Day 10 and 11 – 10/16/2022 and 10/17/202
Today we headed out with our destination of New Orleans, Louisiana. The plan was to stay for 2 nights and one day. That day we were going to go on a fan boat ride through the swamps of New Orleans. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out quite the way we planned.
We thought it was quite interesting that Louisiana calls counties “Parish” rather than county. It appears that they are named parishes due to them being based on a church system from the states French and Spanish founders who were all Catholic men. When the state was admitted to the union in 1816 the term parish was kept on the map and has remained that way since.
Day 1:
Were going to stay at La Quinta hotel but when we got there that plan changed. The first clue was when Curt went in to check us in, they had to buzz him in to get in the front door. We should have left at that point. But then we went to the room and it reeked so badly of cigarette smoke. There were burn marks all over the bathtub and sink. The toilet was falling off the wall. Some of the kickboards were falling off. And there was what appeared to be a gang of guys standing around at the end of the hallway. So we found another hotel and immediately checked out and left. The hotel we went to is considered a 4-star hotel. We thought it was going to be really nice. Well they did have valet service but the actual room wasn’t all that nice. It was nice enough to stay there but did not seem like a 4-star quality room to us. We have seen 2-star and 3-star rooms that were much nicer. The hotel was called Omni Riverfront Hotel.
After we checked in to the hotel we went to get dinner. Debby really wanted to go to Pat O’Brien’s as that is where her parents had gone many years prior for their anniversary. So we walked up Bourbon Street and had dinner at Pat O’Brien’s. The food was really good but for some reason they sat us in the bar rather than the normal restaurant. We did still get to enjoy it for the most part. Curt had alligator bites (like chicken nuggets but alligator) which was quite interesting. It tasted like chicken but had a different, more rubbery texture. Debby had red beans and rice. After eating we walked through the rest of Pat O’Brien’s to see the rest of it and to go to the gift shop so Debby could buy one of the famous Hurricane glasses.
After dinner we walked back down Bourbon Street and really took it in. We were completely surprised at how many people were still out after 8pm on a Sunday night.
Day 2:
The next morning Debby was not feeling well so we canceled the boat ride through the swamps and just spent the day in the room. Curt went down to get breakfast as they had a Continental breakfast. Surprisingly they charged for the Continental breakfast and it wasn’t cheap. It cost $60 for 2 people to eat that breakfast. We were completely shocked. Every hotel we have ever stayed at provided Continental breakfast for free. We just couldn’t believe it cost $30 per plate for this mediocre breakfast. So our recommendation is if you stay in New Orleans, don’t stay at Omni hotels. There are others such as Hilton right across the street that are almost certainly much nicer.
Next -> Home of the Alamo and Riverwalk
The Traveling Maker 