New Orleans, LA

New Orleans is crazy! We arrived in New Orleans at 7:30pm on Friday June 8th. Rachel picked us up from the train station and took us back to her place to get ready for our first night in New Orleans. After taking showers, we set off to the local po boy joint that Rachel had suggested.

Lynea with her "Peacemaker" po boy (fried oyster, bacon, and cheese)

Lauren with her roast beef po boy (sorry John)

Thanks for an enjoyable dining experience Mahony's

After feasting on our giant po boys, we headed to the local bar Bulldog. We tried the local abita beer called Purple Haze. It wasn't our favorite beer, but it was good to try something local. 

The next day, we traveled by street car for the first time. We went to downtown New Orleans to go to Cafe Du Monde for their beignets and cafe au laits. WE LOVED THIS PLACE. Seriously. Lauren, being the expert on bakeries, decided that the beignets were better than any pastry Panera has to offer. Sorry Panera. Cafe Du Monde was absolutely crazy (in a good way). They were extremely busy and we were unsure how to order. After realizing that you have to seat yourselves to order, we found an empty table and patiently waited to be served. 

The craziness of Cafe Du Monde

The delicious beignets and cafe au lait

Lauren is very dainty and likes to drink her coffee with her pinky up

After this delicious breakfast, we aimlessly wandered around the French Quarter. One of our favorite parts of walking around was seeing all of the street performers. The first band we passed by was a lively jazz band who enjoyed including members of the crowd in their performance. After playing a few songs, they went around to the crowd to collect money. The flute player noticed Lauren's particular interest in his solo performance and correctly guessed that she played flute. 

It's amazing how long these guys can stand completely still

These guys were so good!!

While walking through New Orleans, we passed a huge farmer's market. We didn't buy anything, but we did enjoy some window shopping. We also passed through the Creole Tomato Festival and the Zydeco Music Festival. We bought ice cream daiquiris at a cafe near the farmer's market. Lynea got a Mudslide daiquiri while Lauren got the pina colada daiquiri. Lynea was impressed to learn they put actual ice cream in the drinks, instead of just a mix. They were delicious. We enjoyed walking around the city with the drinks, since we can't do that back home!

Enjoying our ice cream daiquiris :) 

Having fun window shopping! 

So of course we had to stop at the local Starbucks in the city. We found one when heading back towards the streetcar after a day of exploring the French Quarter. This Starbucks was much smaller than the one in Atlanta. So far, the Starbucks in Atlanta is our favorite. We'll see what Los Angeles Starbucks has to offer us next. 

Big smiles that only Starbucks can put on our faces

There is so much to see in New Orleans, one weekend isn't enough. We particularly enjoyed all the live music and street performers. We had fun people watching and the city certainly lives up to its reputation. New Orleans is filled with a variety of all kinds of people, such as this hippie we saw walking around. The nightlife is even crazier! We will write more about the nightlife in our next post.

Oh the things you see in New Orleans...