Well we wrapped up our three-week workcation in New Orleans last month before Thanksgiving and had a great time. Unlike Myrtle Beach, we didn’t venture to surrounding cities — we spent the entire time in New Orleans. We stayed in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo about two blocks southwest of the French Quarter, in the Central Business District (CBD). It ended up being the perfect location! The city is a bit gritty and rowdy in the evenings but the people and noise stopped completely almost exactly a block away.
New Orleans is known for good food, so we decided to have cheap and boring breakfasts and lunches during the day to allow us to explore different restaurants for dinner nearly every evening. Most of the places were within walking distance from the condo too. Since we stayed local, rather than give my usual play-by-play, I thought I’d just list out the best things we did and ate to reference more quickly and easily.
Places
French Quarter – This choice is obvious, it’s the heart of New Orleans and the main attraction. It’s a living museum to an extent with a lot of history and culture. Of course there’s the main drag of Bourbon Street full of restaurants and bars. It was a bit too hectic for covid-times so we mostly avoided it, but it was still fun to walk down during the less crowded daytime. Other highlights within the neighborhood include the slightly subdued French Market, the closed (but still beautiful) Jackson Square with the St. Louis Cathedral and Pirates Alley (where we got some absinthe) nearby. Other great streets for strolling are Royal Street and Canal Street.
Garden District – We didn’t spend much time in the neighborhood itself, but it has the beginning of a lengthy Magazine Street full of shops and restaurants that we visited a few times. As the more popular cemeteries were closed, we were able to visit Lafayette Cemetery No.1 in this area.
Freret – We stumbled upon this awesome little neighborhood when searching for a unique breakfast (listed below) and came back a couple times to wander and try new restaurants. It’s only a few blocks long but it packs a punch.
Marigny – Another small neighborhood with one main street Frenchmen Street. We did a quick stroll through it and while most things were closed at the time, it was a nice walk and I hope it’s more active on nights and weekends.
City Park – A large public city park, around 50% larger than NYC’s Central Park. We didn’t spend too much time in the green spaces but we did do a lot of activities there. Our first stop was Storyland, a small park that had statues and paths from various childhood stories, and next door we strolled through the expansive Botanical Gardens (while drinking a beer, because it’s New Orleans and you can drink anywhere!). We attempted to ride in swan paddle boats but it was too windy, so we walked over to the Singing Oak and relaxed to the many wind chimes hanging in it. On another day we returned to play a round of mini golf at City Putt.
Audubon Park – Another large park, but this one is almost exactly half golf course and half zoo. We spent a full day at the zoo and had a great time. On the southeast end of the part there is a very large sprawling tree called the Tree of Life that we ended up visiting twice.
WWII Museum – An amazing museum. Extremely well done and very comprehensive. We spent half a day there and could have spent many more hours if we had the time. The 4D movie is worth the additional fee too!
Swamp tour – We thoroughly enjoyed the swamp tours from Cajun Encounters Tour Company. Very fun, relaxing, adventurous, and informative. We ended up going again on our last weekend too, the easiest sale the tourist booth hawker had all week! They have shuttles that can pick you up, but we drove ourselves up to the swamp to save the extra cost. Driving ourselves also allowed us to come back via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge over continuous water in the world. It’s quite impressive and a little surreal.
Mardi Gras World – Yes, it’s a little quirky, but it was worth a visit. It’s essentially a huge warehouse of previous parade floats and new ones being built. Very entertaining and worth a visit.
Food
French Quarter / CBD
- Muriel’s – our favorite meal of the entire trip. We thought it would be a tourist trap because it’s right at the corner of Jackson Square, but it was far from it.
- Caf̩ du Monde Рthe one and only, original beignets, worth several stops!
- The Court of Two Sisters – one of the city classics, had a great brunch here
- Brennan’s – another city institution, great service and food
- Central Grocery and Deli – small, cramped store that created the muffuletta sandwich
- GW Fins – an intimate fancy seafood restaurant (with secret kids options)
- Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – a fun tiki bar with courtyard pool and seating (for 4 people or less during covid-times)
- Mother’s Restaurant – another classic, has the best diner soul food and biscuits
- Luke Restaurant – one of our first meals, the menu was simple but the food was incredible
- Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ – a unique dining experience with the grill in the middle of the table. The food was top-notch, and apparently this is a chain so check to see if you have one!
Worth the drive / streetcar
- BEARCAT – the unique breakfast place that brought us to the Freret neighborhood the first time. Really great food.
- High Hat Cafe – the anchor restaurant at Freret. Simple but delicious menu.
- Seven Three Distillery – just outside the French Quarter, they have tastings and tours as well
- Molly’s Rise and Shine – a funky breakfast place that was unfortunately closed on the inside but they had a takeout window and some outdoor seating
- Willie Mae’s Scotch House – an old classic with the best fried chicken
- Turkey and the Wolf – extremely unique sandwiches, get the collared greens (trust me!)
That wraps up our highlights! Hope it helps future readers, and I’ll certainly reference it for our next NOLA visit. We started to brainstorm ideas to do it all again in January but realized we might be a little bit crazy. The kids are scheduled to go back to in-person school in February, so if that actually happens we’ll be back with a new destination for Spring Break in March. If school remains remote, we might just look for something new in February!