Big = Better?: Rollin' from the Big D, to the Big Easy!

New Orleans, the Mississippi, Ez and Toffee

We finally had a trip out of Dallas. A BIG drive to the BIG Easy. Az was enjoying his spring break and when the opportunity arose to head to the number one spring break destination on St Patrick's day weekend, he was ready. After juggling around some of my research commitments for my study we left Dallas in our rented car to drive the 440 odd miles to New Orleans! Google maps had kindly provided us with an estimated travel time of 7.5 hours, so as you imagine we were eager to get on the road on Friday and heading south.

Crossing in to New Orleans the first thing we notice is signs popping up advertising Casinos! There are no Casinos in Texas. So as soon as you cross the border you are the given the opportunity to gamble. The second thing we notice are HUGE churches along the side of the motorway. The border town Shreveport has a population of ~200, 000 and humongous churches! We stopped along the way in what felt like the middle of nowhere for lunch and fuel. The Relay Station was your one stop shop, Casino, Louisiana fine food restaurant and typical truck stop. We bravely went for the fine food; Az went for a grilled chicken sandwich and I went for the fried chicken - see below for evidence!

We continued on the road and were starting to feel pretty confident that we would arrive New Orleans by 6pm....Little did we know a town called Baton Rouge would be our undoing. There were countless vehicles broken down along the route and as we approached New Orleans this became more frequent. We think this is what slowed our trip, i.e. people "rubber necking". What we also found remarkable was the length of road over the swamps. Instead of driving on land the road was a looooooooong low bridge. Very Cool!!!

Finally we arrived in the Big Easy and got to the hotel room. The back story to our impromptu trip is our wonderful friend Tina's sister is a performer in Quidam a Circ Du Solei show. Lisa had been in Houston the week before, unfortunately we couldn't make it down to Houston but decided to venture down to see Lisa in New Orleans. Lisa kindly arranged/gave up her hotel room for us to stay in on Friday and Saturday night and also got us tickets to Circ on Saturday night. We were excited!

Upon arrival we headed off to the center off town to find a tasty dinner. We ended up on the infamous Bourbon Street. Being spring break and St Pattys weekend the street was packed and party people were abundant. We walked past a couple of places which had been recommended to us but the line ups to these restaurants were crazy so we kept walking. We ended up finding a nice place where the line was not too long. We sampled some of the regions famous oysters. In my opinion Tassie oysters are so much better. We also tried a sample plate of Gumbo, Jambalaya, and red beans and rice. It was delicious, I was beginning to understand why there are serious weight issues in this state! I will be working to develop a Jambalaya recipe to bring home for everyone to try!

Jazz and a great atmosphere in Bourbon St

Beignets

After dinner we ventured out in to Bourbon St to soak in the atmosphere and for Az to try and get himself some beads. For those of you who are not familiar with beads, this tradition originated from Carnivale, but I get the feeling it happens every weekend or possibly night on Bourbon St. Anyway traditionally a male will throw beads at a female and in return she will flash her breasts at him. People were going crazy for beads, everywhere. Az managed to secure himself some pretty green ones... I'm not sure what was flashed.

Az had a man crush on the drummer!

We were able to find ourselves an outside bar that wasn't full of to many people throwing beads around, with a Jazz band playing, secured a table and sat back to enjoy the music and a drink. The band were fantastic, and the crowd entertaining. We also enjoyed some more local food Beignets, oh yum! After some good music we walked almost the length of the street to soak up the atmosphere, get immersed in the culture and buy a hand grenade from a window in a wall for Az to drink on the streets. Good times!
Later this night we had arranged to meet up with Lisa and her crew to go to a Burlesque show. Ez was a little hesitant about what we were heading to, Az was obviously keen. Upon arrival things took an interesting turn, it was not your average burlesque show, it was a gay and lesbian burlesque show?!?! With front row seats we buckled down for the experience. By this time Az was feeling more hesitant and Ez more comfortable. To both of our surprises it was very entertaining, funny and great fun. Az does have video footage of this but due to the rating of our blog we cannot attach it. If you ever think about going to a gay and lesbian burlesque show in New Orleans, do it!

Hand grenade and beads

The next day Az was a little under the weather but we headed out and about to check out the Mississippi, downtown and the french quarter. It was great to be able to smell the salt water, soak up the sun, eat some more local delights such as a Po Boy, fired chicken, and toffee apple (not sure if the toffee apple was a local delicacy). This day was all about food! Culminating with a trip to a New Orleans institution called "Mothers" for an early dinner prior to seeing Quidam. We arrived just after opening time and there was already a line up with a half hour wait. To get people through quickly you are given the menu whilst waiting in the line outside so there is no delay in ordering. The menu was very foreign to us so we decided to go with a Louisiana sampler, a little bit of everything, delicious!

It was then time for the show. Quidam was amazing, it is hard to believe that the things the talented performers do are physically possible. We were also lucky enough to get a back stage tour afterwards and see how everything works.After another sleep our action packed weekend was over and we had the pleasure of driving 8hrs back to Dallas.

Since New Orleans we have been keeping a low profile, working and counting the days until our next adventure to California and the Coachella Music Festival late April.
Below are some random snaps from our weekend in New Orleans and the past few weeks.
Stay tuned x