We got in Wednesday afternoon and left first thing Saturday AM.
Weather was phenomenal. We walked a ton. With my morning jogs, I was pushing 20 miles on foot in 2.5 days. We stayed right on St Charles and walked all over the Garden District and Uptown. Went to the Quarter on Wednesday and Friday. Explored the Bywater area a little bit on Friday as well. Thursday was exclusively in Garden District. Went to a random show at Tipitina's that night and had a blast with that.
Eats:
Parasol's - roast beef poboy pictured above. It was god damned delicious.
Dat Dog - had to sober up on Frenchman Street somehow. Got that job done enough to get an Uber back to the hotel at midnight on Wednesday.
Seawitch - Right on St Charles in the Garden District. My cousin and her husband live in Baton Rouge and have wanted to try it for awhile. Got a fuck ton of oysters (raw and 2 kinds of chargrilled) and soups (gumbo and french onion). Everything was stellar. Did lunch here on Sunday and wife and I came back Friday for happy hour ($1 oysters) which lead to the horseradish OD pictured above.
The Channel - on Magazine. Just wanted a place to get poboys and debris fries on Thursday night. This fit the bill nicely. Did fried oyster, wife did fried shrimp. Not as life changing as Parasol, but really good.
Ruby Slipper (Uptown on Magazine) - a damn fine brunch. Got some benedict with shrimp, fried green tomatoes, and a Cajun tomato sauce. Tots smothered in pork tasso. Spicy bloody mary on fucking point.
Drinks:
French Quarter - Erin Rose and Fahey's were both a lot of fun. Stopped at Jacque Lafite's during a haunted mansion tour and I didn't like it as much as I remember liking it in 2016.
Garden District - We were staying next door to Igor's. A 24/7 bar can be a life saver when it's 9:30 in the morning, your wife is still getting ready for the day, and you've got your work out in. Avenue Pub got a lot of our time and money. It's one of my favorite bars on the planet, so no worries there. Urban South brewing was a super cool space with great beer (we drank Parkway Pils at a lot of other stops too), but like most large brewery spaces it doesn't foster as much random conversation as a cozy little taproom. Stopped at Lucky's while waiting for my cousin to get to town, and got great service with an interesting crowd.
Bywater - went down to Parleaux Brew Lab on Friday afternoon. It was absolutely gorgeous out and we really liked their beer. Chatted with a couple around our age there who recommended we stop at Bachanal Wine & Spirits around the corner. It has a big outdoor garden, and you buy a bottle of wine, put together a meat and cheese plate, and just sit out back and enjoy. It was fucking awesome. These spots were definitely the hidden gems of the trip.
Music:
-Did the traditional Preservation Hall show on Wednesday night. It's fantastic, and seems like a "must do" when in New Orleans to me.
-Hit Tipitina's on Thursday night. The band wasn't anyone we knew, but the music was in my wheelhouse enough to have a blast in a kickass historic venue like that. Phenomenal people watching here.
We packed a lot into 3 nights and 2.5 days. I'm still tired and I haven't done shit since we got home Saturday night. Love this city. Lack of my kind of outdoor recreation (biking, hiking) is the only thing keeping this from being an annual trip for us.