We woke up around 8am, refreshed and ready to enjoy our first full day in New Orleans! We headed to Frenchmen All Day just up the block on Frenchman and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. I had a café au lait (spectacular) and two biscuits with chorizo gravy and over-medium eggs on top. Michelle had bacon, egg, and biscuits and Earl Gray breakfast tea. Genetta had eggs Benedict (which she’ll always opt for if it is available, like me with chicken fried steak!) and potatoes and orange juice. Greg also went with the eggs Benedict. Mom had Genetta’s salad along with a biscuit and fruit. Dad had the bacon and eggs breakfast as well. It’s a nice spot to eat with lots of cool New Orleans-y things to enjoy decorating the walls. It was one of the waitress’ last day as well.
After finishing breakfast we went to the nearby Ayu Bakehouse to pick up some baked good for the subsequent days should we not wish to go out: pain de chocolate, croissants, etc. Genetta got an iced matcha and panne cotta. We also checked out a nearby park that had a police camera up high with flashing red and blue lights (though we didn’t see any crimin’ going on).
Back at the house we relaxed for a few moments then headed out around noon for lunch, this time into the Quarter. We window shopped along Royal and saw a number of interesting things including some nautical themed (and quite fragile — a huge no-no with as many cats as we have) lamps with octopus tentacles and the like. Oh, and they were quite expensive. So, yeah.
We arrived at the Vampire Café for lunch around 1:00pm. It’s a fairly cozy place with lots of wrought iron and bats and other decorations. The table cloths were a red and folded into a bat and the knife and fork gold and laid out in a cross. The menus were neatly illustrated with tales of famous New Orleans vampire legends. I had the bleu cheese Dracula burger with chips while Michelle and Genetta both had a regular Vampire burger. Genetta also had “fangria” from a blood bag which was cool. Michelle had a tea that she didn’t care for due to the minty taste. Greg skipped lunch and had Crème Broulee (or, rather, phlegm Broulee) for dessert. We also had two small dark chocolate bats. The food was decent.
Adjacent to the restaurant was a small store, the Vampire Café Boutique, which sold various vampire themed items. We ended up getting a stained glass bat that was quite cute and a Dracula duck for Mom and Dad. A short distance away was Fischer & Gambino, the store that carries lots of faux Tiffany lamps. Despite two walk-throughs nothing really grabbed us.
We headed to the Voodoo Museum’s lobby where Genetta got a coin for her purse. We skipped the museum itself, however, having done it in prior years. On the way back to the house we stopped by a cool shop owned by a husband and wife team. The wife was from Bali, Indonesia, and her uncle (who still lives there) carves tons of cool things and sends them her way to sell. Genetta got a skull carved out of an eight-ball as well as a carved wooden fleur-de-lis.
We walked home around 3:00pm and took a nap and hung out for a bit until 4:30pm whence we went on a short walk to Louisiana Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I had a steak and bleu cheese pizza, Michelle had a prosciutto and fig, Genetta a cheese with prosciutto and goat cheese, Mom a bleu cheese and pecan salad, Dad the crawfish pasta, and Greg some chicken and sausage gumbo with hot sauce. As always it was amazing! Michelle brought home some cheesecake. I passed on the pecan pie a la mode stupidly thinking I’d go out later and get some beignets (spoiler: I did not).
We headed back to the unit and then Genetta, Greg, and I headed to Jackson Square. We shopped at Jazz Funeral and other more tourist-y shops along the way. Greg shopped at a place selling lots of sports stuff. They had nothing for NCSU and we joked it must be sold out (spoiler: it was not). Greg got a Pelicans shirt and almost a hat but he passed on that. The storeowner, however, was pretty great about guessing his hat size!
Jackson Square was closed so I just took some pictures over the gate. We then wanted to head to the river but a train was blocking the way, leading us to JAX and the facilities there (which were closed but we were able to use). By then the train had moved so we walked along the river and back to the house around 8:00pm.
We listened to the music being played on the Frenchman corner a block away from the house’s balcony until 11:00pm. I had some Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream to make up for not getting beignets earlier in the evening. Balance in all things! Headed to bed right around midnight after a very fun day!