Welcome back y’all! So, I recently took a trip. Wow, so exciting right? Well, this trip was pretty exciting for me, since it was my first official vacation since the pandemic started.
I was actually supposed to take another trip but when that got canceled, I decided that I had to go somewhere. Hence, my trip to the Big Easy, aka New Orleans!
I had never been to Louisiana, never mind a city there, so I decided that New Orleans would be the perfect city for my first time in the Bayou State.
But of course, y’all know I can’t go anywhere without writing about my experience afterwards. That’s where this post (and vlog on my new YouTube channel!!!) come in.
Sit down, grab a bowl of gumbo and come along with me as I detail my recent trip to NOLA!
Don’t wanna read this post? Feel free to watch my NOLA vlog at my brand new YouTube channel!
So, for this blog post, I’m going to break down my trip day by day, with subcategories of the events I did and the food I ate that day. I was in NOLA for a total of four days, but the bulk of my activities took place on three of those four days.
Let’s get started!
Sunday in New Orleans
My NOLA trip began on Sunday, with a more than two hour drive to the city. I was so excited for this trip, I actually packed days before, LOL. Anybody who knows me knows that I’m always packing at the last minute, so it’s a miracle that I actually had everything ready to go before I left!
I had two things planned for this day: a VIP photo experience at a selfie museum and a ghost and history bar crawl in the city. The photoshoot was at 2 p.m. while the bar crawl was at 5 p.m.
With the help of my best friend, I decided on this dress/shorts combo, with platform boots and tights. Perfect for the various backdrops I would be in front of, but comfortable enough to walk around in.
After I crossed the state line into Louisiana, I had to stop at the welcome center to take a picture in front of the state sign. Very touristy, I know, but that the point of a first trip somewhere! You do all the touristy things and then do the really cool stuff in subsequent visits.
With plenty of time to spare, I made it to New Orleans. I notice that I’m going downtown, but don’t think anything of it…until I get to a dead end near the Riverwalk. Turns out, I put in the wrong address for my hotel and ended up at a spot I was planning on going to the next day.
Since the selfie museum was also downtown, I decided to just go ahead and do the shopping.
The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk was quite nice! It was a step above your usual mall, but not as high-end as Canal Place, another shopping center down there. I stopped in a Forever 21 and bought a hat that I legit wore the rest of the trip. I got my $20 worth, honey!
ArtMazing Photo Gallery
[NOTE: Unfortunately, as Dec. 2021, this location is no longer available. They do, however, host pop-up events throughout the city! For more information, check out their website.]
Finally, it was time for my VIP photo session. It took place at the ArtMazing Photo Gallery located at 309 Decatur Street in New Orleans, which is right in the French Quarter. There’s actually two ticket packages to choose from: general admission, which was $25 and the VIP session which was $50, but came with a professional photographer who walked around with you to take all the photos.
Though they did provide you with a tripod if you had general admission, I stalked the Instagram page of the business and knew I had to get the professional photos. Their talent was insane.
My decision paid off. My photographer was super nice! She also said I had been the easiest person ever to photograph, since she didn’t have to give me much direction. This comes as a surprise to nobody, since I love taking pictures, haha!
Hotel Vinache
With the first activity done, it was time for hotel check in. I stayed at Hotel Vinache located at 1300 Canal Street in New Orleans. While many people opt to stay near Bourbon Street or near the French Quarter during their stay, I wanted to be away from all the action, especially since parking can be crazy on the weekends.
The whole stay was around $170 plus taxes and the refundable incidental fees. The hotel was rather nice, but it was nothing to write home about in my experience. The service was lovely and my room had a great view, but the room didn’t blow me away. It did include a Keurig machine, which was a nice surprise! It was also steps away from a streetcar stop, which is highly convenient if you’re traveling into the city without a car.
Spirits – The Cocktail and Ghost Crawl
Now, for the main event on Sunday: the bar crawl.
God bless John, the tour guide for this event. Like I mentioned earlier, parking is crazy on the weekends near the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. I ended up running late to the event trying to find parking, but John allowed me to join the group, with about five other people. John then launched into a story about pirates, before stopping at a bar that was serving up absinthe. I was still nursing a daiquiri, so I declined, but best believe I got drinks at the next few stops.
