I was awake around 7, NOLA time. Yup, that’s less than 6 hours of sleep. I tried to go back to sleep, but I think I was just running on adrenaline.
I noticed pretty quickly that this hotel was impressively quiet. Remember, it’s directly across the street from the airport. I could hear planes taking off, but the soundproofing was such that it sounded more like nearby showers being turned on, rather than full force jet engines.
Nick woke up relatively early too, so we were on our way down to breakfast by 8:30. When we got in the elevator, we saw this gem, and immediately liked this hotel even more. Absolutely powdered sugar on beignets is the best kind of snow!
Breakfast was a typical hotel breakfast buffet. It’s not complimentary, but for us it was because of the gold status that goes with my Hilton Amex. The host was also the person fetching beverages, and he was very friendly, without being too friendly for the morning. Breakfast was good, and quick.
After finishing breakfast, I had to take a few pictures around the lobby.
Picture taking done, we went upstairs to pack. This was a very quick process, and pretty soon we were ready to check out. As we got ready to go downstairs, we decided to request an Uber, thinking it’d be a few minutes. Actually, the Uber, driven by Danyelle, would be there in 2. Oops!
We went downstairs, checked out, and headed outside, where Danyelle was waiting for us. This was our first ever Uber trip. Remember how I described how rural my school district is? The town I live in is only slightly less rural. So we were a little hesitant, but there’s a first time for everything right?
Danyelle was a good Uber driver, and what a difference from taking a cab from the airport. It was a very pleasant ride to our next hotel, the Hampton Inn Downtown/French Quarter. She dropped us off at the curb there about 20 minutes after picking us up at the airport hotel.
Would we stay at the HIlton New Orleans Airport again? Without hesitation. Very convenient hotel, very clean, and newly renovated. Definitely a good spot to crash after a late flight or before an early morning flight. The price was really reasonable too.
So...we arrived at the Hampton Inn Downtown. Now, it had been 36 degrees when we woke up, but it had quickly reached 50, and was heading for the mid 60s. The valet/security guy that greeted us as we entered the lobby was wearing one of those face masks that we don’t usually wear until it’s at least 10 below.
Chuckling, we headed for the check in desk. We knew full well that we were unlikely to be able to get into a room at 9:30 in the morning. Cassidy did try though, and when she came up with no ready rooms, she did the brunt of the check in process, and got valet to store our bags, so that all we would need to do later in the day would be pick up our luggage and room keys. She also took a few minutes to give us some restaurant recommendations. Cassidy was probably younger than we are, but she was quintessential southern hospitality. She even offered us an elevator key if we wanted access to breakfast before we headed out for the day. We declined, but greatly appreciated the offer.
Luggage stored, we headed out for a day of touristing. Our hotel was a couple blocks off Canal Street, and everything we were going to first was along Canal Street. At this hour of the morning, Canal Street was quite scenic.
Our first stop was pretty close by. Remember that list of Christmas must-sees? The Sheraton on Canal Street was one of them for the gingerbread Jackson Square. We had fun checking out the lobby, despite the poor lighting for taking a picture of the gingerbread creation, and we got a good chuckle out of Papa Noel’s boat being pulled by gators.
Christmasing complete for the time being, we continued walking toward the river, enjoying the beautiful day, and taking some pictures along the way. I have a little bit of an obsession with palm trees.
As we passed Harrah’s, we saw a NOLA 300 sign, which reminded me that 2018 is the tricentennial for this amazing city. We stopped for pictures.
From Harrah’s it was a VERY quick walk to the aquarium, our next destination. We got there a couple of minutes before its 10 am opening, so we did a bit of picture taking and found a bench to watch the activity on the Mississippi, including the Carnival Triumph sailing by. I’m such a snob, but I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t sure which was grosser in appearance: the river, or the exterior of the ship. Maintenance!
Once we’d gotten our temporary fill of the sunshine, we headed for the entrance. And were immediately directed to stop for pictures in front of a green screen. As it turns out, they turned out pretty good, by our standards.
We really enjoyed the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. It was VERY well done. The animal exhibits were great, and the beach trash artwork was powerful. The employees were excellent as well. Very friendly and educational. This one isn’t as awe-inspiring as the Georgia Aquarium, but it’s VERY good. Definitely recommend a visit.
Once we were done with the aquarium, we walked a few blocks to Mother’s for lunch. I was hoping that since it was not yet 11:30, we’d be able to get in easily. I’d heard a lot about this place.
We got there and found quite a line outside the door to the restaurant. While we were trying to decide what to do, the overwhelmingly good smells from the kitchen began reaching us. We decided to suck it up and get in line. Actually Nick decided. And just after we got in line, it moved. Turns out they would let about 20+ people in at a time, to line up inside, where you order at the counter. We were inside in less than 20 minutes.
Mother’s was totally worth the wait. This is a place that’s been in New Orleans since 1938. It’s gotten quite a bit bigger over the years, in terms of seating area, but it’s pretty much everything we imagined a New Orleans restaurant to be. Loud, friendly employees, little place, some food prep in front of you while you stand in line. And AMAZING food.
After ordering at the counter, we found a place to sit. A server came along pretty quickly, introduced herself, and took our receipt to get our food. She was back with our order within 5 minutes.
I had the Famous Ferdi Special, a po’boy (sub) with ham, roast beef, and “debris”. In theory, debris is the bits of beef that fall in the pan when cooking, in au jus. Now, with the quantity that they’re cranking out here, we suspect it might be supplemented a bit, but whatever. It was delicious! Nick had grits and debris for his meal.
We did not leave Mother’s hungry. Our only disappointment was that we didn’t go here on our previous trip!
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