Since we are spending the month with our friends in Louisiana while Chad gets Airborne Ready for Italy we decided we would take a weekend to go explore New Orleans. Only about a 4 hour drive from our friends home we got there in a quick afternoon drive and checked into our amazing hotel located just a few miles from the French Quarter. Our first activity was a Historic Tour of New Orleans that we ended up leaving early because the girls were an absolute wreck – hungry, bored and tired is never a good mix. Our tour guide wasn’t that excited we decided to ditch, but the little info we got was great! This tour would be great for people without kids – although I’m not sure I could have sat through much more either.
After a good nights rest we boarded the trolley (which is $3 for a 24 hour pass) and headed to get the famous Cafe Du Monde Beignets. They were absolutely delicious – the girls were covered in powdered sugar. Definitely don’t wear black!
We also stopped at Cafe Beignet which I ended up liking better – the beignets were a different texture and taste and I personally liked them way better. Plus they had more food options if you are looking for more than just a sugar rush.
We wandered around the French Quarter all weekend and every street was just gorgeous! We stopped by the French Market for shopping & smoothies.
Then I got my Vampire fix. Part of ‘The Originals’ was filmed right here in New Orleans (most of the filming is done in Georgia) so I had to stop by to get some fangirl pictures. I’ve always loved the Vampire Diaries – so when the spin-off started I eagerly jumped on the bandwagon and have watched it ever since. There are several spots around New Orleans that you can stop at from scenes in the movie – this famous red door scene, Marcels Hotel (Hotel Royal) and then a Voodoo Shop and Vampyre Store. Filming also takes place in Lafayette Cemetery so we walked around there as well. They just finished filming the week before we arrived – I was sooooo bummed because I would have loved to see some of the cast! (Joseph Morgan fan over here!)
On the final day before the drive home Presley and I did a walking tour with French Quarter Phantoms and it ended up being absolutely incredible. The tour was just the right time and the tour guide was crazy knowledgable and had the most random information about New Orleans. With this tour we were able to visit the St Louis Cemetery No.1 which you can only visit on a tour (or if you have family buried there). The history and stories behind the cemeteries in New Orleans absolutely blow my mind. The bodies count in that square block is insane!!!
Definitely a fun weekend in New Orleans, although it would have been completely different without kids!
You can see more pictures/videos on my Instagram highlight reel. Thanks for stopping by! XO
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