the work trips never end, i tell you. and i don’t mind that one bit! this time, i’m showing you photos from a fabulous trip to new orleans last october for another PMA conference. mimi actually joined me and stayed in the hotel with me so that we could spend some time with my cousin arend, who lives in NOLA. i had a little more spare time than usual at this conference so it worked out pretty well.
for those of you who don’t know, my mom went to high school in new orleans, and during the time they were living there, mimi worked in an art gallery in the french quarter. awesome, right? it sounds dreamy to me. they both have a lot of interesting stories from living there, and they love the city dearly, even despite all its shenanigans and wildness! and i can totally see why. one of my favorite “chapter books” as a kid was a historical fiction book about a girl who moved to NOLA in the 1800’s who ended up solving a mystery involving one of jean lafitte’s treasure maps! i fell in love with the history – the spanish and french influence, the swamps, and the pirates and smugglers. now it’s filled with great food, great music, great shopping, great art, great parties, and a whole lotta history. mimi actually took arend and me there on a trip at age 10, which was a blast. we visited new orleans occasionally throughout my childhood, as mimi and papa lived nearby in pascagoula, mississippi for about the first 15 years of my life, and i’m quite partial to the city as well. every time i go, i fall more in love with the food, the people, and the culture.
i wish i would have gotten a picture of mimi, arend, and me. instead, you’ll see lots of NOLA:
{still in dallas, but i snapped this picture at love field because the art in the airport was so pretty!}
{hello, new orleans! the first photo was taken from my hotel room, the 13th floor of the crowne plaza on the corner of canal street and bourbon street. i could hear jazz playing on the streets from my room and it put me in the spirit! and the second photo is just outside of my hotel, looking down bourbon.}
{our first night, we ate dinner at antoine’s, which was spectacular. antoine’s is a famous french-creole restaurant that has been around since 1840. the restaurant has 14 fancy dining rooms and lots of stories to tell. the wine cellar on the left is one of the oldest and largest in the country and has a capacity of 24,000 bottles. literally, the teeny tiny white square as far down the cellar as you can see is a window at the end.}
{our waiter, an older gentlemen, told us his story – as a young man, he apprenticed at the restaurant for eight [?] years before he was able become a waiter there. they are the best of the best at antoine’s. after dinner, he gave us a tour of the entire place. here is a gown of a mardi gras queen displayed in one of the dining rooms.}
{NOLA by night}
{we all did the whole tarot cards + palm reading thing from this guy… and i’ll be completely honest: he was a total creep. but you gotta do it for the experience!}
{beer + live music on bourbon street!}
{i really loved that every breakfast i ate at the conference included a fruit-laden “dessert.”}
{another produce-inspired breakfast. this one included OJ and [drinkable] chilled strawberry soup. so good!}
{this parfait had avocado, greek yogurt, blueberries, and slivered almonds. sounds like a weird combo, but it was really good!}
{a fabulous hanging arrangement featuring none other than… *PRODUCE!*}
{at one of the hotels… i was peeping and couldn’t resist getting a photo!}
{beignets and cafe au lait at cafe du monde. my coworker cathy and i went there with a dear friend melany. we couldn’t believe it, but we got a corner seat – the best seat in the house! very touristy but worth the experience… it brought back some funny memories of the last time i had gone to cafe du monde with mimi and arend at age 10!}
{walking around jackson square}
{the french quarter + jackson square}
{we were sitting on the balcony of tableau, sharing an appetizer and a having a glass of wine, when we heard music. we looked out and realized that saint louis cathedral had just opened up, and a crowd of people had gathered outside by the door, along with a jazz band. next thing we knew, a bride and groom appeared, and everyone started processing down the street, dancing to the music and waving handkerchiefs. it was a true new-orleans-style wedding!}
{bourbon street by day}
{the lovely crown plaza, where we stayed}
{creepy halloween decorations on that third floor balcony!}
{dinner with mimi and arend at the pelican club. those scallops + artichokes = heaven.}
{a beautiful sunday morning in jackson square. also, a dog with boxers.}
{brunch at tableau with mimi!}
{mimi and i both ordered a ginger peach breeze along with our coffee/tea. after all, we were headed to the airport later and we were in new orleans for heaven’s sake!} ;)
{i had the crepe du jour, and mimi had a half order of the eggs benedict, which came with a fried oyster! we were happy campers!}
{AND we had dessert – we got two orders of crepes and shared bites. on the left, chocolate and caramelized banana crepes, and on the right, crepes with berries and dulce de leche.}
{the beautiful hotel monteleone. and mimi showed me this little courtyard and told me that the art gallery that she used to work at was in a courtyard just like this. her art gallery was actually just a few doors down this, but they had redone the building where the art gallery used to be so i took a photo of this one instead. it’s so fun to picture what that might have been like.}
until next time, NOLA. xo