New Orleans: Bike Tour, Jazz, Riverboat Cruise, and the Red Hat Society

On August 16, Chrissy and I were kindly driven to JFK airport by our friend, Oliver, at 2am. We arrived at JFK around 4:30am in order to catch our 6:45am flight to NOLA. We got through security easily and then had time to nap on and off before boarding our JetBlue flight, which happened to get delayed an hour.
We landed in NOLA at 9:30am and quickly found a cab to take us to the French Quarter. Upon arriving, we strolled through the French Market. We passed the Joan of Arc statue and continued our walk along the Mississippi River. Soon we found ourselves in front of a statue of Bienville, the founder of New Orleans, before wandering past the House of Blues. We chose to loop back towards Jackson Square, where we heard some decent street performers playing jazz. We scooted through Pirates Alley and then decided to rest and have beignets at Cafe du Monde. The atmosphere was very relaxed and the beignets were phenomenal! Some more street performers could be heard playing across the street as we ate, which just made the experience even better.
After sitting for about an hour, we continued to wander the French Quarter, poking around shops and taking in our surroundings until we decided to check into our hotel. We stayed at the Ambassador Hotel for our three nights. Apparently it used to be an old coffee warehouse, which makes for some very unique room setups. We had a glass door and window that opened into the hallway, along with 12-foot ceilings in our room. The hotel also happened to be right across from a fountain that was a part of the Italian Embassy on Tchoupitoulas Street. Chrissy and I chose to frolic in the fountain in an attempt to cool off in the hot weather. Soon, we found ourselves back along the Mississippi enjoying the Riverwalk and the breeze until we thought it was best to take a nap since sleep the night before did not exist.

Following our four hour nap, Chrissy and I went out to Huck Finn's Cafe for dinner. I chose a chicken sandwich while Chrissy settled for a pulled pork po-boy. It was a very relaxing evening and our waitress was quite pleasant. After dinner, the river was calling us so we sat along the banks of the Mississippi to absorb the peace that can only be found in the middle of the night with the breeze of the river against your face.
The next morning we awoke early in order to get some breakfast in the hotel before meeting with our tour guide, Bob, from Big Easy Bike Tours. We soon embarked on our epic 5 hour bike tour around the city. We began along the Mississippi River and checked out the Holocaust Memorial. Bob then explained how the highest elevation in the city could be found along the river's banks and that flood waters from Katrina actually came from Lake Pontchartrain, before entering the French Quarter. Bob explained all of the architecture to us and how the original houses only had side entrances when they were built and how they all had to be made of brick due to fires that had broke out in the city, though most of the brick had been covered in plaster and artisans had etched the plaster to look like large blocks. He also explained and pointed out the design of the original cobblestone streets in the city. Bob led us down Esplanade Avenue, continuing his thorough explanations of the architecture and the color schemes that could be found in particular neighborhoods. Eventually we found ourselves in a cemetery, which was full of mausoleums, the burial preference in New Orleans due to the sandy soil and water being found six feet down. Bob thoroughly described how the family plots were used and couldn't be reopened for a year and a day after somebody was placed inside the tomb. During times of yellow fever, rental tombs were utilized before the bodies were placed into the family tomb. Bob also explained that if one could not afford a family tomb that a society tomb was an option. There were Italian, Fisherman, and Nun tombs to name a few of the different societies. We continued on towards the New Orleans Museum of Art and into the park to look at the oak trees. We soon stopped so that we could have our picture taken next to a 600 year old tree before continuing on towards the Garden District after passing Tulane Medical Hospitals. Once in the Garden District, Bob pointed out some of the traditional mansions and architecture of the area, along with some homes that appeared out of place due to the paint choices on the exterior. We also went by some celebrity homes, which included Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, John Goodman, the home where Peyton and Eli Manning grew up (which had a car outside so Bob figured one of them was actually home), and Sandra Bullock. Bob then brought us to Tracey's for lunch. He told us how the po-boy got its name and shared how he got into the bike tour business. After lunch, we slowly pedaled back to our hotel for the completion of our tour.
Following our bike tour, we relaxed and discussed possible evening activities. We decided to wander the shops at the Riverwalk Marketplace before catching the ferry (on our third attempt) across the river to Old Algiers, which was on the west bank of the Mississppi River. There was a statue of Louis Armstrong erected near the ferry dock and a levee that we wandered along in the light summer drizzle before we crossed back across the Mississippi. We opted for fries at Huck Finn's Cafe before heading back to the hotel.
