{Crawfish Boil}

The last of my new orleans photos that I'll be sharing on the blog are a bit of a mixed bag, which I've dumped into one post (kind of like a certain seafood, veggie, spicy boiled dinner item - clever, I know). Quick snapshots of some of the big highlights on the trip. As sad as I am that this trip is over, taking the time to revisit each day and each memory has made my time in the south much more special.

It's definitely hard to narrow it down, but I have to say that Commanders Palace was the best experience of the entire trip. Kenz surprised Devin & I, making reservations for the restaurant's famous brunch more than a month before our trip. Three full courses, mimosas & bellinis, live jazz sang at our table, personal waiters who lowered each dish in a clearly rehearsed theatrical manner, a maître d' who insists on escorting women to the restroom with linked arms, pale blue searsucker suits and loud southern accents...that morning was incredible, and I'll never forget it. Thank you times a million kenz.

{my future house}

{a southern delicacy}

{drive-thru shrimp po boy stand & a louisiana sunset}

{Jackson Square - the site of our psychic readings}

{daiquiris & putting our toes in the river}

  {my first experience eating baby lobsters crawfish, the only veggie on the menu (fried cauliflower?), and red beans & rice. A true southern meal)

 Take me back.

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{The Cafe Du Monde Experience}

Cafe Du Monde is not exactly an underground, "locals-only" type of coffee & doughnut stand. It's the first recommendation on everyone's mind when you talk about new orleans, and will probably be the first memory I will always reference when I think about my time there.

Describing it as a "stand" is funny to me. With seats for about 50 inside, 150 on the patio, and what feels like another 150 waiting in the take out line, Cafe Du Monde is running a very serious operation.

And all for this little puff of powdered sugar drenched fried dough. 

The free for all run/attack method when one group of customers begins to leave their table, and the struggle of working with the waiters & waitresses who quite possibly have the most stressful job on the planet is almost not worth the wait. HAH. Yeah right. When those hot pillows of delight are delivered to the table with your hot or iced cafe au lait chicory coffee amazingness, the world slows for a minute. It's just you and the beignet. It's even tough to take your eyes off of it for a photo (clearly.)

I was beyond excited. I'm not ashamed to admit we visited two separate times, where I nearly finished off plates to myself. I feel good knowing I worked off those calories dancing to the Wop all weekend. Every single bite was worth it.

Now on to the coffee. I personally found that I like the black coffee better than the famous hot or iced cafe au lait. I'm not much of a milk person, and I found the flavor of the chicory came through much more when you're drinking the coffee black with just a pinch of sugar. I made the ladies walk to track down the stand's gift shop to bring a big tub of it home, which I'm finding impossible to only drink on special occasions.

I tossed the idea of bringing a few boxes of beignet mix back with me to Phoenix, but I decided that this treat deserves the full experience. Sitting in the humid weather, live street jazz floating through the air and breathing in toxic amounts of powdered sugar as each smiling person around you takes a bite. I want to be back there.

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{St. Francisville's Magnolia Cafe}

About 45 minutes away from Baton Rouge, LA, there is a little historic town named St. Francisville. It's pretty much the cutest. Whenever I think of places in the U.S. that are so country, with a quaint small town feel, I've been picturing St. Francisville. Speeds are slower, the cafes are cuter, and the people seem friendlier. Even their lemonade-stand workers are adorable.

The most popular restaurant in town is called the Magnolia Cafe, and after reading the very persuasive Yelp reviews, Dev, Kenzie and I decided to stop by for lunch. The place was packed! A spacious enclosed patio offered a few larger tables, but no air conditioning and a slow rotating fan. The 80% humidity and I were no getting along, so we opted for a mini two person table on the inside. Tight squeeze!

And what do the perfect southern women do upon sitting down at a restaurant? I picture them ordering sweet teas, glowing and dewy from the hot outside temperatures, ready to relax with girlfriends for a few hours. So that's exactly what we did.

Devin & I ordered a famous Muffaletto sandwich (which I pronounced mufahletta, and was quickly corrected), which was basically everything I've ever wanted in a sandwich. Holy olive & cheese overload! To think this was a HALF order of the sandwich. Which we split...and people order the entire thing for one person? How.

We also ordered a salad to split, which came with cheddar cheese. Another heavy helping of cheese? We decided to pass, and asked to hold that topping. The salad they brought us had a heavy topping of jack cheese instead. Haha! Oh southern eating, I'll never be able to keep up with you.

 

Exactly how I felt when we left.

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{Homes for the Living & Homes for the Dead}

Creepy, I know. 

When I would ask anyone for their suggestions of things to see when I visited New Orleans, I received a lot of the usual suspects - Bourbon, Jackson Square, Cafe Du Monde, the French Market, etc. No one gave me any kind of recommendation to visit a cemetery, although I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to visit one while I was in town. 

Touring through the Garden District was something I'll never forget. The homes there are the homes I see in my dreams, tall columns, wrap around patios, dark shutters, sun rooms, detailed wrought iron & brick pathways. With old growth trees that have seen too much history, which grow wild and crooked, and really give me the heebie jeebies.

After seeing house upon house of beautiful, albeit incredibly spooky mansions, the idea of living in an estate has been burned into my brain. The size isn't as important, it's the detail of the balconies, the hand carved crown molding (that I'm visualizing is inside), the history of the families who have occupied the space before. I'll never be able to live in a new build.

As we toured, we stumbled on the Lafayette Cemetery. If I was having trouble with the creepy trees, this place took it to an entirely different level. 

Eerie doesn't quite describe the feeling of walking through this "city of the dead". I had no idea there's a rule out there that says you're not allowed to bury anyone in nola, since it would be below sea level. So all people who have passed on sit in tombs, or mausoleums, some filled with members of an entire family. 

One of the oldest cemeteries in the city, it was first established in 1833. Some of the tombs reflect its old age, with decades of vandalism, grave robbers (people actually do that?!), troublesome weather and more. And yet there they are, still standing. Some of the deeper cracks found on the sides of the tombs make me wonder if people were trying to get in? Or something was trying to get out...

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end for the majority of our visit. After we had seen enough, we took off before anyone (or anything) noticed we were there. Back to the grassier, more alive shotgun style residences, we drooled over the to opulence we hope to one day afford.

Even the "small" ones were amazing! I took enough photos to last me a lifetime, the perfect amount to fill several home inspiration notebooks. 

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