Road trip to New Orleans

We went to a wedding in Mississippi this weekend and used this as an excuse to spend a night in New Orleans on the way there. I love, love, love this city. Visiting New Orleans is like stepping into an old European city with it's narrow streets, fantastic restaurants, stone sidewalks, and black lamps lining its streets.

We had dinner at Antoine's the evening that we arrived. We had oysters Rockefeller and also tried the BBQ oysters (which were A-Maz-ING), soft shell crabs, fresh fish, and we even got two free desserts because we ordered the baked Alaska and they didn't print the order in the kitchen in time. They were so nice about messing up our dessert order and insisted on giving us alternative desserts for free! We told them it was no big deal and not to worry about it, but who can argue with free food??? Especially dessert! :-) So we indulged in chocolate mousse and some type of souffle that melted in our mouths! I love the food in New Orleans as much as the city itself!

Antoine's has been owned by the same family since 1840. The current owner lives above the restaurant and has dinner there every night. They let us explore some of the 16 private dining rooms and we found the antique whiskey collection. They also have a wine cellar with around 16,000 bottles of wine. They have Mardi Gras themed rooms and the king of Mardi Gras is elected at this restaurant. There are photos of past kings and queens that are over a hundred years old. It was such a nice restaurant with a very welcoming and unpretentious atmosphere.

The staff was all extremely nice and friendly and told us to wander around and make ourselves at home, so we did. The restaurant is huge. It covers an entire city block! We loved exploring such a historic building with so much character.

The next morning we woke up late, enjoyed the view of the Bienville House Hotel courtyard from our cute little balcony, then headed to the Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au laits. It doesn't get any better than breakfast at the Cafe du Monde.

We went into art galleries on Royal Street, listened to some musicians, and walked around an antique furniture store where a dresser was $35,000! Dang! It's always fun to look at the art and collectible furniture in New Orleans. (Target is more our speed though).

A friend recommended Domilises Po' Boy sandwich shop to us and told us that they have the best Po' Boys in New Orleans. That's a pretty amazing recommendation so we had to try it! We rolled up beside this place that looks like an old house with this sign leaning up against the front and there was a line of people around the building! I love little places like this!

Inside Domilises, there are 3 cute little ladies frying shrimp, oysters, and other goodness for Po' Boy sandwiches. There is an older man at the bar on the side of the restaurant serving bottles of root beer, cokes, and beer. The whole dining room probably holds 15 people! The walls are covered with Christmas cards from their friends, family pictures, old beer cans, and sayings like you would see in your grandma's kitchen. It was a fun and DELICIOUS experience! It was actually the best Po' Boy sandwich I've ever had.

We left New Orleans after our wonderful shrimp Po' Boys and drove along the Gulf Coast highway 90 to Mississippi.

More to see later about the beautiful wedding in Mississippi...