A recap of our weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana – what we did while we were there, the cute boutique hotel where we stayed, all the good food we ate, and (of course) what I wore.

A couple of weeks ago Philip and I spent the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana.

After our trip, tons of you asked for recommendations of where to stay, what to do, and what to wear while traveling there.

So today I’m sharing all about our cute boutique hotel we stayed in, the activities we did each day, and links to everything I wore during the weekend.

The food we ate during our weekend in New Orleans

• Creale House Restaurant and Oyster House
  • WHAT WE ORDERED: the 4 sampler bowls (gumbo, red beans and rice, etouffee, and jambalaya)
  • Highly recommend as a good way to try a few signature New Orleans dishes at once. Philip and I shared this platter — it wasn’t big, but was good for a light lunch before a big dinner.
• Brennan’s Restaurant
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • Course 1: A bowl of gumbo to share, and their baked Oysters J’aime with cornmeal crumble. Both super delicious.
    • Course 2: Laquered Duck with Farro and Summer Fruits for me, and Trout Amandine for Philip. The duck was really rich and sweet, while the trout was creamy and gentle. Both incredible.
    • Dessert: We actually got two desserts, because we told them we were celebrating my birthday (that was a week or so before), and they brought me a giant cotton candy dessert. But we also ordered the Bananas Foster, because they invented it! So of course we had to try it. It was INSANELY GOOD.
• Cafe Beignet
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • Muffaletta (olive spread sandwich, that’s famous in NOLA). I hate olives, but actually this was so good.
    • Beignets. We tried three different beignet restaurants and these were delicious, but they came in last in our ratings.
• Loretta’s Authentic Pralines
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • Chocolate filled beignets and praline filled beignets. These were super good, but more flakey, fried dough like a cronut. The chocolate was Philip’s fave, the praline was mine. This came in second for our beignet taste test.
• Cafe du Monde
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • Beignets. These were the winner beignets for us — perfectly light while still being a little dense and chewy. So good. This is the most famous beignet place, so you’ve got to try it.
• Willie’s Chicken Shack
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • 4 piece mixed chicken box. This was the perfect amount for Philip and me to share. This was legitimately the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten.
• Galatoire’s (this is a super fancy restaurant that’s quietly tucked right on Bourbon street in the middle of the mayhem. If you go, make sure your man wears a dinner jacket – they’re required!)
  • WHAT WE ORDERED
    • Course 1: Duck and andouille sausage gumbo. Philip said this was his favorite gumbo we ate all weekend. I agree.
    • Course 2: Oysters en brochette. It was a bunch of oysters and bacon all fried together into one big crispy bunch, with meuniere butter on toast. I feel nervous about oysters, but oh my gosh this was insanely good.
    • Course 3: We shared crab au gratin, and trout with almonds, crab meat, and brown butter. Both were incredibly good. The crab au gratin was super rich, but divine, and the trout was perfect and so flavorful.
    • Dessert: Pecan pie. You have to get pecan pie when you’re in the south, right? It was the best pecan pie of my life.
• World Famous N’Awlins Cafe + Spices
  • WHAT WE ORDERED:
    • Shrimp po’boy — I could have lived without this. The shrimp was perfect, but the sandwich was dry and just too much.
    • Gator on a stick. We had to try gator while we were there, and this was delicious. It tasted like very rich and fatty sausage that was slightly spicy. I liked it!
• Central Grocery
  • WHAT WE ORDERED
    • Muffaletta – they claim to have invented the Muffaletta sandwich, but also the other shop a block away claims the same, so it’s hard to say. But either way, this was our second muffaletta and it was delish. The other muffaletta we got from Cafe Beignet had melted cheese and the olives were chopped smaller. I actually liked that better, even if it’s maybe not the traditional way? I ended up pulled my olives off of this and chopping them up so I didn’t get such huge bites of them. But the cold cuts and the bread on this sandwich were perfection.
• Kilwins
  • WHAT WE ORDERED
    • Pralines. These were the best pralines! So good and super fresh.
    • Bear Claw. We bought one for the jazz cruise to share – it’s caramel, milk chocolate, and cashews. So good!

What we did in New Orleans (besides eat)

Most of our site seeing for this weekend vacation involved food…clearly. But we did do some other things that didn’t involve food.

