Ramey Road Trip Day 15: Bienvenue Au Quartier Français
Woohoo! We are going to New Orleans!!! I am so excited to see the French Quarter, it's one of my travel bucket list places.
We all got up and started getting ready to go, Jared and I went back to the beach to fill up a bag of sand for souvenirs (and look at what the storm washed up), and I took some pictures of the osprey nest nearby. Then we all got loaded up into our spots (we all have our spots we claimed in the RV) and started driving.
The drive wasn't too terribly long today but we did pass back through Alabama and Mississippi. Finally we got to our campground in the French Quarter. It wasn't really a campground, more of just a fancy parking lot; but it was really clean, had really good security (guards, a gate, and a cement wall with barbed wire) (we would have stayed at the KOA but apparently someone heard gunshots near that campground), and a nice pool.
Once we got all checked in, we grabbed our stuff and headed out. The RV park we were staying at was only a few blocks away from the French Quarter so we walked over, though we were warned to take a cab back if it was dark.
On our way into the city we stopped at a few shops to look around. The first was just a normal gift shop, filled with all manner of fun New Orleans souvenirs. The second was a neat little spice shop where they sold bulk spices, teas, and even a bunch of different flavored sugars (my favorite was the raspberry).
The first stop on our agenda was the famous Café du Monde. This popular stop serves up a classic Louisianan dessert, beignets. They also have chicory coffee which Mama Ramey said was good (I don't drink coffee so I couldn't give you my opinion).
For those who are saying "Sarah, what is a beignet?" just sit right down and let me tell you. A beignet is a type of doughnut, it is fried dough just without the hole in the center and instead of icing they come out covered in powdered sugar.
So we got six orders of beignets -- three doughnuts per order -- and dug in. They were so good and I ate two of them even though I am sorta gluten free (#noshame). After our yummy snack we went back to walking around.
We were walking down the street and we saw a cruise ship pulling in, so we went to take a couple of pictures. While we were up there we also saw this cool old fashioned paddle boat which takes people our on the water for dinner and a jazz show.
As we were walking back to the street from the docks CC's flip flop broke. So we made a detour to a Walgreen's to get her some new ones.
After the detour we kept on walking and looking at stores. Our next stop was Madame Laveau's Voodoo Shop. On the way there we stopped at a few other voodoo shops too, some were definitely better than others though. The second one was really cool and had neat stuff in it, but you couldn't touch anything or take pictures or the people would get mad. Mama Ramey and Mr. Ramey also picked up some drinks on the way since in New Orleans you can walk around with drinks (just no glass containers on Bourbon Street).
After visiting the voodoo shop we headed to another spooky place, the LaLaurie Mansion. Apparently the woman who originally owned this house kept her slaves up in the attic and would use them for voodoo rituals (#2spooky4you), though now Nicholas Cage owns the house (#stillspooky).
Then we started making our way out of the city and back to the RV park. I thought that New Orleans was amazing and I really hope that I can go back again, next time hopefully during Mardi Gras. I think that everyone should go at least once because it really is a beautiful city and it is full of history, and it only really smells like pee every now and then.
Anyways, we got back to the RV and hung out a bit. Jared and CC went swimming right away but I stayed in so I could some work done. Mama Ramey ordered dinner from some restaurant that would deliver food to the RV park since we were hungry and didn't want to cook.
After a while the food came, it was really good. I had some of it and what I tasted was really good, the alligator bites were my favorite (my actual dinner was mac and cheese because I couldn't eat a lot of the food). Then Jared, CC, and I went back out to the pool to relax and go swimming and we met some very interesting people from New Jersey.
We swam and sat in the hot tub for a bit before we finally went to bed (with very tired feet).
We all got up and started getting ready to go, Jared and I went back to the beach to fill up a bag of sand for souvenirs (and look at what the storm washed up), and I took some pictures of the osprey nest nearby. Then we all got loaded up into our spots (we all have our spots we claimed in the RV) and started driving.
The drive wasn't too terribly long today but we did pass back through Alabama and Mississippi. Finally we got to our campground in the French Quarter. It wasn't really a campground, more of just a fancy parking lot; but it was really clean, had really good security (guards, a gate, and a cement wall with barbed wire) (we would have stayed at the KOA but apparently someone heard gunshots near that campground), and a nice pool.
Once we got all checked in, we grabbed our stuff and headed out. The RV park we were staying at was only a few blocks away from the French Quarter so we walked over, though we were warned to take a cab back if it was dark.
On our way into the city we stopped at a few shops to look around. The first was just a normal gift shop, filled with all manner of fun New Orleans souvenirs. The second was a neat little spice shop where they sold bulk spices, teas, and even a bunch of different flavored sugars (my favorite was the raspberry).
The first stop on our agenda was the famous Café du Monde. This popular stop serves up a classic Louisianan dessert, beignets. They also have chicory coffee which Mama Ramey said was good (I don't drink coffee so I couldn't give you my opinion).
For those who are saying "Sarah, what is a beignet?" just sit right down and let me tell you. A beignet is a type of doughnut, it is fried dough just without the hole in the center and instead of icing they come out covered in powdered sugar.
So we got six orders of beignets -- three doughnuts per order -- and dug in. They were so good and I ate two of them even though I am sorta gluten free (#noshame). After our yummy snack we went back to walking around.
We were walking down the street and we saw a cruise ship pulling in, so we went to take a couple of pictures. While we were up there we also saw this cool old fashioned paddle boat which takes people our on the water for dinner and a jazz show.
As we were walking back to the street from the docks CC's flip flop broke. So we made a detour to a Walgreen's to get her some new ones.
After the detour we kept on walking and looking at stores. Our next stop was Madame Laveau's Voodoo Shop. On the way there we stopped at a few other voodoo shops too, some were definitely better than others though. The second one was really cool and had neat stuff in it, but you couldn't touch anything or take pictures or the people would get mad. Mama Ramey and Mr. Ramey also picked up some drinks on the way since in New Orleans you can walk around with drinks (just no glass containers on Bourbon Street).
After visiting the voodoo shop we headed to another spooky place, the LaLaurie Mansion. Apparently the woman who originally owned this house kept her slaves up in the attic and would use them for voodoo rituals (#2spooky4you), though now Nicholas Cage owns the house (#stillspooky).
Then we started making our way out of the city and back to the RV park. I thought that New Orleans was amazing and I really hope that I can go back again, next time hopefully during Mardi Gras. I think that everyone should go at least once because it really is a beautiful city and it is full of history, and it only really smells like pee every now and then.
Anyways, we got back to the RV and hung out a bit. Jared and CC went swimming right away but I stayed in so I could some work done. Mama Ramey ordered dinner from some restaurant that would deliver food to the RV park since we were hungry and didn't want to cook.
After a while the food came, it was really good. I had some of it and what I tasted was really good, the alligator bites were my favorite (my actual dinner was mac and cheese because I couldn't eat a lot of the food). Then Jared, CC, and I went back out to the pool to relax and go swimming and we met some very interesting people from New Jersey.
We swam and sat in the hot tub for a bit before we finally went to bed (with very tired feet).
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