The Mississippi riverfront.
I bet you never thought I’d finish my New Orleans series! This is the fifth and final installment. Blog #1 was on sights to the north of Lake Pontchartrain, Blog #2 was on dining at night, and Blog #3 was on drinking at night. Blog #4 took us through the Honey Island Swamp. This time around, we’ll walk through the Garden district, stop for meals, beers, and streetcar rides, and finish the visit up with bourbon, breakfast, and one last Jackson Square view. Let’s go!
On our first morning in town, I wanted to take in some regular New Orleans street views. My husband wanted to shop and stop for several beers to recover from my fast pace. So we decided on Magazine St., where retail, food, and pretty houses are plentiful throughout the Central Business and Garden districts.
Heading out.
Surrey’s Café and Juice Bar (1418 Magazine St.) was our choice for breakfast because it’s highly recommended among locals on Yelp.
It’s cash only, and it proves my theory that locals really like recommending restaurants in renovated old homes that don’t have air conditioning.
That’s not to say breakfast was anything less than delicious! Breakfast dishes were affordable and tended toward a Californian/Mexican blend with items like migas and seafood scrambles.
Coffee was served in large, cozy mugs perfect for a lazy morning.
Our morning was anything but lazy, however, because I had streets to walk!
Lively corner café.
Sidewalk restaurant art.
For the antique lovers, take a left on Jackson Ave. for a truly unique antique shop, Antiques on Jackson (1028 Jackson Ave.).
I don’t even like antiquing, but I couldn’t help walking in with a storefront like that. The proprietors are super friendly. But my street strolling would not be waylaid for long.
Love that wrought ironwork.
Don’t forget to look up as you stroll! The trees just plain pretty--
--and leftover Mardi Gras beads decorate many of them all year long, which is wonderful when you’re visiting out of season like we were.
The Bulldog (3236 Magazine St.) is an excellent pub to stop at on a Sunday afternoon, and it was jam-packed with regulars in its little front courtyard.
Plus, they have a fountain of taps!
Who could resist that? Not us.
We were about three drinks in after the Bulldog, so after another few blocks, we headed up Napoleon Ave. to catch the streetcar on St. Charles Ave.
Streetcar approaching.
We decided to ride it until the end of the line on S. Carrollton, taking in the mansions, colleges, and parks that line the road as we went.
Loyola or Tulane University. Can’t remember which!
Audubon Park
On a nice day, it’s a truly relaxing way to spend the afternoon and well worth the $3 or so roundtrip. We hopped right back on it to return to the Central Business District.
Inside the streetcar.
On foot, we traversed the CBD for a few blocks, determined to make it to the riverfront by sunset.
Canal St.
Strolling along the Woldenberg Riverfront Park is a pleasure, and you can follow the river on it from the Aquarium—
Aquarium sculptures at sunset.
--to Jackson Square.
Walking toward Jackson Square.
Tribute to the Immigrant
We ventured off around Conti St. to see how beautiful the French Quarter is at sunset as well.
Decatur Ave. at sunset.
The Bourbon House (144 Bourbon St.) was our next stop, and we were happy to take advantage of their $5 small plates happy hour.
It’s an elegant location. We sidled up to the bar and feasted on a delicious trio of baked oysters in Rockefeller, Bienville, and Fonseca styles and bacon-wrapped duck poppers.
I also thoroughly enjoyed a flight of small batch bourbons.
The bar is a fantastic place to watch expert oyster shucking as well.
Bourbon House ranks high on my list of places we ate and drank.
Perhaps the only place that beat it was where we went to breakfast our last morning.
Stanley (547 Saint Ann St.) is one of the corner restaurants framing Jackson Square, and it is amazing for breakfast.
My cousin recommended the Breaux Bridge Benedict, and I will forever be grateful.
Made with Charlie T’s boudin, smoked ham, creole hollandaise, soft baguettes, and poached eggs, it is an absolute pleasure to eat. Luckily, breakfast is available all day at Stanley. My husband was quite happy with their roast beef po’ boy. It was much better than the one he had at Mother’s our first night in town.
I made use of our last few hours in New Orleans by giving Jackson Square its due in the daylight hours, having documented it quite well at night already.
Park gates.
Iconic view.
We walked back to the hotel and our waiting car, taking in a few more sights of the French Quarter along the way.
Louis Armstrong Park down the block.
I am so, so glad we took this trip to New Orleans, and I’m happy to report it lived up to my expectations. That is always a difficult task to pull off! If you’d like more pictures of our daylight jaunts there, click here. Where did our next vacation take us? Well, I did just take a day trip to Kinston, NC, where I crawled through a giant digestive system model, drank beer at Mother Earth Brewing, and ate at the Chef and the Farmer…but it’ll take me a few weeks to write that up!
Most of my posts on nightlife feature a specific cocktail that I’ve enjoyed rather than focusing on the atmosphere of the bar, club, or wine bar that I’m patronizing. Largely, that’s because I care more about what’s in my glass than I do what’s playing on the speakers. However, I am far more likely to enjoy neighborhood dive bars and wine bars than I am a club or anywhere with loud music. I’ll still give the latter a try, and if the beverages are inventive and fun, I’ll be back no matter the soundtrack!