We didn’t book a ton of things ahead of time for the New Orleans part of our vacation, but we knew we wanted to do some tours so we made sure to plan ahead for those.
Taking the advice of my friend Nicole, who did this trip last year, we booked an all-day tour that took us to the swamp as well as to a couple of plantations. We didn’t want to make two treks out of the city at different times so this worked well for us.
The only catch was that the weather went sour on the day we set off to check things out. Like, sideways rain sour. Freeze your tootsies off sour.
As our tour van headed out of the city towards the swamplands we could barely see out the windows it was raining so hard. And wouldn’t you know, it was nice enough when we left the hotel that we didn’t come prepared with jackets or sweaters.
Unfortunately because of the weather, the swamp tour was a bit of a bust. It was cool to hear some stories from our tour boat guide, and we did luck out and see some cool birds and such…but when the weather is bad like that all the alligators go away to hide out.
Thankfully our guide had a stack of windbreakers, which he lent out to everyone and let us keep for the rest of our tour day. I would never have made it through the whole day without it!
Since we couldn’t see any wild gators, he brought out this little fella that he keeps on hand for photo ops. Once this guy is a little bigger he’ll go on to live his life in the bayou! But for now he’s happy to hang out and bite tourist fingers.
And of course, the obligatory alligator head shots!
After freezing our asses off on the boat, we hopped back in the van and headed off to the first of our two plantation visits…Oak Alley.
Here we ate lunch, took a guided tour inside, and spent a bit of time wandering the grounds and admiring the amazing oak trees….they are believed to be 300 years old!
You can see how it got it’s name! Thankfully the rain slowed way down while we were at Oak Alley and we able to enjoy the trees and wander the alley.
Next up, we headed on down the river to Laura Plantation. While Oak Alley was an antebellum-style plantation home, Laura is a Creole-style. The noticeable difference between the two is the colours, but also the shape and style of the house (among other things).
Laura had a far more informative tour because when the current owners bought the property and started looking for information, they actually got their hands on THE Laura’s memoirs.
So what started out as a small idea to capitalize on some of the slave history and the start of the Br'er Rabbit stories ended up being almost the complete history of the home, families, and plantation owners.
Some of the slave cottages still stand, and the gardens are still used today.
I can only imagine how amazing some of these views would have been had the weather cooperated. It was a long day to be cold and damp, but we’re so glad we took part in these tours and learned a bit about the areas we were visiting.
After a much needed hot shower and time to relax back in our hotel, we decided to head out on the town for a few cocktails. Really I just wanted an excuse to wear my cute hat.
We started out at Loa right across the street from our hotel, where it was quiet and subdued…just what we needed.
The mistake we made was heading back toward the French Quarter. Mardi Gras is not the time to really enjoy the ‘classier’ pieces of the area. While the Ramos Gin Fizz I had at The Sazerac Bar in the Waldorf-Astoria was the best I’ve ever had, the bar was still filled with Mardi Gras partiers and the vibe we were looking for was definitely missing.
We attempted to visit the Carousel Bar (packed) and French 75 (closed) but it just wasn’t our night. We popped into one of the only open sit down restaurants we could find nearby, grabbed a quick snack, and called it a night.
My party hat and I just weren’t in our element that night. The Mardi Gras crowd calls for comfy clothes, casual hair, and about nine dozen drinks. I needed ‘battle armour’. Not ‘date night armour’.
Be prepared!
{Next post: Daytime in NOLA}
Love your photos, makes me want to go to NOLA now.... :)
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