John was an amazing storyteller. I don’t want to say too much about the tour, as I don’t want to spoil it for anybody, but he’s highly worth the money! He tailors his tours based on group interests and we all decided on a well rounded type of tour, so that’s what we got.
We hear stories about pirates, ghosts and of course, voodoo. For $30, this tour was a steal!
Book this bar crawl here!
Dinner at The Vintage
It was rather late after I left the bar crawl and y’all I was feeling reaaaaaaaaaaaal good. But I was also feeling really hungry too. I took dinner at The Vintage, located at 3121 Magazine Street in New Orleans.
Er, well, I tried to take dinner. When I arrived, it was a sit yourself type of establishment. However, when I went to order, nearly everything was out for the night. I ended up getting a Zoodle Bowl, which was a bowl with zucchini noodles with tomatoes and asparagus tossed in Paleo pesto. I also added chicken, which really made the meal.
I’d have to give this place 3/5 stars, mainly because I can’t exactly rate a place that was out of most of the things on the menu too highly. However, the service was great and I recommend this place, as well as many others on Magazine Street.
Monday in New Orleans
Monday was my first full day in NOLA. I started this day off with yet another photoshoot, but this time, it would be at iconic spots around downtown and the French Quarter.
This is another AirBnb experience that I booked. It was incredibly worth it too! A woman named Rachael took the photos.
And she was amazing y’all!
I even made friends with another couple that was along on the experience, who ended up buying us drinks as we went from location to location. One thing about New Orleans, it’s nearly impossible to walk around and not have a drink in your hand!
Rachael deserves five million stars for walking with us until we found a Bourbon Street sign to take pictures with, as the signs often get stolen by visitors.
To book this photo experience, click here. I’m not sure if time determines who takes your photos, but I booked an 11 a.m. slot!
Café Beignet
It’s hard to mention a NOLA trip without mentioning this iconic place: Café Beignet! During normal times, you can sit down and be waited on, but in COVID times, everything is to go. It’s very rare to see this place without a line down the block and when I visited, I lucked out and just about walked up to the ordering window.
I ordered three beignets and a café au lait coffee. Both were delicious!
Diners were serenaded by a nearby jazz player and it was at this moment I realized why this city has dozens of songs written about it. I felt like a tourist, yet I also felt like I had lived there my entire life. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, like beignets and the music, so I decided it was time to move on.
Enter, thrifting!
Now, I hope y’all didn’t think I would go to a new city and not thrift there! The NOLA thrift scene is insane. Like, I hope you have hundreds of dollars to blow insane. I had a mixture of Goodwills as well as local thrift stores to check out and not a single place on the list disappointed.
I knew thrifting in the city would be great when I saw that the Goodwills in the area had 50% off color sales. Within the first couple of minutes, I found a pair of pants that retailed for nearly $500 on sale for $5. Then I got then 50% off because they had a green tag!
I’m most excited to go back to NOLA for the thrifting…never mind the other stuff!
Some places that I thrifted at are (but not limited to):
- Goodwill: 123 Robert E Lee Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124
- Thrift City USA: 601 Terry Pkwy, Terrytown, LA 70056
- Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana: 3400 Tulane Ave Suite 1000, New Orleans, LA 70119
Dinner at Union Ramen Bar + Dessert at Parish Parlor
While I planned to eat at The Vintage on Sunday, I didn’t initially plan to eat here. I loved Magazine Street from the first time that I stepped foot on there, so eating dinner on this street again was a no-brainer.
After a Google Maps search, I found the Union Ramen Bar, located at 1837 Magazine Street Suite B in New Orleans. I walked right in around 7 p.m. and was seated at the bar. From there, I was given a menu by a very cute bartender (hey, why lie). While there were many anime themed cocktails and dishes, I ended up getting the Original Tori Ramen with chicken and with medium heat.
It was good. It was so good, I contemplated ordering more noodles to properly finish off the dish. I decided not to because at this point, the place was beginning to get packed. After finishing my meal, I saw why people were making reservations on top of reservations here.
Keep in mind, it was a Monday night and there was a line at the door. Talk about good!
I left the ramen bar full, not but completely satisfied. That’s when I spotted an ice cream shop just across the street from the restaurant.
