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Old 4 Dec 19, 06:34 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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Bayous to Beaches. October 2019. Day 2. Orlando to New Orleans. Big Easy Living.

Tuesday 2 October

Yesterday is here

*For the next 9 days we are travelling. I am posting all my trippy in the Florida section as we will return here for 10 days at the end of the trip. But if you are only interested in Florida then the next few days won’t be for you *

Today we were on our travels again with a 3 day trip to New Orleans and a 2 day road trip to north Louisiana to see my uncle.

It was a better nights sleep and we both woke around 4.30 which was ok as we then dozed till 5.30 and were up and getting ready by 6.

We were down at the concierge by 6.15 and waited an age for someone to appear, to be told you dont need to see someone at checkout, you just drop off your key. All good and only the expected $21 resort fee appeared on our card a few days later. Its a great hotel.

Even though we had only been round Orlando yesterday we still filled the car up to avoid those hefty car hire fuel charges and set the sat nav for a no toll route , which was a miserable fail as we ended up going through one and with no change had to go through and just await a charge later.

The tolls in Florida are a pain and you realise how many of them there are when you go round other states and dont see very many.

Car was dropped off ok - it had a been a bit of a bucket and not one we would have kept for a longer stay but it had done the job for our 24 hours here.

Check in with SouthWest was as good as usual , one case was 23.5kg but the rest were under so no hassle and we were on our way through security with no queue and through to the other side by 7.20. It had taken 30 minutes from arriving to drop the car, check in and get airside. Possibly an Orlando record for us.

This seemed to be newly installed and being dryer by giant Fans



Very empty airport



Of course now there was time on our hands as we had allowed 2 hours. First stop was breakfast which was functional rather than fancy .

I had a sausage McMuffin , Andy had a Steak and Cheese sub from Jersey Mikes. He assured me it tasted better than it looked ...



It was 7.30 am. That excuses the poor effort

By the time we finished, and just as i got settled, the flight started boarding.

I have to report Dibbers that we were “those people” blocking the aisle trying to stow their overhead luggage as yet again by the time we got on people had filled the lockers with their infeasibly large items and we were struggling.

Well, I say we, I wasnt struggling at all as I had sat down but poor Andy was and its all a bit fractious isn’t it when there are people behind you and you cant get your stuff quickly stowed?

Finally sorted and we had seats towards the middle of the plane.



I wrote up some of my trip notes and watched some more of Wu Assassins and before we knew it we were coming in to land. Its a great flight to New Orleans, because of the time difference its feels you pretty much land just after you took off

We were on the ground at 0930 and our cases were amongst the first off so we were straight into a taxi .

Elegant traveller wannabe pose



This is a flat fare from the airport for $36 so not worth booking a private hire. You go to the taxi rank and they will call one for you and helpfully give you a map of the city as well. Its a very good service.

Do love the drive in as you see the SuperDome coming into view,



its not the prettiest of routes but its very typical of the location with the bayou and levee walls and the overground cemeteries.

We pulled up at the hotel at 10.15 . There was quite a bit of road construction in the area but we were able to get directly out the front.




A room was ready for us which we thought was great but then realised why as it was a corner room and had a fabulous view .. of the wall.



If this had been our first trip we would have been disappointed and asked to move but as it was our third stay we were less fussed . If you craned your neck you could just see the pool . At least the room was cool as it didnt get any light



I unpacked for the next couple of days and we were both a bit niggly with the early start and it was a debate whether to have a kip or go out. Going out won with the idea we could have a kip at the pool later.

We hadn’t realised quite how hot it would be . It had been hot when we visited on our September trip but this was hotter still .

Please note. It will look like Andy wore the same top for the whole holiday. He has number of these that kept re appearing even after I tried to pack them away. I’m not sure why he buys so many tee shirts when he really only likes to wear these wretched Nike ones





We thought we would head towards the river and walked over towards Decatur and N Peter Street to the French Market area.



There were lots of musicians out and entertaining the crowds and noticeably more homeless people as well which was sad to see.



We opted for the Market as it was shaded and had some good music playing



I went for a Louisiana Lemonade





I had hummus with tomatoes, feta and pitta



Andy had a gyro in pitta with salad and fries




Yes that’s right. Basically Beer, chips and a kebab

I finished with a pecan pie . This was a bit “gloopy” and let down an otherwise nice lunch.





We sat listening to the band and chatting to a couple from Florida.



It’s a pretty basic looking place when you walk past but the music and food were just fine

Edited at 09:35 PM.
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Old 4 Dec 19, 06:38 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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After lunch we had a short walk along the riverbank where Andy continued to test his new toy.

We have a million selfies from the first couple of days and then hardly any as it was another weight i really didn’t need in my handbag



It was far too hot and sticky so we headed back to the hotel , stopping for a catch up with the artist Danny Delancey about his latest paintings and what he had been up to since our last visit.

He was painting directly opposite our hotel so we saw him a few times over the next couple of days.
He is a great guy. Fascinating to chat with. You can see him on the right of this pic.. that’s where his pitch is each day.



We decamped to the pool.




We looked at the options for the Garden District Tours tomorrow and were going round in circles a bit as to what to do.

