Day 9: Baton Rouge, LA to New Orleans, LA (“NOLA”)

We got up early, had a quick Louisiana breakfast. Gina had to try the grits and Tom said they tasted like of combination of steel cut oats and misery. 

We jumped into the car and headed for NOLA but an accident on the 11 mile long I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge stopped traffic for 20 minutes.

We arrived in the French Quarter, parked our car, and walked down a fairly empty Bourbon Street. Without the crowds of people it was easy to hear the jazz music from the clubs. We wandered down the street admiring the architecture and laughing at the clever signs of the iconic Bourbon street. We past musicians playing in the street and local artists selling their art, some cliche and some very unique pieces. 

Just down the street from our hotel in the back of "Erin Rose Bar" is a little place called "Killer Poboys" where we shared a Seared Gulf Shrimp Poboy and a Glazed Pork Belly Poboy. The flavor bursts were wonderful in our mouths.

Everyone says going to the Café du Monde for café au laits & beignets is mandatory. The beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three. It is great place to people watch especially on a warm Sunday afternoon. 

We are staying in the Hotel La Maris, a cute boutique bed & breakfast hotel just off Bourbon Street. We felt pampered sitting on our balcony sipping complementary cocktails.

We are not used to drinking in the early afternoon but it help us blend in as we stepped out of our hotel and into the wild party called Bourbon Street. Live Jazz music poured onto the street like the drink specials in and out of the festive tourists. It felt like spring break. 

We wandered around the French Quarter and ended the day with a late dinner at Coop’s Place. We had the taste plate which allowed us to sample all of the “specialties of the region”: A cup of seafood gumbo, shrimp creole, one piece of cajun fried chicken, red beans & rice with sausage, and rabbit & sausage jambalaya. Sooo delicious. We both loved the gumbo and the jambalaya.

Trip Stats:

Today: 81 mi  25.6 kWh  319 Wh/mi

TOTAL:  2537 mi  807.6 kWh  316 Wh/mi