Three Perfect Days in the Big Easy

Extreme Heat Warning  

That was the weather forecast every day last weekend in New Orleans. 

After owning my pied-a-terre for over a year, my daughter and her lovely girlfriend finally decided to come for a visit. During August! Which, according to every one of our Uber drivers, is the worst time to go to New Orleans.

But following three perfect days, my daughter and her girlfriend are already planning their next trip back. If this is New Orleans at its worst, they can’t wait to see it at its best.  

Day 1:

We dropped our bags, turned on the AC, and headed for beignets at Cafe du Monde while we waited for the apartment to cool down. 

My daughter’s girlfriend had never been to New Orleans, so we spent the first day strolling through the French Quarter, soaking in the architectural charm and popping into the air-conditioned stores. We also dropped into the Vampire Cafe to cool off with a bag of blood. 

No, despite the heat, we didn’t need first aid; it’s a cocktail. Behind the Vampire Cafe, you’ll find a den, I mean shop, offering all things vampire, including a coffin you can pose in for selfies. I had a physical reaction when I walked in. It feels creepy! 

And then, I saw the shopkeeper. I’m sure he’s a bonafide vampire. Don’t be fooled by his good manners. 

That night, we headed to The Pontchartrain Hotel in the Garden District for dinner and cocktails. They have a beautiful restaurant I’ve wanted to try: Jack Rose. 

All three of us loved our dinner -which ended with a bang. 

Then we headed to the roof. 

On my daughter’s list was a rooftop bar. The Pontchartrain has one, appropriately named Hot Tin.

Day 2:

We started day 2 with breakfast in another boutique hotel: Peter and Paul. 

Hotel Peter and Paul, located in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, is housed in a converted church, rectory, school, and convent dating back to 1860.  

This hotel is stunning and my pick if you need a hotel room in New Orleans. Check out the rooms on their website if you’re curious about what’s behind these doors.

Yes, that’s the former schoolhouse stage. Zero in. Can you see the doors in that gorgeous trompe-l’oeil painting? They’re guest rooms.

The hotel is covered in trompe-l’oeil (a three-dimensional painting technique creating a realistic optical illusion).  

If you don’t need a room, just go to the cafe. (also painted)

Or to dinner

Or brunch

Or drinks

Or for a yoga class 

They offer yoga in the cathedral (now rented for events) on Tuesday mornings at 7:00 a.m. and Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. How inspiring.

In fact, even though the church was deconsecrated by the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2000, it still feels like a sacred space. I found myself whispering and reluctant to walk on the alter. 

I’m sure the stained glass windows, the soaring scale, not to mention the fact that we had the place to ourselves, had something to do with the feeling of awe. 

How do you follow that?

With a sunset swamp tour!

We saw lots of alligators swimming in the water. And a few of them even came aboard.  

We chose a high-speed airboat that glides over the surface of the water. It’s a fun, loud, exhilarating ride… until you hit mud. Then, you get stuck until a fellow boatman can rescue you by blowing high-speed air and mud all over you as he pulls you out of the swampy muck.  

• our ragin cajun hero

We ended our second day with a stroll down Frenchman Street. Frenchman (an easy walk from the French Quarter) is a lively street in the Marigny, with bars playing live music, an outdoor art market,

and a few casual eating establishments, such as Dat Dog. Dat Dog is a sausage restaurant with (surprisingly) several delicious vegetarian options.  

The music, the art, and the vibes on Frenchman are all very New Orleans… funky.  

Day 3:

On the third day, we slept in! But we rolled out of bed in time for a 12:30 reservation for Drag Brunch at the Country Club. 

The Country Club was formerly a private gay club. It’s now open to all, with a beautiful restaurant, bar, and pool. ($20 day pass to swim) I understand it used to be clothing optional, but I’m not sure if it is anymore… we didn’t swim. We brunched!

We imbibed for three hours! The staff literally had to kick us all out. 

But only after we used the city’s prettiest bathroom. 

• with its own resident mermaid

Following that indulgence, we had to recover in my pool until dinnertime. 

For our final meal, we chose my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa is a darling Italian restaurant decorated with red and white checkered tablecloths and dozens of Mona Lisa portraits.

They provide butcher paper and crayons at every table -an open invitation to draw your own interpretation of the icon. Who knows, they may use your creation on one of their menus? 

For our final stop, we headed downtown to The Peacock Room inside Hotel Fontenot. The Peacock Room is a sexy restaurant and bar decorated as one would expect -in rich velvet and deep turquoise.  

It’s stunning, but by then, we were a little tired and a lot full. So we headed back to the French Quarter apartment for a few hours of sleep before our early morning flight home. 

This weekend getaway was three perfect scorching days. The trip may have been smack in the middle of a steamy August weekend, but as my daughter pointed out, that made it easy for us to get in everywhere. 

I took the girls to some beautiful spots in the city. Now, they need to go back and experience the spirit of New Orleans. I can’t wait for them to visit during one of the many festivals when the “laissez les bons temps rouler” energy is even more palpable than the hot, sticky heat.  

Lastly..

What not to do… The only dud during our three perfect days was lunch at Galatoires. 

Galatoires’ infamous Friday Lunch is an old New Orleans tradition. It’s a loud, raucous party (or so I hear). People would line up from early morning (or pay a proxy to line up for them) just to get a table. However, recently, following the pandemic, they’ve started taking reservations. But our 1:30 reservation didn’t help us at all. We were seated in the ugly back room. Last time, I was seated in the ugly upstairs dining room. Walking through the main dining room (where everyone was having a ball), we noted that all the patrons looked the same: like old blue-blooded New Orleanians. 

I’m done trying to get into Galatoires. The food is terrible anyway!