NOLA

Dating Everyone Til Nuptials in Existence… and living my best life.

My solo trip to Ireland in the fall of 2022 ignited my love of travel and a desire to see more of the world. However, I’m quick to use work as an excuse as to why I have not done another solo abroad trip (I’m looking at you Crete). So my resolution for myself this year is to take advantage of more travel opportunities, especially more budget friendly ones. So if a friend asks me to visit, I’m gonna take advantage of it. And that’s what led me to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in February. This was a long weekend trip and we did not stay in NOLA the whole time, as we actually stayed at a military base in Mississippi. But if you have limited time in NOLA and want to know what to hit, look no further! 

No boys or feelings to avoid while catching flights on Breeze this trip. In fact, I never even looked at a dating app while I was there. I did hope my crush reacted to me being there… but he did not and now that crush is officially crushed hehe. 

Breeze from Norfolk to Fort Myers to New Orleans was actually a breeze. No worries about missing a connection because I stayed on the plane so that was major stress I didn’t have to have. In fact my goal for this trip was not to stress–since the stakes weren’t high, I thought it would be good practice. 

My friend picked me up from the airport, and we went straight to Decatur Street because I was craving beignets and since she just informed me that we weren’t going to be spending a full day there… a girl had priorities. Pay attention to your drive over because you pass several cemeteries along the highway and Tulane University as well.

Parking was incredibly easy on a Thursday night. There are several public parking lots that line Decatur Street so we chose one close to Cafe Du Monde. It was an easy walk over. You sit yourself at the cafe, the waiter takes your order and you pay and tip as soon as your food is placed (yes she stared at me waiting for her tip). Beignets are less than $4 and that’s less than half of what Busch Gardens Williamsburg charges for their Mardi Gras celebration. We also ordered hot chocolate which was good as well. A street performer was set up next to the cafe so I already felt immersed in the city.

It was dark and we had been told the city wasn’t safe at night but plenty of people were out so we were able to walk around with ease (we were alert and aware of surroundings). Stopped in a couple shops, including Dead on Decatur which made me think of my friend (who’s name I will not mention for obvious reasons) who loves Grateful Dead and mushrooms. A lot of people were out with their dogs (and my friend stopped to pet every last one). At this point we were hungry and went to The Original French Market and had jambalaya which was delicious and very similar to my dad’s (of course Dad’s was better). We walked around a little more (my favorite thing to do in a new city) but it was time to go pick up a dog she was rescuing so we headed back to Mississippi.

The next day, following some animal rescue errands, we went to the Mississippi Aquarium where we participated in the dolphin experience which was so fun and I highly recommend it if you ever want to feed a dolphin and not break the bank! I also had a bonding moment with a sea turtle (something that magically happens occasionally at the aquarium) and got to relax in a bean bag chair while watching the fish and sharks swim in the tank. 

That evening we had dinner at The Government Street Grocery where I had the best bloody mary I’ve ever tasted. Honestly I’d go back to Mississippi just to get this again. The staff was really great and understanding when the rescue dog jumped up on the table and almost successfully ate my friend’s burger.

I guess Biloxi, Mississippi is known as the “Vegas of the South” which I would agree with because when I first saw it I said “hey this kinda looks like Vegas.” We went to the Paradise Pier Fun Park to go to the Aerobar. We were 150ft in the sky drinking Rum punch. The Cedar Point girl in me was anxiously waiting for it to drop but it was actually relaxing once you forgot you were dangling from an umbrella in the sky. Next we hit the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where I started with a $1 bet and left with $7 (don’t ask me how much I lost). 

Saturday was a chill day. We went to the beach and the driving range and watched some movies.

Sunday we were back to NOLA and I was ready!! Way more people here than compared to Thursday but we started at the St. Louis Cemetery No.3. There was street parking available and we were able to walk freely without booking a tour. This was honestly the highlight of the trip for me because of a book I read in the 7th grade that had a climactic scene take place in a NOLA cemetery. We drove through the city which was honestly a mistake due to the amount of people, cars, and parades. In hindsight, we should have taken the long way around because we ended up at the same parking lot we were on Thursday. It was a tad more expensive but since we were short on time and I felt lucky to find parking I was fine with $36 for 3 hours (I didn’t have to pay for a hotel so we were still very good on budget). We went to Jackson Square and checked out the local artists. Saw St. Louis Cathedral and watched some street performers. Getting a picture in front of the LaBranche house was also on my bucket list. We walked Bourbon Street but settled on The Vampire Cafe a couple blocks over to drink wine out of a blood bag. We watched a Barbie themed dog parade and then hurried back to the car so I could make it to the airport with time to spare. Since I didn’t have time for souvenir shopping, I bought beignets from the Cafe Du Monde in the airport to take back to my friends.

Overall I did everything I wanted to do on this short NOLA trip. I purposefully didn’t plan or research too much because I did not want to leave feeling unfulfilled. I’d like to go back one day and actually stay in the city. I’d love to do a swamp tour, a city tour to learn history, and maybe even a low key cemetery tour. I think it would make a decent solo travel destination but it definitely gives me the vibe of being more fun with a group of your friends for bar hopping and what not. Everyone was really friendly and it was easy to chat so I would not say solo travel is out of the question. 

For early February I wore light dresses but had layers for the colder evenings.

Thanks for reading and I hope this can provide some insight for your first NOLA trip!