Sponsored by Zantac 75. LOL!
My poboy at Mother's which was totally worth the wait around the building.
Zach had training in New Orleans this week, so we decided to tag along. I was unsure of how the week would go with a child Jonah's age in a city that's not so family friendly, but I was pleasantly surprised. (Some of these photos were taken on my phone since I didn't want to take the Nikon walking in the rain).
The night we got there I picked up a copy of the local visitor magazine so I could make the most of our time there all we wanted to accomplish, see, and eat while we were there. I have a friend from childhood and a friend from college that live near NOLA and suggested some things for us to try while we were there. I thought I'd share with you just in case you ever find yourself in the "big easy."
Tuesday: Breakfast at the Hampton Inn (Convention Center). We loved staying here. The staff was great and the location was safe for walking to and from family friendly locales. It is located across from a park remembering Katrina (hence the sculpture). The weather was so nice we didn't even need jackets and we enjoyed strolling and sitting outside a lot while we were there.
Lunch at Mother's (featured above). They serve breakfast all day which was great for Jonah since he's not much for creole food. Ha! So, I had a poboy and he had a pancake. We dined with what I think was every Razorback fan in the city that day. They were cheering "Pig Sooey!" and Jonah picked up that bad habit. LOL!
Dinner at El Gato Negro, a great authentic mexican restaurant in the French Quarter which we traveled to by street car. Everything was fresh and delicious and made me never want to eat Mexican in Tipton County again.
Lounging around on Wednesday morning, with my little Buzz Lightyear, waiting on the rain to go away.
We ventured in the rain to the Louisiana Children's Museum which was so much fun for Jonah. They had a "Goodnight Moon" corner, which is one of his favorite books. They had a grocery store section, like at CMOM. It wasn't as crowded as Memphis, so he had time to "shop." My favorite section was the Mr. Roger's neighborhood section that had a replica set from his show that included the puppets, porch swing, closet, trolley, and frame on the wall that worked like a T.V. with "factory" videos. It took me back to my childhood.
Lunch at Mulate's which had great gumbo and a wide variety of cajun fare.
Jonah naps as I work on his annual coffee table books on my Macbook. I got almost finished with Volume One (Jan.-June) during Jonah's naps on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dinner on Magazine Street at Tracey's (formerly Parasol's, featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network). We ate Shrimp Poboys and Jonah ate fries. The food was good, but it was not family friendly. They didn't have highchairs or booster seats or a kids menu.
We shopped on Magazine St. at Orient Expressed, a great children's catalogue line that started in NOLA. We stopped for an after dinner treat at Sucre which serves yummy cupcakes, gelato, and house made candies, desserts, and king cakes.
Thursday we had a farewell NOLA breakfast at none other than Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter before picking up souvenir pralines from Aunt Sally's.
Jonah was sharing his gift of gab with the people in the French Quarter and the guy setting up behind us noticed him. He said, "You are either going to be an opera singer or a rock star." He then proceeded to tell us about his ministry and gave Jonah a free CD filled with a jazzy form of gospel that we listened to on our way out of town.