So we went to New Orleans.  We ate Po Boys at Parkway and walked to Pandora’s for snowballs.  We listened to live jazz on Frenchmen and watched people dance in the streets from the balcony at Dat Dog.

We walked to breakfast at Surrey’s Uptown, where some of us (me!) had the best shrimp and grits of their life and on the other end of the table, someone (Courtney!) had the biggest pancake of their life.  We toured Oak Alley with Mint Juleps in our hands.  We boiled 40 pounds of crawfish in the backyard and those of us who knew taught those of us who didn’t, how to peel them like a pro.  We drank beers at Port Orleans and walked to Tipitina’s and just barely missed a Better Than Ezra/Mark McGrath show.

We braved the line at District Donuts and finished eating just as the rain stopped and the sun came out.  We shopped Magazine Street and walked the Garden District, listening to the haunted history of homes too beautiful to believe.  We grabbed single cans at the Craft Beer Cellar and strolled till we happened upon Shaya and had to have hummus and pita.  We ate hushpuppies at Pêche and Ubered to Bourbon Street in a mini van blasting Backstreet Boys.  We drank a 3 gallon Hurricane (not kidding!) at Pat O’Brien’s then ate 7 orders of beignets at midnight.

We drank Mimosas and Bloody Marys at The Ruby Slipper, rode the streetcar into the French Quarter, walked to the French Market, strolled next to the river and ate Creole classics for lunch before picking up our bags and heading to the airport.

So many good memories but that crawfish boil, arranged entirely by my very generous uncle, is a moment I’ll never forget.  Watching my family (Emily came too!) bond with Joey’s family over peeling technique, seeing my mother-in-law bravely try crawfish then successfully peel her own, explaining (several times) that no one was “sucking the brains,” knowing we almost ate all 40 pounds, made my heart very very happy.  Plus, the crawfish, potatoes, sausage, corn, garlic and mushrooms all tasted so good!

Till next time, NOLA ♥