No, this is not a pre-Katrina post on how fab New Orleans once was. Joe, Sierra and I road tripped to LA in May and I never posted the highlights of our little trip so here we are. We were super excited for the trip. I had to go for work and Joe and Sierra tagged along. We stayed in the fabulous Omni Royal Orleans (because there is not a Hyatt there) and played while I wasn't working. We had never been before and we weren't really sure what to expect but we stayed in the French Quarter, the least affected area of the city by the hurricane. Check out our travels:
We headed out to explore this fabulous, and surprising really a little chilly for May, city. We walked around everywhere and took tons of pictures. Off we go...
Joan of Arc, Maid of New Orleans (1412-1431). Amazing statue right in the heart of New Orleans. Do you see Joe and Sierra in the pic?
Everything there has something about it that is just a little different. The architecture is awesome. Makes you feel like you are walking around a different country. We saw so many cool structures, gated homes, shutters on windows, people living right on Bourbon Street, statues, churches, gates, balconies...everything about this city was just cool.
One night we went to Magnolia Grill, the best fried chicken in the city, and enjoyed a bite to eat outside. Sierra was more interested in the sugar packets, the bike strapped to the awning (did I spell that right?) outside, the street people going by but she did take a bite out of her "Best in the City" chicken.
Yes, we are terrible people and we took our baby on Bourbon Street. What a trashy, terrible scene. We saw things that I NEVER want to see again but there were some cool parts about it. We were there on a week day and it was a total party. I can only imagine what Mardi Gras is like. Sierra and I had picked up some beans at a store prior to going out on the town so we weren't prodded so bare all for beads. (which we wouldn't of course).
While we shopped for beans we checked out some other really cool souveniers to bring home and add to our collection of 'cool trip stuff'.
Got did get a mask for Sierra. She just gets to look at it though so she won't break it.
We had fun with all the voo doo stuff and Sierra even made a new friend. We didn't bring him home with us though. We did bring his voo doo doll brother home with us those. Sierra is not a fan of it and every time she asks me what it is I say, "It's a voo doo doll baby," and she says, "No, mommy! no!". Funny kid.
We even made friends with this Sex-starved Alligator. This is Sierra puckering up with kisses for the Cook.
We went all over the city on the couple days we were there. Experienced the local food and all that the Big Easy had to offer. One restaurant we left had this little guy out front and Sierra and I couldn't resist stopping to put on our "fish face" for the picture.
A sweet little park with ginormous statues of nursery rhyme stories and characters and some Disney stuff, but this place was awesome!
Old Mother Hubbard was there,
Hansel and Gretel,
The 3 Little Pigs and...
The BIG, BAD Wolf,
Pinoccio and the Whale,
Who is this? One of the 7 dwarves? Well whoever he is, he loves me!
Little Miss Muffet, sat on her Tuffett...
While Sierra ate her curds and whey.
And got a ride in Cinderella's carriage.
Story Land was awesome!
We explored a few cemetaries as well. I think that was my favorite part. Just amazing places. The tombs are so old and brilliant and amazing structures full of family history. Not our family but, they were still fun to explore.
I must say that the final highlight of the trip was Sierra falling asleep while eating on the way home from the cemetary. Priceless!
We headed out to explore this fabulous, and surprising really a little chilly for May, city. We walked around everywhere and took tons of pictures. Off we go...Joan of Arc, Maid of New Orleans (1412-1431). Amazing statue right in the heart of New Orleans. Do you see Joe and Sierra in the pic?Everything there has something about it that is just a little different. The architecture is awesome. Makes you feel like you are walking around a different country. We saw so many cool structures, gated homes, shutters on windows, people living right on Bourbon Street, statues, churches, gates, balconies...everything about this city was just cool.One night we went to Magnolia Grill, the best fried chicken in the city, and enjoyed a bite to eat outside. Sierra was more interested in the sugar packets, the bike strapped to the awning (did I spell that right?) outside, the street people going by but she did take a bite out of her "Best in the City" chicken.Yes, we are terrible people and we took our baby on Bourbon Street. What a trashy, terrible scene. We saw things that I NEVER want to see again but there were some cool parts about it. We were there on a week day and it was a total party. I can only imagine what Mardi Gras is like. Sierra and I had picked up some beans at a store prior to going out on the town so we weren't prodded so bare all for beads. (which we wouldn't of course).While we shopped for beans we checked out some other really cool souveniers to bring home and add to our collection of 'cool trip stuff'.Got did get a mask for Sierra. She just gets to look at it though so she won't break it.We had fun with all the voo doo stuff and Sierra even made a new friend. We didn't bring him home with us though. We did bring his voo doo doll brother home with us those. Sierra is not a fan of it and every time she asks me what it is I say, "It's a voo doo doll baby," and she says, "No, mommy! no!". Funny kid.We even made friends with this Sex-starved Alligator. This is Sierra puckering up with kisses for the Cook.We went all over the city on the couple days we were there. Experienced the local food and all that the Big Easy had to offer. One restaurant we left had this little guy out front and Sierra and I couldn't resist stopping to put on our "fish face" for the picture.SUPER HIGHLIGHT of the trip was (besides discovering that Ruby Tuesdays in AL has the best blackberry lemonade ever) was going to StoryLand! How Joe found out about this place is a mystery (thank you iPhone!) but it was the coolest, most randomly weird place ever.
A sweet little park with ginormous statues of nursery rhyme stories and characters and some Disney stuff, but this place was awesome!Welcome to StoryLand, come on in!
Old Mother Hubbard was there,Hansel and Gretel,The 3 Little Pigs and...The BIG, BAD Wolf,Pinoccio and the Whale,Who is this? One of the 7 dwarves? Well whoever he is, he loves me!Little Miss Muffet, sat on her Tuffett...While Sierra ate her curds and whey.She tried to awaken Sleeping Beauty,
And got a ride in Cinderella's carriage. Story Land was awesome!We explored a few cemetaries as well. I think that was my favorite part. Just amazing places. The tombs are so old and brilliant and amazing structures full of family history. Not our family but, they were still fun to explore.
I must say that the final highlight of the trip was Sierra falling asleep while eating on the way home from the cemetary. Priceless!
5 comments:
How fun! I want to go to Storyland. We went to New Orleans back when we were in college and I love it. I had no idea Bourbon Street was always like that, I just assumed it was due to Mardi Gras. Oh, and I can see why Sierra says No Mommy to the creepest looking mask that is sure to come to life one night while you're sleeping!
looks like ya'll had a great time! the pictures are beautiful and sierra is such a trooper!! i want to go to story book land!!! that looks like so much fun.
Wow! What a truly authentic New Orleans experience! Storyland in our beautiful 1,300 acre City Park is a wonderful place to explore! We'd like to thank Team Smith for choosing to stay with us at the Omni Royal Orleans in the heart of New Orleans' romantic & historic French Quarter and to say that we hope this visit was one of many for many years to come! All the best to you and your lovely family. Sincerely~ Omni Royal Orleans, Management
Great trip log! Storyland is the place for me!
I'm bringing Diego home to New Orleans over Labor Day weekends and this gives me some good ideas of where to take him. I want him to have the whole experience too. Thanks.
BTW, it's "beads" not "beans"
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