road trip day 50-53: new orleans

Road weary and frostbitten, we decided that there was no better place to treat ourselves than in New Orleans, so we booked a room at the Prince Conti hotel in the French Quarter for three nights. It was our first time in New Orleans and we weren't quite sure what to expect outside of the usual rumblings of drunkenness and debauchery. We arrived at night to a frigid 34 degree temperature and squeezed the Nugget into the hotel's parking lot, checked in, and then bundled up for a night out on the town. Jazz was our only focus. We wanted to see some great live music. It took us all of two blocks before we found a bar with an amazing musician playing classic, yet lively jazz. It wasn't until we sat down, listing to the music, that it sunk in that we were finally in New Orleans.


After a night of jazz and avoiding hurricanes (super strong mixed drink, "slushie" sold on every street corner), we woke up and ventured out into the cold to find beignets and cafe au laits. Beignets are square pillows of fried dough, covered with lots and lots of powdered sugar. You take the square donut and dip it into your chicory based cafe au lait. BLISS!

Beignets.

I got photobomed at Cafe Du Monde, the most notorious place to get your beignet fix in NOLA.

Strolling around...

road trip day 50: apalachicola, florida

Despite not being able to pronounce it, Apalachicola was one of the highlights of our trip. This small gulf-side town is located in Northern Florida and harkens back to the past. It is the "old Florida" that we often heard people reminisce about and long for. It is as beautiful as it is decaying, which adds to its charm. You feel as if you are walking around in 1920, not 2014. 

 Because Apalachicola is known for its oysters, we had to grab lunch.  We ate at a restaurant with its own fishboat that delivers fresh seafood right onto the back deck. Talk about fresh! Gulf oysters were pretty good, and ended up being a close second to Washington's, but the shrimp took the spotlight! I've never eaten shrimp that tasted as good as it did in Apalachicola.