new orleans – Whitneybearr

So my husband and I have talked about traveling the US for a couple years now, we haven’t really left the coasts. It was a random Saturday at 10pm and I was looking at New Orleans and I fell in love. The buildings looked incredible and I could already taste the food. I was so ready to go! I excitedly showed Oliver my phone and told him how exciting it would be to just book a flight and hotel right now. On the spot, late at night, no sleeping on it, just doing it. It would be so fun, we’ve never done anything like this before!

He surprisingly agreed! We booked it right away as there were only 2 seats left, I emailed work that I would be out 1 day and called the mom in law to watch the pups. We were going!

When we arrived it was the time between afternoon and evening, almost the calm before the storm (especially here, little did we know!) The air was hot and sticky, but it felt good as LA had been so cloudy, I finally got a taste of summer. Oliver and I are not big on drinking so our Uber Driver and the guy checking us in at the Ace Hotel were generally confused.

We walked out the door of the hotel, off to explore, and I wanted my first stop to be Cafe Du Monde. As we were walking, I kept thinking in my head “Did I not do enough research?” and “Is this going to be like Vegas?” Boy, was I wrong. The walk was incredible! We got a little lost and confused but when we finally got to Cafe Du Monde I was in heaven! We each got our own plate of beignets, Oliver got Frozen Au Lait (basically a coffee & milk slushie) and I got a Hot Au Lait. We definitely only needed one plate of beignets because they were HUGE, but of course I love sweets and I had just walked a couple miles so I shoved them down. The coffee has a strong chicory flavor but it was a nice compliment to the beignets and made the whole experience pretty delicious. I was definitely sweating with the heat so I promised myself next time I would get the frozen drink.

We kept walking and walking and ended up on Bourbon Street. Everyone had warned us that it smelled like alcohol and barf and to only spend 10 minutes (which is pretty true) but we love a challenge so we walked the whole street. It was so lively and exciting we couldn’t stop looking around. You have to go just to say you did.

We got back to the hotel late, but having only had beignets, we needed some real food. We popped into Josephine Estelle inside the hotel and smelling the amazing smells, I was so excited to order. I got a delicious truffle pasta and Oliver ordered Cacio e Pepe. Such a yummy way to end the night.

Right after we booked our flight, we made a reservation for breakfast at Brennan’s on Royal St. You NEED to come here. We were here for a couple hours overall, but the whole breakfast was amazing. Obviously a bright pink building tickles my fancy but when I walked inside the decor was insane. So gorgeous!

I ordered a coffee and the french toast, it was a long bread covered in powdered sugar (that seemed to be the theme of the trip!) and since it was Oliver’s birthday, they brought him a giant cotton candy at the end with ice cream birthday cake in the middle.

When you’re done and full of all the goodness at Brennan’s don’t forget to take a picture out front, the building is really the cutest.

I definitely suggest bringing breezy and airy pieces during the summer like this Spell Dress, I was sweating the whole time and wished I had this dress in every color so I could wear it every single day of the trip.

After breakfast we were hyped that it was our first day so we walked everywhere. Seriously, we walked 14 miles a day (bring your walking shoes!) On Royal St. there are gorgeous antique shops, nothing I can afford but fun to look at. I mean, $90,000 crystal chandeliers and $40,000 fireplace mantles, c’mon.

I couldn’t stop looking up!

We went back to the hotel late and being hungry again, we looked around for food. Right next to our hotel was Balise. We ate so good that night and the drinks were nice too.

I also wore this cute Faithfull the Brand Dress to dinner, another breezy piece to keep me from sweating and it hid my food baby pretty well after dinner!

The next morning, per recommendation of our Uber Driver, we went to Willa Jean, also down the street from our hotel. I had been starting at their cookie dough and milk situation on Yelp for the past couple days but after eating more powdered sugar than my body could handle, I opted for Avocado toast.

I also wore these Show Me Your Mumu overalls to breakfast because they were roomy, but before we headed out for the day I definitely changed again into something even more breezy.

We decided after to breakfast to take the street car to the Garden District. I would highly suggest the street car! It’s $1.25 per ride or $3 for a day pass. Prepping for the heat of walking around, I threw on this Heartloom dress and braided my hair. No way was i dealing with that nest today.

When we got there, we kind of looked at each other like “Uhm, what do we do here?” Everyone was either walking with a guided tour and in a van in a guided tour. We kind of liked the freedom, stopped on a corner, and opened up a walking tour online. We saw the coolest houses, even one that was the inspiration for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Apparently Walt Disney was fascinated with New Orleans. That makes two of us.

Every tree had massive blooms and every house was beautiful, dating back so far in time but still standing in all of its glory.

We were definitely exhausted after this walk and ended up taking an uber back to the hotel, it was another 14 mile day!

I really wanted to check out the pool and grab some frosé to quench my thirst of course. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing pool but it was entertaining for sure. We weren’t there to swim so I decided to just kick back in my dress and enjoy my drink.

I wore an Urban Outfitters Dress which was in a linen like fabric and was super comfortable. I swear I changed like 3 days everyday! Bring lots of clothes to switch out or you’ll need to wash, the heat and sweat was no joke.

On the round sofa situation, Oliver and I talked about doing something crazy! He decided to get a tattoo. We made reservations at this lovely place called Cane & Table, but ended up cancelling because a tattoo of course. It was so fun because this was such a spur of the moment trip so why not do spontaneous things too.

The tattoo was a quick process so we ended up walking and walking until we got hungry. Not knowing exactly where we were, we looked up and there was the sign for Cane & Table!! Crazy coincidence, but we walked in buzzing about where we ended up and they were able to still seat us in the outside patio.

The restaurant was oozing tropical vibes and felt like we were somewhere else. The building was so cool and we were so excited to try the food and drinks. After we ate (a steak covered in an avocado salsa) we were frothing about how that was the best steak we’ve ever had! The portion was huge so we definitely shared. I love when you can smile so big after a meal! Yum!

We then walked around forever and finally caught an uber back to the hotel.

I wore a Beachgold Jumpsuit similar to this.

Our last morning, we woke up and headed down to Stumptown Coffee, inside the hotel and had lattes and talked about our amazing trip. We were leaving soon so we went up to the rooftop and enjoyed the last views by the pool.