For Easter 2013 we took a long weekend over Kate’s spring break and headed down to New Orleans.  We saw some great music, ate some delicious food, and enjoyed a large part of the city.  We also found a wonderful bed and breakfast (Magnolia Mansion) in the Garden District.  The area was quiet and the house had tremendous character fitting of the term mansion.  Being famously haunted didn’t hurt either, even though we didn’t meet the ghost.  Exhausting and exciting trip as we packed all the highlights into three days.  It was much nicer seeing the city again without the eerie silence and national guard posted on the main streets.  Phenomenal spring  weather helped to make for a near perfect weekend.

Day 1:

We landed early (9 am) and went straight to the French Quarter for some beignets (surprise?).  After exploring the French Quarter we went to the Audobon aquarium.  Following the aquarium we found lunch at Killer Po’Boys (located in the back of a bar) then went to check in at Magnolia Mansion.  Refreshed, we took the streetcar towards the french quarter.  We wandered over to Frenchman Street to catch an early Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers show.  We came across a local artists fair on the way, then headed to The Blue Nile.

Day 2:

After coffee on the grand porch, we walked around the garden district to tour the homes and Lafayette Cemetery.  Kate wanted to revisit the WWII museum after a renewed appreciation of the war since researching her grandfather’s history so we checked that out before we went over to the West Bank.  On the west bank we got to visit Kate’s old school and eat some tasty authentic Vietnamese food.  We made our way back uptown to visit Kate’s old house and also found La Boulangerie for an eclair and more cafe au lait.  Tired from eating all day we headed over to Audobon Park to lay around and watch the river for awhile.  Topped this off with another amazing meal at Cochon Butcher, then hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  After the show, we headed back uptown by streetcar and enjoyed Abitas to go while trying to hunt down Taceaux Loceaux (famous food truck in New Orleans).  We found them, only in time to see them cleaning up.  Catching a cab late at night was difficult uptown, so we were very happy to find that the streetcar was still running in the middle of the night.

Day 3:

Woke up on Easter Sunday with a huge breakfast (including candy and cupcakes), then went to Jackson Square to take part in the service in St. Louis Cathedral.  What better way to celebrate Easter in New Orleans than a parade!  Starting with the Easter parade in the French Quarter we collected our beads, headed to St. Louis cemetery (oldest in the city and includes Marie Laveau’s tomb), then drove back uptown to catch the Second Line.  It was neat to take part in the parade instead of standing by the sidelines!  Following the parade we headed to City Park, just in time to catch the beginning of a storm.  Tired from walking around and eating all weekend we headed back to the mansion to relax.  We finished the day off with some good Ethiopian on Magazine St.

Day 4:

On our short Monday, we checked out and headed to Bayou (slow moving stream) Sauvage just outside of the city.  Even without any gators it was enjoyable getaway to see the rural area around the city.  Doing good on time, we went back downtown to visit Louis Armstrong park and enjoyed a muffaletta before going back to the airport.