“Man-catching beignets”

If you get the title reference, I appreciate you.

THIS was a fun trip! I honestly don’t even remember how this trip came about, but Alex, Wasi, Kokila and I decided to go to New Orleans for a long weekend. This weekend happened to line up very nicely with my thesis proposal, so the day after my presentation I hopped on a plane to NOLA ✈️

Although it was only a few days, I think we got a great first look at the city (’twas my first time at least). Wasi and I got there first on the Friday morning and immediately went downtown to check out the city. Less than 2 hours after entering the city I had my very first (authentic) beignet. We went to Cafe Beignet on Bourbon St. and I can honestly say having successfully proposed my thesis the day before, sitting in the Louisiana sun eating beignets and drinking coffee? The peace I felt in that moment was monumental.

After that (mind you, we still were carrying our luggage around. When I say we immediately went downtown, I mean from the airport), we walked around a bit until our Airbnb was ready. Everything I knew about New Orleans at this point I knew because of The Princess and the Frog (title reference), but I’d say that movie did a decent job of capturing the city.

Finally our Airbnb was ready, so we headed over and killed some time watching some pretty wild infomercials 🥴 But then got lunch at the barbecue place across the street. Guys. This was some of the best barbecue I’ve had in my life (I know I said this about St. Louis… but I honestly can’t decide). I can still taste those Brussels sprouts.

Now the coolest part about this trip is that by pure coincidence that weekend The French Quarter Festival was happening in town and entry was FREE. I’m talking huge stages, music on every street corner, good food in the streets. I promise you we didn’t plan this but it worked out perfectly. So Wasi and I went to check it out while we waited for Alex to get in that night. We found a new favorite local band (shoutout to Sweet Crude) and I tried fried okra (I think it was just this festival stand because I like okra but it definitely could have been better).

Alex got in that night and I think we just ordered Chinese food and caught up for the night. The next morning we walked around a bit and went to the famous Café du Monde to try their beignets. Again, beignets and coffee was a mood during this trip. They were delicious and (spoiler alert) we went back one more time.

After that we explored for a bit to kill time because in the afternoon we had a very special appointment… 👀

A COOKING CLASS! We signed up for a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking 😄 10/10 would recommend. We learned how to make gumbo, jambalaya, and pralines. The class was interactive, educational, and so much fun. If you’re ever in New Orleans, I would definitely recommend checking them out.

After the class, we took a (very) long walk to a restaurant that we looked up for a crawfish boil. It was fine 😅 No shade to the restaurant at all, it’s just true what they say about crawfish boils – a lot of work for very little payoff. I hadn’t realized how small crawfish were and how little meat they had on them 😂 But at least I can say I did it!

That night Kokila flew in and guess where we went the next day? Yes, exactly. Back to Café de Monde. Don’t be fooled, Alex was actually happy about these beignets, trust me.

That afternoon we mostly spent walking around and listening to music. We made a stop to a restaurant to try some oysters (and by stop I mean we waited in a line). This was also where I got my first po’boy! The oysters were okay… I think they’re just not my thing.

I believe that this was the evening that we went to Preservation Hall. Preservation Hall is a historic Jazz venue where you can go and listen to live performances in this very intimate setting. As such, we weren’t allowed to take pictures 😞 But just trust me when I said it was a good time. If you find yourself in NOLA, I would check this place out (you can read more about it here).

After Preservation Hall we just walked around and enjoyed the night life!

The next morning we woke up, got breakfast, and then Wasi, Kokila, and I made the drive from NOLA to Atlanta. Driving through Mississippi and Alabama… We stopped in Montgomery, Alabama for gas and got to see some historic things which was cool but that was more than enough for me. I don’t feel the need to go back to Alabama any time soon 😂

El fin.