Visiting New Orleans for 48 Hours

After several requests to join my husband on a business trip to New Orleans over the years, this year I got the invite. It was not because I wanted to join him on a business trip but New Orleans is a city that is on my bucket list and thought this would prove to be a way for me to explore it on my own. It would be quick 48 hours and  not knowing where to start, I asked friends for help. One thing I did not ask was what to wear. I had purchased some Dr Schols wedges I had seen in a magazine as the prefect sandals for running errands. Heck, running errands and walking around  New Orleans sound about right, wrong. One newbie mistake was to wear shoes that did not have an flexibility. My dogs were barking up a storm on the uneven brick roads 

While I loved strolling Magazine Street and the Garden District, I was not sure I would be able to walk to dinner. Thanks to the trolleys for the true New Orleans experience and brief tour to the Garden District. Because my feet were killing we skipped the old cemetery tours. 

We avoided Bourbon Street as that would have been fun 10 years ago, most likely longer than that, and focused this trip on food. Are you at all surprised? But not wanting to hit only the touristy ones, we used yelp to guide our taste buds and glad we did .

For lunch we headed for a hole in the wall Johnny’s Poor boys. We shared a shrimp PoBoy and it was laden with fried shrimp. Not something I would normally order, but when in New Orleans.

Be sure to make dinner reservations as early as you can if headed to the Crescent city, making us feel even older, the only reservations we could get were at 6pm at Cafe Amelie. We were seated in the courtyard and we were immediately found quite in a busy city. The food and drinks there only topped off the atmosphere.

Allowing our waiter to guide us, our mouth was delighted by traditional tastes of shrimp and grits, beet salad and fresh fish.

Dessert was another surprise, the berry cobbler set off the evening and a welcomed walk back to hotel, not first stopping at a shoe store. Yes I bought a pair of flat sandals. There are so many fun and artsy shops along the streets of the French Quarter. 

No visit to New Orleans is complete without beignets from Cafe Dumonde. I had no idea what to expect, and yet after 150 years the place is probably still run the same. Coffee and cream is a must, my husband thought he would go old school and got it black!! Forget the diet as you indulge in the baked dough beauty of a beignet covered with powdered sugar.

Avoid cabs in the quarter if you can, there is so much to see on foot in New Orleans you might just miss that hidden gems and small parks full of history and charm.

I joined my husband at his work dinner, a traditional New Orleans restaurant, that was open only for us. While it was good, I would recommend finding that restaurant that was a little off the beat and path. It was not even Mardi Gras and check out the trees. 

While I never drank a Hurricane or frozen drink on Bourbon Street I saw a lot of fun art, and music that will always be a memory. My time was short and I am sure I missed a lot but so pleased to have this culinary adventure with my husband.

What do you look for when visiting a new city?