Jazz Cruise

• A jazz cruise on the Mississippi River just seemed like a must-do while in New Orleans! It was amazing. There was the option to have dinner on the cruise, but we read that the dinner wasn’t that great. So instead, we just bought the regular tickets without the dinner, and then grabbed dinner beforehand.
• They have a bar on board available to anyone, and we just bought some drinks for the ride (they’re a little pricey but they do free refills if you keep your cup!)
• The whole cruise was two and a half hours, and before the jazz band starts,  they had a tour guide who shared historical facts, information about the river, the boat, the other boats and landmarks that we passed, and other interesting facts.
• It was a gorgeous night and a really fun experience. There were a few young kids on board, but honestly, I’m not sure it’s the best fit for little kids unless they enjoy just sitting and relaxing and watching the sites.

Swamp Tour

• Another must have during a trip to New Orleans! We booked ours through Cajun Encounters and it was fantastic. We booked the VIP tour, which was more expensive, but was incredible. There are up to 10 people on the boat, instead of like 40, and you get a super personalized tour. Our boat ended up only having six of us, plus the tour guide, and he taught us so much, told us lots of interesting facts, showed us cool little places, and lured the alligators out of their normal spots so we could get a nice close look at them. It was amazing and worth every penny!

Tour through the Garden District

• The garden district is where all the beautiful historic mansions are, and also several spectacular cemeteries. We wanted to run through this area to be able to see a lot AND get a good workout, so we put on our running clothes and did a 7.5 mile tour through lots of gorgeous streets.
• When we got home from our trip, my dad mentioned that he downloaded a walking tour audio guide in that area when he went with my brother a number of years ago. I wish he’d mentioned this before, cause it would have been fun to learn about more of the houses in the area. We looked up a few, and there were plaques on the gates of a few, but this audio guide can be downloaded for $2 and walks you through the entire area showing you historic homes and telling you about them.
• On our way to the Garden District, we stopped by the famous Greetings from NOLA wall mural! Here’s the location if you want to check it out: 2104 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA 70130

The French Quarter

• We spent a lot of our time in the French Quarter. It’s a gorgeous and spectacular area, but also pretty grungy in certain areas. There were lots of homeless people, we saw a couple of drug deals happen right on the street, we saw human waste on the ground here and there…there are definitely some rough spots. This is also where the famous Bourbon street is. We walked down that street twice..once in the day, and the once in the evening. It’s filled with bars and at night it becomes a huge party with lots of drunk people. Definitely not our scene, and thankfully we avoided seeing anything too crazy, but it was some prime people watching for a minute while we walked down.
• Mostly we loved walking through these beautiful streets during the day to look at all the painted homes and doors and architecture and character. It’s stunning.

Trolley Car

• We rode the trolley car the last day we were there. There was a stop right outside the church we attended, so it was perfect to be able to take the 20 minute ride back to the area of our hotel. They take exact change only on the trolley car, or you can download the app and get a single pass or day pass to ride.

Where we stayed in New Orleans

• The Eliza Jane.
• It’s the most beautiful and fun boutique hotel ever. The decor was incredible. The rooms were on the small side, but it wasn’t an issue. We didn’t spend much time in the hotel room.
• They have a gorgeous bar and library and gym on the main floor.

What I wore during our weekend in New Orleans

It was HOT in New Orleans. Super humid, and warm. So I chose lightweight, comfortable dresses and skirts for the whole trip.

No jeans or denim for me.

Outfit 1: FLORAL RUFFLE SLEEVE TOP | DENIM SKIRT | SIMILAR SNEAKERS | AZARIA BAG (code Merrick for 10% off) | SUNGLASSES

Outfit 2: WHITE TANK | GREEN SHORTS | GREEN SNEAKERS | RUNNING BELT | SUNGLASSES

Outfit 3: PINK LINEN DRESS | BELT | SIMILAR SANDALS

Outfit 4: STRIPED DRESS | SIMILAR PINK SNEAKERS | NUDE TANK

Outfit 5: FLORAL MAXI DRESS | SIMILAR PINK SNEAKERS (I wore THESE HEELS to dinner) | GOLD BANGLES | NUDE TANK

Outfit 6: MERRICK WHITE COLLECTION DRESS | SIMILAR SANDALS

I’m happy to answer any other questions – just leave them in the comments!

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