Day 11: Gulf Coast Missipippi and NOLA Day Trip

The second Saturday of my roadtrip started well having got good night of sleep in friends' very comfortable guest bedroom.  We were up and out of the house shortly after 10:30am for the hour and a half drive back west and south to New Orleans.

Got to New Orleans soon enough (friends drove) and pretty quickly secured parking inside French quarter in a hotel's covered/private parking.  After initial (unsuccesfully) looking for restrooms in the lobby of the adjoining hotel, walked on to and past Jackson Square with lots of people and vendors in the open area.  Crossed street over to Cafe du Monde (which had the expected crazy long line) and ended up finding bathroom for pit stop further down past adjoining souverir shops.

We were all hungry so walked back over to Jackson Square and ended up having lunch at a spot right on the edge of the Square.

I had crawfish etoufee that was unfortunately mediocre at best (and which ended up being intestinal distress inducer) and had some more coffee before diving into the afternoon of French Quarter drinking.

After the meal we then headed back down to Bourbon Street to check out the action.

Friends #2 and #3 were into the Vegas style slushie drinks, so I decided to partake also.  Seemed like a good idea to have daiquiris instead of beer figuring I wouldn't need a bathroom every 15 minutes.

We ended up at one of the Big Easy Daiquiris there on Bourbon Street.

After some deliberation I decided on the Hurricane flavor, in one of their Fleur de Lis souvenir cups.  Including for that it came w/ discounted refills at other sister Big Easy Daiquiri establishments in and around Bourbon Street.

We left with our daiquiris and wandered around some.  Wasn't all that long before we had drank our daiquiris and were ready for a refill.  We headed into another Big Easy Daiquiris and got a cocktail height table to sit for a spell and deliberate over flavor choices on 2nd daiquiri.  For better or worse, I ended up choosing the "Frosé" flavor and said yes to an extra shot (of what, I don't know).  The Frosé flavor was noted as containing black box wine in it.  Friend #3 decided on another "190 Antifreeze" (also w/ extra shot) and Friend #2 decided to not get a 2nd one.

After hanging some at BED spot #2 and pit stops wandered back out again to the streets, including for on Royal Street the next block over.  

It was amusing to see a very different crowd on Royal Street just one block away.  Many more higher end souvenir shops, fine art galleries, and a lamp shop where table lamps ran from $600 - $1500.  And most ppl wandering the streets carrying coffee cups (from Starbucks and elsewhere).  Didn't see anyone else besides us on that street with Big Easy Daiquiris cups ha.

Ended up heading back to Bourbon Street down to have a drink at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, touted as the oldest continously open bar in the US.

Got a table inside and ended up switching to beer, and had more than a few draft Yuenglings.  Eventually Friend #3 identified how to select and purchase music from his phone to play on the jukebox that was supplying the bar with it's booming sounds and ambience.

Picked a few gems to play from the selections, such as Richard Marx's "Angelia."  Which was funny to us because I had thought song always said "Angel Eater" and Friend #2 always thought said "Angelina."

It was background noise for everyone else, ha.  Out of the songs we played, including NWA, some country, and the dreaded Weezer's "Africa," the one that got most reaction and singing along was Whitney Houston's "I wanna Dance With Somebody."

Didn't leave Lafitte's until after the sun had set.  We headed back to the car and found a gift shop not too far from the car and I was able to purchase NOLA postcards and a magnet souvenir.

Friend #2 drove and Friend #3 dozed in the backseat for the drive back.  After stopping off at house we headed to nearby BBQ spot in the downtown area of Ocean Springs for later dinner.  I had 3 meats, two sides, and two beers.

Brisket, ribs, smoked chicken, fried okra, and collard greens all eaten (most of it all).  And two craft Mississippi beers -- one IP and one Imperial IPA.

Then back to house for house hang time.  Ended up watching the movie Straight Outta Compton which I hadn't seen before.  Friends called it a night two hours in so I finished the movie solo dolo.  Was close to falling asleep at the end so called it a night right after and crashed for night #2 in Ocean Springs.