New Orleans -- The Review

Hello folks:

Had a good night's rest, so I figured I'd give you our review of New Orleans. For all you picture nuts out there, sorry to disappoint, but we're not big picture people. We took a few but not many and they're still in the camera. We're saving some for the GTG tomorrow night.

Day 1: Flew down on Jet Blue (choppy flight) and landed right in the middle of tropical storm Matthew. The rain wasn't too bad, but I heard that a couple of days before it was pretty bad. Our hotel was the Doubletree Inn which was on the border of the French Quarter and The Central Business District and directly across the street from Harrah's

Didn't do much the first night, but did eat at Emeril's and let me say that it was the BEST dinner we've ever had...period, end of story. My only complaint was their seating policy. We had a 9 p.m. reservation and I understand that on a Saturday night, you can't expect to be seated right away, but we had to wait 45 minutes to sit down, which I think is too long when you have a reservation. Seems that everyone around us had to wait too and they all had 9 p.m. reservations. The appetizer was this wild mushroom sauce over angel hair pasta. Delicious. The gumbo soup was good too. For entrees, Boosh had the rack of lamb and I had roasted duck with orange sauce. OH MY GOD!! Best ever. Dessert was the signature Banana Cream Pie and this was absolutely heavenly. After dinner, we did a walk through of Harrah's and went to sleep.

Day 2: Went to a morning brunch at Brennan's (Yes, we ate like pigs throughout this trip). Tried turtle soup for the first time and it was amazing. Chunks of turtle tasted just like chicken. For main course, I had two poached eggs surrounded by lump crab meat and doused with a sherry hollindse sauce. Unbelieveable! Boosh had poached eggs with ham on an English muffin with hollandise sauce also. (yes, dessert for breakfast), the famed Bananas Foster. They cook it right in front of you and it's a great combo of bananas and cinammon.

In the afternoon, we went on a three hour bus tour of the city and it was awesome. Learned alot about the whole town, saw the cemeteries, and also saw how the hurricanes had flooded some of the homes.

At night, we went to this Louisiana kitchen called Casamento's, known for its oysters. They were great, but I couldn't bring myself to eat them raw after having food poisioning off of raw clams a few years ago.

After dinner, we played in Harrah's a bit and I won $500 on the Wheel of Fortune Machine.

Day 3: Went to Johnny Po'Boys for lunch. Po'Boys are just like normal heroes but they put anything and everything into them. You can get a French fry Po'Boy but I got a pork chop and Boosh got a Johnny's Special which has roast beef, ham and melted swiss cheese.

We then went on a Swamp Tour. It was pretty cool, we saw 2 alligators. Suprisingly, they only grow to about 6 feet long growing up in the wild because they only eat about once a month. We also saw a bald eagle catch a fish which was pretty cool. For dinner we went to Petunia's, I got a Cajun shrimp and Boosh got jumbalaya. After that we took a stroll down Bourbon Street. We went to the Famous Pat O'Brien's and got our Hurricanes. All I can say is OH MY GOD that drink is so potent. Me and Boosh took one sip of it and were already buzzed (and this was right after we ate) We couldnt even finish it, it was so strong. We walked around a little bit more and went back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 4- We went to Cafe Du Monde and had our coffee and beignet. We then went down Decantur which has alot of little shops and we got some gifts for our family. We also made a stop at the Farmer's Market and walked around. That night we went Dickie Brennans steakhouse which was very good. We got Buffalo Oysters for appetizers and I got the Barbeque Rib Eye and Boosh got the regular rib eye and for dessert we got Bannas Foster Bread Pudding which was excellent. After that we went back to Harrah's where I won another $500 on the Wheel of Fortune slots.

All in all it was a good trip!!

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

It all sounds great!!!!!! Congrats on the winnings at the casino!!!

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

Sounds like a filling trip

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

Sounds like a great trip.

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Re: New Orleans -- The Review

Sounds like a great trip!

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

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Posted by jenny2penny

sounds like you had a blast...if you ever go back you have to do the Nazche paddle boat tour.

I got my 2nd tatoo down there

I just love the energy and walking/stumbling around drinking....Can't wait!!!

Was the alligator tour worth it????

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It was worth it. The tour guide was telling us that we usually see about 10-15 alligators but because they had that tropical storm alot of the alligators moved with the current of the water and left the area. But I defintely recommend it.

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

Sounds like you had a great time, we are going in two weeks and I can't wait!!! Congrats on your casino wins!

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

Excellent review, Don. Sounds like you guys had a great trip, happy to hear it!

And an extra 'thumbs up' regarding your two big hits at the casino!! Way to go!

Re: New Orleans -- The Review

WOW, I'm hungry now, from reading your review. I went to New Orleans for mardi gras a few years back and of course I didn't get to enjoy all the wonderful cuisine of New Orleans, since I was mostly DRINKING my way through town, ha ha...but New Orleans is a great city with an awesome vibe!! My next trip will be all about the food, fo' sure!!