I'm not sure if I had mentioned it before but, for our first anniversary, Jillian bought us tickets to the New Orleans' Saints vs the Carolina Panthers (featuring once-Auburn quarterback Cam Newton). It was a mid-Sunday game so it was perfect for making a weekend trip out of it.
After our Saturday morning drive to N.O., we grabbed lunch at a place west of downtown called Parkway Bakery and Tavern. It had received rave reviews on TripAdvisor and Food Network. We split a roast beef po-boy and chili fries. Despite the irony, I'll say that it was nothing to write about. I will say, however, that there were a lot of people outside eating and drinking so maybe there was something good to eat there that we didn't know about.
We finished lunch around 12:30 and made our way toward our hotel. With the perfect opportunity to earn some more hhonors points, we had booked the Hilton Riverside hotel for the night. A little pricey, but perfectly situated downtown. Unfortunately, the place straddles train tracks and we ended up with a room right next to them. It was a nice room though.
After we unpacked the car we hit the streets. I had been given the reins to make all trip decisions and really wanted to see the National WWII museum located down the road, so that was where we headed. About half way there, however, we got side-tracked when we heard Christmas music in the distance. A few streets over there was a Christmas parade in progress so we ran through a couple parks between business buildings to get in on the action. For any kind of New Orleans parade, it was surprisingly small; a local family event of sorts. Based on the participants, I think it was a collection of local elementary schools that put the parade together with the help of some local businesses.
The parade ended about 20 minutes after we arrived and we promptly made our way to the WWII museum; stopping only for Jillian to take a picture of the street with yellow leaves on the ground.
The WWII museum was enjoyable, but heavily focused on D-Day and the war in the pacific so that was a little disappointing. I think it was very informative for Jillian who doesn't have the same interest in all things WWII. She didn't make it through all of the 'war in the pacific' section of the tour as it got a little graphic.
(above: me inside a German lookout bunker)
Post-museum we started back toward the hotel to clean up for dinner. Halfway back Jillian was drawn into a "hand-made glass" shop/school so we went ornament shopping. As it was a school we took the tour of the kilns while student's worked on various projects. Luckily, there was no tax on the ornament Jillian eventually chose. They were a bit pricey.
Dinner was fantastic. Again, based on TripAdvisor reviews, we went to a place just off of Royal Street called Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar and Bistro. Unlike the previous meal, this one was off the charts good. We sat out on the back patio under umbrellas and strings of Christmas lights. I had rack of lamb and Jillian had a petite angus filet. Once we got back to the hotel, Jillian surprised me with some brownies and ice cream for dessert. A nice way to end the day.
Sunday pretty much revolved around the football game. We got up early to go find some breakfast. As you would expect, nearly every place in town was packed so we ended up eating begniets at a Cafe Du Monde inside the Riverside Mall. We had to check out of the hotel before the game so we parked in a deck near the stadium, which wasn't as much of a nightmare as I had anticipated. Getting inside the stadium was a bit of a headache though as Jillian couldn't bring in a "purse" larger than an index card. After traveling back to the car to change our entrance strategy we walked around the stadium for a while before finding the proper entrance followed by a mile of ramps to our seats. The view was nice after I asked the Saints fans in front of us to sit down. They were the only people in the stadium standing.
The game itself was a blowout. We learned that Saints fans are some of the lousiest fair-weather fans on the planet as half of them were gone by mid-second quarter and nearly all gone by the 4th quarter. There wasn't much excitement during the game other than the rare brawl that took place after a Cam Newton rushing touchdown. It resulted in an ejection... so that was fun.
Getting out of town after the game was painless. Two right turns out of the parking deck and onto the interstate. Overall, a great trip... thanks to my wonderful wife.
Random street performer video from our walk back from dinner Saturday night:
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