In February 2025 we took a quick trip to New Orleans to escape the cold in Philly. As it turns out, they were experiencing temperatures 20 degrees below normal! We still had a great time exploring the city, and enjoying good food and drink.
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| Jackson Square |
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| St Louis Cathedral |
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| St Louis Cathedral |
St Louis Cathedral is the oldest continuously operated cathedral in the US, originally built in 1722 and rebuilt multiple times after fires and hurricanes. The Cabildo museum, next to St Louis Cathedral, was really well curated. The formal transfers of Louisiana Territory from Spain to France and month later from France to the United States in 1803 were signed on the second floor. We made the obligatory stop at Cafe du Monde; the chicory coffee is still great, as are the beignets.
Royal Street is lined with great shops, one of which is the Bevolo Lighting store at 318 Royal. Bevolo has manufactured gas lamps for 80 years, and you can see the craftsman assembling the copper light in the back of the store. Crescent City Books is small but has an interesting collection of vintage books. Faulkner House Books is located in the house where William Faulkner lived in 1925 while writing his first novel Soldiers' Pay.
We stopped at several noteworthy bars (of course). Napoleon House was built in 1815 and has been a restaurant for over 100 years. Cane and Table is near the French Market, and has a friendly bar cat. The Old Absinthe House on Bourbon is historic, the huge fireplace was appreciated on a very cold day. The Toulouse Green Absinthe was great, but only drink one! French 75 Bar at Arnaud's is an elegant bar attached to the iconic restaurant. Fat Boys Pizza is located in the Old Coffee Pot, built inn1829 and located next door to Pat O'Brien's. Good New York style pizza, the slices come from a 30" pie!
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| Jean Laffite's Blacksmith Shop |
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| Sazerac Bar |
The beautiful art deco Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel was our favorite. The Sazerac drink, named after the bar, is believed to be the first cocktail invented in America in 1859. The drinks were excellent, especially the Coffee House Sazerac with coffee-infused Sazerac rye, cognac, coffee liqueur and absinthe. Fives Raw Bar on Jackson Square has an outstanding espresso martini. Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (a.k.a. Bar) is considered the oldest building in the French Quarter, and has a great atmosphere. The pirate Jean Laffite used the blacksmith shop as a front to fence his stolen booty, or so the legend goes.
We rode the St Charles Trolley through the Garden District to Uptown. Near Lafayette Cemetery is the Garden District Book Shop, located in an 1884 roller skating rink. Le Petit Bleu is a tiny bistro with excellent snapper soup from the attached Commanders Palace. After taking a walking tour of the Garden District, we walked back to the French Quarter along Magazine Street. Dat Dog Hot Dogs on Magazine Street is great, we loved Jimmy's Chicago Dog and the Rougarou Dog.
