Visiting New Orleans

In the summer of 2019, my daughter graduated from college and made a last minute decision to move to Texas. It was one of those quick decisions that meant we had to scramble to find out how to get her moved lock, stock, and barrel, within her designated time frame. It was decided that I would drive with her, her dog, and her important worldly possessions, spend an afternoon helping her get situated, and then I would fly back home. Countless parents have done similar things as their kids venture out into the world.

One quick look at the map showed us the route. Interstate I-20 West was a straight shot from Atlanta GA to Dallas TX. But, as my daughter and I are wont to do, we decided to find a way to spice it up and make the 13-hour drive more interesting. That’s how we squeezed a side trip to New Orleans into our very tight schedule. We fast-packed so that we could leave 2 days earlier and charted our course for the The Big Easy. We had such an outstanding trip that I wanted to share it with you. This will be a picture-heavy article.

We landed a discount deal at the coolest, quirkiest Bed and Breakfast called The Creole Gardens in the Lower Garden district of New Orleans. Here are some pictures of the inn’s courtyard with its funky art and vegetation.

The courtyard......

Some of the artwork....

We loved the accommodations, and we especially loved the scrumptious breakfast of crawfish omelets and buttermilk biscuits that was cooked with loving hands in the main house.

In fact, food was the star of our whole visit to NOLA. I had visited the city a few times before and had always enjoyed my stay. But, this time, the food was off the chain. We had the longest consecutive run of delicious meals that I have ever had anywhere. By far. You typically run into a dud meal along the way. But, not on this trip. Everywhere we went, every meal or snack we ate or drank was the most incredible thing we had ever eaten. It was that good. No matter what restaurant we stopped at, whether we ordered seafood, fried chicken, beans and rice, gumbo, vegan specialties, bread pudding, signature drinks—it didn’t matter—it was astoundingly delicious.  I guess the stars were all aligned.

We stumbled on a Restaurant Week lunch special and ordered all-you-can-drink 10-cent cocktails that we enjoyed with our shrimp creole.  In a strange moment of small-world-ness, we found out that our waiter used to live in our little town in Georgia. We updated him on what had been happening in town since he moved away.  We bebopped around the French Quarter stopping to listen to house bands and special jazz performances. We took full advantage of every minute to soak in the city and all that it had to offer.

We had a few snafus. In the daytime, we got stranded for a minute when our phone service went out after we Uber-ed to another part of town. We had to walk around a cemetery holding our phones up in the air to try to connect so we could use our GPS for directions and call for another ride back. But, eventually, it worked, and we were none the worse for wear.

At night, there was a big mess-up with the trolley which was supposed to take us straight to the French Quarter. Unbeknownst to us, the trolley lines were being repaired, so halfway through the route they ordered everyone off of the trolley and transferred us to a bus. We never quite heard the instructions, but we decided to watch a group of touristy people who we thought would be heading to the French Quarter for the evening. There were many stops, but we couldn't hear what was happening and we couldn't recognize any of the places in the dark. When the last stop came and the group of tourists got off, we followed and then caught one of them to ask if they were headed to Bourbon Street. The man said, “No, we’re going to the hotel casino. Bourbon Street is way back there,” He pointed in the direction we had just come from. So, my daughter and I started hoofing it back, retracing the bus route. It was completely dark, and we were walking down seedy streets with questionable people lurking about. We held onto each other and did the “Act Like You Know What You’re Doing” routine, and quickly covered the 5 or 6 blocks to get where we needed to be. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but you know how it is.  

I can’t talk about our trip without mentioning the heartbreaking sights that we saw throughout our time in NOLA. There were many, many homeless people and downtrodden individuals. There was no way to help them all. I felt guilty that I wanted to enjoy my time there, have fun, and carry on while they were clearly struggling in their lives. It brought to mind a quote I refer to often. I don’t know the source, but it says:

People who are concerned about survival make different choices than people who are concerned about comfort.

Seeing those people with their struggles reminded me to seize the moments of happiness and make the memories when you can. You don’t ever know what will happen in the future, and you should make the most of life whenever possible.

Our trip to New Orleans was a wonderful moment of happiness. It was short and sweet, as we had to get on the road and get my daughter moved into her new home. We picked up a few souvenirs, but my favorite is my little voodoo koala that I named KoKo. He always sits on the drive shaft of my car. Seeing him there every day makes me smile, because it reminds me of the wonderful side trip my daughter and I crammed into her move to Texas.

Life is short. Enjoy it. Eat the cookie. Take the trip.  

Make the Memory.