Thursday Travel Throwback: NOLA

Happy Thursday! I can’t believe it’s almost the end of the week already. I’ve been off with the days all week, but don’t short work weeks rock?

I’ve been enjoying the official kickoff to the NFL season this evening with my little family and this grub…

…nachos! I healthified (how is this not a real word?) them a bit by using multigrain chips and light cheese, and adding veggie crumbles and lots of avocado, tomato & lettuce. Yum.

Today is my last post in my Thursday Travel Throwback series, as I’m leaving for my Euro trip in less than a week! Previous posts in the series have included Sicily, Hawaii, and a cross-country trip… and today I’m going to share with you my long weekend getaway to New Orleans!

In 2009, my Marine and I briefly lived in Florida near Pensacola in a tiny town called Milton.

Since New Orleans was only a couple hours away, we decided to take a trip there over our 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed in a sort of quirky place called Olde Town Inn. It was a bit of a walk to downtown (we didn’t mind much) so it was more affordable than most other options in town during the holiday weekend.

We did a lot of walking around and exploring, and one thing that stands out in my mind is how much character New Orleans has. I just loved the jazz music being played everywhere, and I was a fan of the architecture. Since it was football season, Saints decor and “WHO DAT” was plastered everywhere. I also love the French Cajun culture of the city, though I did have somewhat of a hard time finding vegetarian eats for dinner.

Another thing that reminds me of New Orleans is hangovers, because I had one of the worst of my life that weekend! My father-in-law had recommended we go to Pat O’Brien’s for a specialty drink of theirs called The Hurricane: Not only did I try a Hurricane, I had multiple Hurricanes after having drinks elsewhere around the city…. and boy was I loopy. Looking at the bar’s website now, it says that there are 4 oz of rum in each drink. They’re sneaky strong because they taste yummy! Photo proof of my Hurricane giddiness:

I was not at my best my friends… The next day I was so ridiculously dizzy, I could barely stand up at first! But I eventually managed to get up and out because we only had one more day left in NOLA, and I wanted to take advantage of it — and it was worth it powering through to eat beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde and explore more of the French Quarter.

I had a fabulous time and definitely would like to get back to New Orleans someday!

Have you ever been to NOLA?

Fellow drinkers, what’s one of your worst hangover memories? Please do share!