New Orleans: NOLA with the Girls

I have been wanting to visit New Orleans for years. When I saw tickets for under $200 from Detroit -- a boon if you are willing to travel during hurricane season -- I messaged two of my friends and they both said yes without hesitation. So thankful for my free-spirited friends.

Since I was able to use Delta Skymiles for the plane ticket and our AirBnb was less than $200/person for 3 nights, the only expenses I needed to plan for was food/drink, entertainment and transportation.

The food was surprisingly reasonable in NOLA (and I don't drink much), and even though it rained all 4 days, forcing us to mostly use Lyft, I spent a total of $365 outside of the AirBnb. Not bad for a mini-vacation! That price included excursions, eating out 2-3 meals/day and a fancy 3-course dinner at Commander's Palace. You could definitely reduce that cost by cutting corners.

Here is how we spent our 3 days: Day 1️⃣:

• Arrived 11AM. Used the Bounce app to store our bags at a cellphone store near our AirBnb until checkin after 4PM. ($45 for 7 bags)

• Breakfast at Toast New Orleans

• Walked through M.S. Rau, a high-end antiques, jewelry and art store (free)

• Visited Jackson Square (free)

• Walked past St. Louis Cathedral (free)

• Beignets at Cafe Beignet NOLA: Recommended by locals and I understand why

• Perused the French Quarter shops

• Hurricane from Pat O'Brien's: Best Hurricane according to locals and we agree

• St. Louis Cemetery No.1 guided tour ($25): Excellent historical tour

• Dinner at Venezia Restaurant

• Bourbon Street pit stop: Every local warned us to skip this or make it quick, so we did.

• Hotel Monteleone Carousel bar

Day 2️⃣:

• Breakfast at Ruby Slippers

• Thrifting in the Lower Garden District at Out Of The Closet and then coffee and a s'mores beignet at The Vintage NOLA. 

• Lunch at Daisy Dukes Restaurant

• The Creole Queen NOLA historic Mississippi boat tour ($42)

• Dinner at Cafe Amelie (make a reservation)

• Piercing for my friend Johanna at Downtown Tattoos NOLA ($70 each)

• Live music on Frenchmen St., which was recommended by many locals: Blue Nile, The Maison, Cafe Negril NOLA

Day 3️⃣:

• Tattoo for me with the lovely and talented @t.ffanystudio 

• Sazerac House free guided tour (with free mini samples!)

• Cafeteria style lunch at Mother's Restaurant: Delicious and very reasonably priced

• French Market vendors: Free, but we bought quite a few things

• French Quarter shops (free)

• Fancy dinner at Commander's Palace: Reservations and dress code required

• Trixie Minx Productions Burlesque at The Jazz Playhouse 

What I loved about NOLA

First of all, THE FOOD. I knew the food was going to be good, but no one prepared me for how absolutely delicious (and affordable) it was going to be. Every single restaurant I listed is worth visiting and they are all completely different. I can't pick a favorite restaurant, but a few of my top items are the green beans from Mother's Restaurant, the jerk spiced pork tenderloin from Cafe Amelie, and the blueberry coffee cake cobbler from Commander's Palace. My mouth is watering just writing about it.

Secondly, who knew NOLA was so queer-friendly? Not me! I envisioned the Deep South as pretty conservative, so it was a pleasant surprise to feel like I was walking around Chelsea or the East Village in NYC most of the time.

Lastly, as someone who lived in and misses Europe dearly, the Spanish and French architecture of New Orleans made me feel at home in a way I can't explain. Something about tightly knit buildings of concrete and stone just makes me go, "Ahhhhhh...this feels right."

Accessibility

The sidewalks of NOLA are a mess. I suspect because of the frequent rain and the water underground, but they are littered with cracks and potholes. Because of my peripheral vision loss, this meant I had to keep my eyes trained on the ground to avoid twisting an ankle or stepping into a hole full of water. I was glad that I am low vision and do not rely on a cane, to be honest. The crosswalks do not have sound or vibration and are altogether absent at many intersections.

At all of the events we attended, none of them had any access for Deaf/hard of hearing visitors (like captions, headsets or interpreters). While a beautiful and wonderful city, NOLA has a lot of work to do on making the city more accessible for people with disabilities, the largest minority group in the country.