Parish Parlor was a French dream come true! They had amazing flavors, including options for vegans. I got the Lemon Ricotta Honey ice cream, which is a seasonal flavor. If it’s available when you go, make sure you stop in and try it!
Parish Parlor is located at 1912 Magazine Street in New Orleans.
Tuesday in New Orleans
My last full day in NOLA consisted of a little bit of sightseeing, thrifting and bubble tea (of course, another thing I had to get while on vacay).
Lunch at Mr. Bubbles Cafe (1441 Canal St #1, New Orleans)
While walking to my parking lot each day, I passed this place called Mr. Bubbles Cafe. It was always closed when I walked by, but when I saw that they were open for lunch on my last day, I stopped in to eat!
I ordered a Vietnamese chicken po boy and a milk tea with boba. The po boy was pretty tasty, but I wasn’t a fan of the boba. Still, it’s a great place to stop in for a quick and inexpensive bite if you’re on Canal Street.
The Garden District and AHS House
Tuesday’s main attraction was going to the AHS House, also known as Buckner Mansion.
For those who don’t know, the Buckner Mansion was featured prominently in season three of American Horror Story, a FX television series that often deals with the weird, wacky and occulty. Season three dealt with a coven and had many shoutouts to people in New Orleans history, including Marie Laveau.
While you can’t go inside of the mansion, as it’s somebody’s private home, you can take pictures outside of it…which I totally did. Plus, the hat went perfectly with the coven theme, did it not?
I took a mini walk around the Garden District after I was done there, marveling at the homes that easily cost three times my work salary. The outside of loads of them made wonderful backdrops for photos! If you’re looking for a nice place to take IG worthy photos, try the streets of the Garden District!
Thrifting and more boba
The rest of my afternoon consisted of dreaming about those homes, thrifting and going to a second boba place, which exceeded my expectations!
The places I hit up thrifting on Tuesday were:
- YEP Thrift Works: 1626 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113
- Buffalo Exchange: 4119 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115
- Funky Monkey: 3127 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA
- Red White and Blue Thrift Store: 605 Lapalco Blvd, Gretna, LA 70056
My favorites of the list were definitely Funky Monkey (an adorable vintage shop) and Red White and Blue Thrift Store (which had discounts of up to 75% off!).
As for the amazing boba place I went to, that was called Frosty’s Caffè, located at 2800 Manhattan Blvd, Harvey, LA 70058. I got a vanilla milk tea with boba and was nearly done with it by the time I got to my car. Totally worth the drive to. They also had food, but I didn’t get anything.
Dinner at Juan’s Flying Burrito – CBD
For my final dinner in NOLA, I stopped into Juan’s Flying Burrito. They have many locations in the city, but I dined at the location at 515 Baronne Street in New Orleans.
I ordered a strawberry lemonade margarita, which was dangerously good, and a jerk chicken burrito smothered in queso. The burrito was so huge, I couldn’t believe I paid so little for it. I had to take it to go!
My only con about this place is that chips and salsa/queso aren’t free, but I can overlook it for the portion sizes of the burrito and drink.
And for my final morning in New Orleans…
I’m all checked out. I’m hundreds of dollars poorer. But there’s one last thing I wanted to do: eat beignets again. Of course as a tourist, you want to go to all the places you’ve seen all over Instagram, but I also think it’s important to check out local mom and pop places as well.
While I enjoyed the beignets at Café Beignet, I wanted to try another place that had them before I left.
One Google Search later, I pull up to New Orleans Coffee & Beignet Co. It’s a homely little place that is obviously a staple amongst the locals. Just about every table had somebody reading or typing on a laptop.
I ordered three beignets and a vanilla iced coffee with oat milk. Before I could get comfortable at my table, my coffee and beignets came out.
Baby, the beignets were hot and the coffee was cool.
The mounds of powder sugar had me looking like I was doing something unsavory. The iced coffee had me ready to order three more.
Better than Café Beignet by a long shot. You want touristy beignets, you go to Café Beignet. You want beignets that’ll have you dreaming until you taste them again, you go to New Orleans Coffee & Beignet Co.
And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this very, very long recap of my NOLA trip. I loved the city and there’s so many things I want to do the next time I go.
What’s your favorite thing about New Orleans? Is there a place I should visit next time? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
