Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Being a tourist in your own hometown - May edition

For the last week and half we had family visitors - my parents and my sister Marie.
We went to some old favorites and tried a few new places!

Saturday May 11: 

My sister-in-law Alison and I started the day with a Color Me Rad race and everyone was there to cheer us on. After getting cleaned up we had lunch at Juan's Flying Burrito, one of our favorites. Greyson and I have taken to sharing the jerk nachos because they are so big!


Sunday May 12

This was Mother's Day. We had a nice luncheon at home and then all headed out to the City Park Botanical Gardens. The kids paid a lot more attention this time with other adults there to point out the plants, trees, flowers, vegetables, greenhouses, miniature railroad and even a few cute baby ducks! We ended the afternoon by eating dinner at DatDog, another favorite!

 

Monday May 13

My parents took me to lunch at Emeril's. This was the 2nd Emeril's restaurant I've been to in New Orleans and as always, their service is superb. I had the yummiest whiskey upside down cake with sweet potato ice cream for dessert!

 

Tuesday May 14

Lunch with my parent's was at Felipe's, another favorite when we are going to visit the Audubon Aquarium or Insectarium - and we did end up at the Insectarium! Later I picked up my sister Marie from the airport and after picking the kids up from school we went to Midway Pizza.

Wednesday May 15

The kids have a half day of school every Wednesday so we headed to the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is free on Wednesdays! The kiddies always love to eat in their cafe and then we checked out the art, including the current World's Fair exhibit.

Thursday May 16 

While my sister headed on a field trip with Greyson's class to the French Quarter, I had lunch with my parent's at Salvo's since my dad was so impressed with it the last time he came and Alex took him. My parents both had crawfish and oysters and I opted for a grilled shrimp salad. Then we were off to the Aquarium. I've been to the aquarium more than a few times - but this time I saw an owl in the Louisiana display that I've never seen before!

Friday May 17 

While my sister Marie was doing a little shopping my parents and I went to the Cafe Du Monde location in the mall so they could try beignets. I even told my dad he had to order his coffee as Cafe au lait since that is what they are famous for! We then went to The Bulldog which is famous for it's fountain made out of beer taps. Afterward my sister, dad and I went on a tour of Old New Orleans Rum distillery. I've been on the tour before, but it is always informative and you get to sample all of their rums!
For some nightlife, Marie and I went out to the Hotel Monteleone and got a seat at their famous carousel bar. Yep, it really spins while you are on it! Stanley & Alison ended up meeting up with us later.

Saturday May 18

Marie, Stanley, Alex and I got a personal tour at Covington Brewery. It was very informal, but informative! They usually give free samples, but had taken down their taps to set up for a festival later in the day. We made our way over to Abita brewery which includes free beer for the hour of their tour, but I stuck with the yummy rootbeer!
After picking up Alison & the kiddies we headed back to Covington to eat at the Mellow Mushroom and then we went to the Taps on the Trace festival that Covington Brewery sponsored.

Sunday May 19

After enjoying food and music at the Bayou Boogaloo festival we started getting hot fast, so we hopped on the streetcar and headed back to the Hotel Monteleone for some rooftop swimming. We followed that up with another visit to DatDog to wrap up the adventure with visitors!