New Orleans: Day 1

Steve was scheduled to travel to New Orleans in January for a wildlife conference, but after Grandpa Schmitz died we had to rearrange some of his plans. We would all be traveling north to St Louis for the funeral and it just made sense for the kids and I to join him in New Orleans on our way north to St Louis. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans, but never imagined it would be with my kids in tow. We arrived at our hotel (right smack on the corner of Canal and Bourbon Street), and Steve had to leave immediately for his meeting. I sat in our hotel, looked out the window at a very intimidating city and wondered if we would just be better off to be hermits for a few days. After a few text messages to friends with NOLA experience (Jenni and Robin) I decided the girls and I would be okay, so off we went. Our first priority was beignets from Cafe Du Monde. I'd read about them in Southern Living and the girls knew what beignets were from Princess and the Frog. It was a bit of a walk but the girls were troopers and we had some great scenery along the way, like St Louis Cathedral.

Finally we found Cafe Du Monde and enjoyed our messy beignets and hot chocolate.


The messier the better!!

After we left Cafe Du Monde, the girls each got a balloon animal from a street performer and then we walked back toward our hotel along the Mississippi at sunset.

Since our hotel was so close to Bourbon street, I knew the crowd would be getting rowdy quickly. Luckily I found a "family friendly" restaurant on www.urbanspoon.com right across the street from the hotel. They had delicious shrimp quesadillas, homemade chips, and brisket nachos, but the big plus was the mini indoor bowling alley!

Yay! We survived day one in the big scary city!!