Spring Break with Ashley

 I feel so many posts can start the same way and still be true ... it has been a long couple of years!

When Ashley graduated from high school in 2020 I wanted to take her on a trip to Paris. Try again ... during winter break of freshman year we'll go to Paris. Try three ... Summer of 2021 I was definitely going to take her to Paris while Don was on his cross country bike ride. 

Fourth time's the charm, I suppose. Rather than Paris, though, in March 2022 Ashley and I flew to New Orleans, LA. NOLA has been on my wish list of places to visit for nearly 30 years. Don went on a business trip and spoke highly of it, but somehow it never percolated to the top of the list. In the summer of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city I was disappointed I hadn't made the time to go.

Life took us to Disneyland for many years, and to Europe. When thinking through where Ashley and I could go, somehow the idea of New Orleans popped in my head. Yes, Paris would be lovely, but with constantly changing COVID rules I knew I didn't want to be stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic. If things changed while we were in New Orleans, we could always rent a car and drive home.

New Orleans was exactly the tonic I needed. The weather was perfect (70s with 50% humidity). The crowds minimal (despite it being Spring Break and St. Patrick's Day). I realized within a day the stomach pains I had been having and my anxiety washed away. I needed to separate myself from life in New Jersey. From work. From home. From bad weather. From life. A month later and I'm still feeling the peace from that trip.

Before leaving I asked friends for advice. One friend, Andy, is my NOLA expert. He connected me with an airport driver named Tevyn (let me know if you need a NOLA driver, I would highly recommend him), a tour guide named Sandy (also someone I would highly recommend), a hotel (again, he hit it out of the park with this recommendation), and basic guidelines.

Other friends recommended places to eat, but added you just can't go wrong in New Orleans. Some recommended jazz clubs that (alas) Ashley was too young to enter legally, so we didn't try. Perhaps a post-21 trip.

I've been asked what we did that was so magical. Mostly we just walked and floated around. I tried not to overschedule our days, but we did go on a few free walking tours by foot (Voodoo, Ghost Tour, Cemetery, and French Quarter -- two different tour guides for four tours), toured an historic home (the Gallier House), rode the trolleys (I mean, street cars), heard a show at Preservation Hall (I was less than impressed when they passed around Phil the Bucket -- as in "Fill him up," tickets were expensive enough for a 45-minute show), went to the Tipitina's to hear Big Sam's Funky Nation (I preferred their opening act, Crooked Vines, Ashley liked them both), walked around the Garden District, walked around the Sydney and Wanda Besthoff Sculpture Garden (no Seward Johnson sculptures, but we did see an alligator), collected beads at the St. Patrick's Day parade, walked around the French Quarter, strolled up and down Bourbon Street, ate, ate, ate, then ate some more.

Had life been quieter over the past month, and I had cared to take notes while on vacation (as I usually do), there would be blog posts about each activity, including lots of pictures. 

We compared Café du Monde with Café Beignets. Both had lines equally as long. To me the big difference was Café Beignets had other things on their menu besides beignets and coffee. As a tea drinker, I was disappointed. The beignets in both places were just as delicious as advertised. 

Rather than trying to recreate the trip with words, I'll add some pictures:

Perhaps I'll add another post with pictures of food.

Though it has taken me decades to make it to New Orleans, I hope to have many more trips. Trips with Don. Trips with Ashley. Trips with friends. Trips alone. I can see why Andy has chosen New Orleans as the place he goes to recharge his batteries. Its magic has already worked on me once. May it heal me again.