It started out Thursday after work with a very long road trip to NOLA. My sister was flying from SF and was already in bed when we rolled in at 2 am. I crashed the second my head hit the pillow.
We started Friday off right with brunch at Elizabeth's in the Bywater. The praline bacon was worth the hype, and the bloody mary didn't hurt either!
We then headed to the French Market to wander around. We picked up some daquiris at The Organic Banana and then walked to Jackson Square. It's hard to say if the city was crowded for jazz fest or if it's like that all the time, but it definitely has a party atmosphere everywhere you go!
Then it was time for Jazz fest!!
One of the main reasons we went to Jazz Fest was to see John Mayer. My sister has a tad bit of an obsession. We got there around 2 so we could get a good spot at the stage where John was playing at 5:30 pm. We even made friends with the people standing around us (her name was Coco and she was awesome)!
Then John Mayer came on stage, and all was right with the world.
After the concert was over, we went back to the hotel to shower, then hit Bourbon Street!
We had dinner at Acme Oyster House. We were dying for some po' boys! We spent the rest of the night bar hopping with NOLA's finest (Bourbon Street has fabulous people-watching)!
We decided to skip out on Jazz Fest on Saturday and instead spent the day drinking exploring the city since none of us had ever been!
We first had brunch at Emeril's restaurant NOLA, which was fantastic! I highly recommend eating there if you're in New Orleans!
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| The food pictured: Stuffed Chicken Wings, Mussels, and Red Chili-Abita Shrimp and Grits |
Next stop on our city tour:
Cafe Du Monde. Enough said.
As if that wasn't enough food, we had to stop for some quintessential Louisiana food: gator bites.
We found a stand in the French Market with the nicest man who told us all about alligator. And I have to say, the bites really were delicious!
We waddled out of the market and wandered through the French Quarter. New Orleans reminds me of an older, dirtier Charleston. It has a lot of neat architecture.
We made our way to Pat O'Briens, home of the infamous hurricane, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the patio.
We some how ended up hungry again, and stopped at Oceana Grill off Bourbon Street for dinner. I loved all the fresh seafood! We stopped by the hotel briefly to freshen up and had every intention of going back out again, but everyone I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. We crashed before midnight. Party animals.
We woke up to a rainy day for our last day of Jazz Fest. We weren't quite prepared for rain, so we had to make a few pit stops before heading to the fairgrounds.
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| Frozen Daiquiris? Check. Ponchos? Check. |
We found this adorable little breakfast place, Cafe Fleur De Lis, and tucked inside just in time for a downpour.
After breakfast, it was time to brave the rain and head to the festival.
We got there pretty early, so we stopped to see Calexico play before heading to the stage to get ready for Dave Matthews. Ryan and I had just seen Dave in December, but seeing him at Jazz Fest was completely different. It started pouring right when he took the stage, which was weirdly awesome. Standing in the pouring rain while singing "Grey Street" at the top of my lungs might go down in history as one of my favorite memories. Dave played a completely different set list than he did in December, which I was so happy about.
We stopped by the Blues Tent just in time to hear B.B. King play a few songs.
And this last picture will sum up our final day at Jazz Fest quite nicely:
Mud Fest 2013.
Oh, the memories...