In the end while Andy had a snooze I found a great website that basically allowed you to work out a DIY tour .



So we could see the all lovely houses with fab names



Yep, the “horse”:house

I also ordered a strawberry daiquiri



What the holy heckinbob . Cream and sprinkles ?

Completely absurd and quite horrible tbh - the cream melted super quickly and made the drink a bit bleugh.

Yes Cheryl Charming ( nice name) you may be an award winning Drinks Director here but your Daiquiris are just wrong.

Andy woke up and had a swim while I had my turn for a snooze. This is something we have never done on our previous visits to New Orleans, just chilling out by the pool.

It was very nice . It does get shaded at the back of the hotel so the pool is quite cold .. so I am told as I didn’t venture in.

WE had a nice couple of hours here and headed up to get changed for the evening around 5 and we walked a short walk to Bourbon Heat to listen to a chap who was very much like Santana and had a couple of drinks. This is a great beer drinkers and rock music lovers bar but not so great on the cocktail front so I stuck to soft drinks here.

Also we did notice that the bar tenders in NOLA do use their fingers to put the ice and slice in your drinks. Which would be ok if they weren’t also picking up lots of other stuff all the time as well I was a mouthing to Andy “where are the tongs”: but he says I am too refined.

After a while here, it was the very long walk (2 minutes) to the orleans Grapevine which was opposite the hotel for dinner. We had stopped in here earlier and asked if we could reserve a table for half past 7 .

Which was causing a lot of confusion as to what half past meant. Until the lady said, oh you mean seven thirty. Simple things that are endless amusements.

Anyway she said they were quiet and a reservation wouldn’t be needed.

Our hotel is on the left, the bistro on the right .. you can just see people sat outside



This time we sat in the courtyard



Menu has not changed ... all so yummy




I had a Hand Grenade Martini. Not quite as nice as I remembered it My tasting face detecting an unwanted ingredient, we think Malibu. I battled on tho


Andy went for a bottle of Malbec

We shared the Brie to start, along with the house bread



I went for the Filet , Andy had the lamb



Well these were just delicious. The meat was superbly cooked and so tender. The potatoes were really tasty and veg was perfect, slightly crunchy. You can’t fully see the beans, okra and broccoli that was also there.
It was outstanding.

I soldiered on to dessert



Opting for the bread pudding



This defeated me But was gorgeous

And the bill



After the tip, topped out close to $190 but totally worth it.

A lovely evening, only just short of perfect owing to the loud twerp on the next table who had no volume control on his crass conversation.

Back to the hotel. Did like this sign



No late night drinkies as I wanted to be up reasonably early to beat the heat tomorrow

Today’s cocktail tally: 3
Holiday tally : 5

The next day is HERE

Edited at 09:33 PM.
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Old 4 Dec 19, 06:48 PM  
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Love*my*hols
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I've been waiting for this !
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Old 4 Dec 19, 07:38 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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Originally Posted by Love*my*hols View Post
I've been waiting for this !
Ah bless you It’s quite different to our other trips to NOLa but just as good
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Old 4 Dec 19, 09:13 PM  
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Goldia
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Goldia's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 5
Restaurant Reviews: 43
Smooth travel day, it's a real pain trying to get your cases in the over head compartments when other people have taken all the space, well it's a real pain for Andy.

Shame about the poor view, but the room looked lovely. Yummy cocktails too.
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Old 4 Dec 19, 09:26 PM  
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What a relaxed day despite the travelling! You did well on the food and drink front!
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Old 4 Dec 19, 09:47 PM  
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Think we will be heading to Bourbon Heat
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Old 6 Dec 19, 10:41 PM  
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WileyCoyote
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Smooth travel day, it's a real pain trying to get your cases in the over head compartments when other people have taken all the space, well it's a real pain for Andy.

Shame about the poor view, but the room looked lovely. Yummy cocktails too.
It was a shame about the room view. It was quite rubbish. Honestly the hand luggage sizes on these internal flights are ridiculous. I had the genius idea that we would check in our little cabin case on the return flight.


Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
What a relaxed day despite the travelling! You did well on the food and drink front!
It was a good day

Originally Posted by KarenG View Post


Think we will be heading to Bourbon Heat
It’s a great bar. I will try and upload a video
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Old 7 Dec 19, 07:09 PM  
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My god that must be a record for getting through MCO security that quickly!
Oh I am always ‘that’ one taking an age getting my cabin case in the overhead lockers. Jim goes nuts at me every time telling me off for not just having a handbag but, you know, I need to transport my newly acquired Starbucks mugs somehow 😂
It must be so nice being so familiar with a city you can just take it at your own pace and return to your favourite places.
Lovely that you saw the same artist, I remember you buying a print from him before. Was he the one that draws the blue dogs?
Dinner looks good, I love both steak and a rack of lamb!
Not so sure about that green cocktail though 😳
A great day overall!
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Old 7 Dec 19, 08:12 PM  
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Originally Posted by WileyCoyote View Post


It’s a great bar. I will try and upload a video
It would be GREAT if you could. We had a quick look online and it looked quite geared to younger people than me listening to banging beats

I told Jon (DH) you liked it and there was rock music so therefore we would like it too
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