Sunday, December 14, 2014

My Trip to New Orleans: Travel and Tourism

Recently I took a week-long holiday and jetted to New Orleans, popularly known as the birthplace of jazz and famous for their Cajun and Southern cuisine. Every year tourists flock to this soulful city for the colorful Mardi Gras festivities and deck themselves out in colorful beads as the parade makes its way down bustling Bourbon Street.


Jackson Square, "designated as one of America’s great public spaces" is located in the French Quarter which is close to the Mississippi River. This is a nice place to stroll, relax and take in the sights as cruise ships and river boats make their way past the city.



I spent most of my time in New Orleans shopping and sightseeing and although my aversion to seafood, fried food and many meats limited my dining experience I did try some local delights such as blackened cajun chicken over creamy penne pasta. There were many restaurants that served traditional dishes like jambalaya, gumbo and one of Louisiana’s favorites- po’boys which are sandwiches traditionally topped with roast beef or fried seafood.

When I was searching for tours to take many of them had to do with cemeteries, churches, the bayou or voodoo so we rented a car and did our own sightseeing.

(Sunset over New Orleans)

Although Canal Street was nice, the city is quite small which made getting around on foot or by trolley easy. At night Bourbon Street is crowded with people stopping to take in some jazz, have dinner or drink, drink and drink some more!

Many of the buildings still maintain their rustic, southern charm which reminded me of old western films but Bourbon Street wasn't as clean as I expected.


I also took a 5 day cruise aboard the Carnival Elation, I have cruised 9 times thus far and although Carnival is not my preferred cruise line, for a short journey the ship was decent.



The cruise stopped in beautiful Cozumel Mexico which I visited 5 years ago and Progresso Mexico which was quite underdeveloped. The town in Progresso was a bit unsavory and there were men in the streets holding guns which made me feel a bit unsafe although they were probably there to protect the tourists!


The ship did have some great comedic entertainment and the Serenity Lounge on the back deck had beautiful views of the ocean. I was difficult being cut off from the world for five days and after 24 hours of seasickness I was ready to be back on solid ground again!

6 comments:

  1. You take the most beautiful pictures it makes me want to jump on a plane there now!

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    1. Thank you so much! I have been working on my photography!

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  2. Looks like you had a great time in New Orleans, shame about there not being any food you liked. I don't like it when I go to restaurants and I cannot find anything on the menu that takes my fancy. It must be difficult for you, are you a vegetarian? I love your pictures. Would have loved to have seen some pictures of Mexico, sounds pretty scary if there are people with guns there. The police walk around with massive guns in London, but for some reason that does not frighten me.

    Lorilee
    http://lorileesadventures.blogspot.ca/

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    1. Hi Lorilee,
      No I am not a vegetarian I am just very picky when it comes to meat and I don't like the taste of many of them. I don't eat beef, pork, lamb, goat, or seafood but I do like chicken breast so I look for meals that have chicken or pasta and veggie dishes. I also don't like many citrus flavored things with the exception of grapefruit and I won't go near any drinks with orange lol. I guess we all have our preferences :)

      I'm glad you like my photos, I didn't get very many this time.

      Hope you have a great holiday season.

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    2. Cool! I don't like pork unless it's in sausages. I love lamb, beef and chicken. I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of trying goat, if I have then I didn't know it was. Chicken is always my go to meat. I am the opposite when it comes to citrus fruit, I like everything but grapefruit, I find it too sharp. Yeah it's cool that we have our preferences as the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same.

      Will you be visiting New Orleans soon?

      I really want to take a trip to New York, with it being so close to Montreal, but it's a little cold this time of year so I think we will wait till the summer.

      Lorilee :)

      http://lorileesadventures.blogspot.ca/

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    3. Do you mean will I be visiting New Orleans again soon? I don't think so since I just got back and I'd like to see new places. I love traveling within Europe and my hubby really wants to go to Shanghai.

      I haven't been to New York in a long time! I would love to stay right in Manhattan and take it all in. I also want to see a Broadway show when I go, I love live theater! Phantom of the Opera was one of my favs! And just this year I finally went to see the ballet Swan Lake.

      Once I went to Montreal close to Christmas, my hubby took me for my birthday and we went to see cirque du soleil. After that I vowed to never return there in the winter lol it was FREEZING even more than Ontario!

      Have a great holiday :)

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