavor. Most nights, most of the bars don't have any cover charge, so it's easy to pop in and out of venues while you find a vibe you like. Some that I personally enjoyed were DBA, the Spotted Cat Music Club, The Maison, 30/90 NOLA, and the Blue Nile.

There are lots of tourists and out of towners on this street, but a good bit of locals as well. Maybe less so now as it has become more popular, but Frenchman Street is often a less rowdy alternative to Bourbon Street where you can also find a bustling night art market, various vendors selling their wares, and street performers.

The next day, we went through a stroll through City Park, enjoying the Spanish Oak trees covered in moss and walking along the bayou. Then, we attended a day of Jazz Fest, a famous annual festival held in New Orleans over two weekends in April/May. We enjoyed live music, great food, and even lovelier company.

In the evening, we headed down to Bourbon Street for some bar-hopping and drinks. As per usual, the crowd on Bourbon Street is quite lively. We also enjoyed some street musicians busking.

The final day of our trip, we enjoyed visiting some of New Orleans iconic above-ground cemeteries. As a person who grew up in a place where bodies were buried below ground, the above-ground tombs containing the dead of New Orleans were absolutely fascinating to me. We visited the St. Roch cemetery and found a shrine of prosthetic limbs, as Saint Roch is a patron saint of plagues and healing.

After, we stopped off at Mother's restaurant, a New Orleans staple since 1938, for some of their famous po'boy sandwiches before heading to the airport and flying home.