^ I'm back! Hehe. It was a quick trip but I felt we were able to accomplish what we set out to do, which was really just go with the flow and have a great time.
The French Quarter was our base, as this is clearly the most touristy area. It's also possibly the closest the US has to that European feel. Narrow streets and completely navigable on foot. We stayed at Hotel St. Pierre, which used to be the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The property dates all the way back to 1781, so it's really old but we loved it. I recommend staying in the French Quarter just to make it easy to enjoy the city.
Bourbon St. is where most of the action is but I didn't care for it. It's a party area so at night, it can get rowdy. Upside is you can walk around the streets with booze on hand. My favorite area would have to be the Jackson Square Pedestrian Walk. They closed off this area to vehicles and bikes and it's filled with street performers, palm readers and makeshift art galleries. You can buy art here, ranging from $20 to the upper hundreds.
We did the Jazz Night Cruise (minus the dinner hehe) and they have a full jazz band. Lots of fun and they have a full bar on the top deck of the steamboat. I had fun doing this because I've always wanted to ride a steamboat hehe. But if you're just after watching jazz performers, you can skip this and just head to Preservation Hall. Also, lots of street performers nga. My favorite , hands down, is this old lady who plays in Royal St. Her voice reminds me of Nina Simone but she plays the clarinet. Galing galing niya.
We also visited Faulkner House of Books. William Faulkner lived in that house and you can still see through the closed off part, some relics lol from his time. But it's really a bookshop now and it's managed by this really nice old lady. I wonder nga eh if she lives there or if she owns the property.
Last, we drove to the Garden District to see Anne Rice's house in 1239 1st St. I believe it was called the Rosegate House but Anne Rice had a lot of houses in New Orleans so when you map it, you will get different addresses. But I wanted to see this one in particular because it's supposed to be the setting for The Witching Hour. From an angle, it gets creepy because right in front of the house, there's this really overgrown tree. Yung branches nya look like they're about to reach across the street. Then we drove around some more to see more mansions. That's what's interesting din talaga about New Orleans. The culture is so mixed-- African, French, Spanish and Caribbean. Last, we stopped by at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. Ok lang to. We didn't do a tour but it was interesting naman.
If you want to shop or window shop, you'd enjoy it because lots of antique shops and boutiques and stuff you're not gonna find anywhere else. I bought a perfume from Hove as a gift. They've been around since 1931 so you might want to check that out. My husband naman bought a Panama Hat (btw, Panama Hats are really Ecuadorian Hats; they're made in Ecuador). Meyer the Hatter is the city's most famous hat shop pero we didn't go there. We bought some street art nga din and a voodoo doll lol from Leveau's House of Voodoo.
We are desperate to go back! Lots of curiosities din that we didn't get to visit like the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, Preservation Hall, The Voodoo & Ghost Tours, swamp tours ala Tiffany Haddish lol, etc.
TIPS:
1. BRING CASH-- Lots of establishments like Cafe Du Monde and Faulkner House do not accept cards.
2. Cafe Du Monde gets understandably packed. Not sure about this but they're probably the only ones who make and sell beignets in all of New Orleans, maybe in the entire country.
3. Sarap ng food sa New Orleans. Especially seafood! Try the Jambalaya too.
4. Beware lang-- lots of homeless people din and people who will approach you for no reason. They're generally harmless but be cautious lang, especially if you're traveling alone.
5. Bourbon St. is smelly in some areas and there's dog poop in some areas. People here don't appear to pick up after their dogs.