Thursday morning we hopped a streetcar on St. Charles Street in order to get to Tulane University so that Chrissy could explore the school she had always hoped to attend, but could also serve as a future place of employment. In our usual style, we made a beeline for the University Bookstore. After the bookstore, we found the Political Science building and were actually able to give a woman directions to the bookstore since we had just been there. We took the streetcar back towards Lafayette Square after circling Lee Circle, which has a statue of General Lee facing north because southerners believe he would never turn his back on the enemy.
After a brief stop at our hotel room, we wandered down to the Mississppi River to board the Steamboat Natchez for our 2 hour riverboat cruise up the river. We learned about the levees, the 9th ward, and the different boats that could be found on the river. We passed the Old US Mint and the Domino Sugar factory, along with a Navy Yard. Our boat turned around near St. Bernard Port, which was about 8 miles downriver, before heading back towards the Crescent City. Chrissy and I wandered aft so that we could take pictures of the paddlewheel that powered the steamboat. We also went through the gift shop and into the dining room to try and hear some jazz, but they only had a piano player.
Once we docked, we got beignets at Cafe du Monde and I bought a shirt at the Harley Davidson store before we decided to walk up Decatur Street to Frenchman Street in order to relax in Washington Square. We sprawled out in the grass so that we could relax after our long day. There happened to be a group of people doing yoga/practicing for their own mini version of Cirque du Soleil. I also enjoyed watching two dogs play fetch whilst being the supportive/corrupting friend that I am by having Chrissy start pondering her next tattoo seriously since we wandered past a tattoo shop on our way to Washington Square. On our way back to the hotel, we did make inquiries at the tattoo shop before making our way back through the French Quarter to the Ambassador Hotel. For dinner, we chose to eat at the Extreme Sports Bar and Grille that was next to our hotel. I settled for a burger and fries for fuel before we headed back out in search of some decent jazz on Frenchman Street.
After a bit of wandering, we chose to enter The Spotted Cat, which was definitely a great decision. Not only was the music amazing, but there were a handful of individuals who were dressed in 1920s garb and swing dancing like there was no tomorrow. I was so glad that we could finally witness some excellent jazz in the city where that style of music was born. Once we left The Spotted Cat, we walked down Bourbon Street before cutting across the French Quarter to sit by the river. Unfortunately some security officers kicked us off of the steps of the riverwalk, so we chose to just go back to the hotel to get some sleep.
On our last morning, we packed up our belongings and ate some cereal in the room for breakfast. We checked out and went to the Riverwalk Marketplace to do some last minute shopping. On our walk there, we saw a bunch of women decked out in purple shirts and red hats. This didn't come as a surprise to us considering every day we happened to run into a large group of these women almost everywhere we went. Apparently the Red Hat Society was having a convention in the Big Easy, which I found entertaining. Following our shopping, we opted for some free wine tasting at the NOLA Tropical Winery. The wine was made from blueberries, strawberries, mangos, oranges, and coffee. The woman who worked at the winery was very entertaining and kept giving us a wide variety of wines to taste. In order to avoid an early morning buzz at 10:30am, we hotfooted it to Pinkberry in order to fill up on frozen yogurt. We then decided to walk down Canal Street in order to loop up to Bourbon Street so that we could continue shopping. After about an hour, we made our way towards Cafe du Monde for some frozen cafe au lait and beignets. Along the way we stopped to watch and take pictures of some street performers. Unfortunately, we happened to come across a very aggressive street performer who started following me and demanding a tip because I had taken pictures. After escaping that situation, we were able to relax at Cafe du Monde, browse some more shops, and lay out in Jackson Square before fetching a cab on Toulouse Street. Our cabbie was quite entertaining as we listened to him give a friend relationship advice on the phone. We checked in and made it through security so that we could lounge at our gate for 2 hours. We then boarded our plane on time, but due to horrendous weather in New York City, we were grounded on the tarmac for two hours. Luckily they handed out snacks and beverages and we soon got cleared for takeoff. We landed at JFK at 12:15am and met up with Oliver who was kind enough to drive us home to East Stroudsburg. Now it's back to reality and the frantic job search continues.