We started our day with a walk to breakfast. We convinced the kids to eat somewhere other than Ruby Slipper, so we got to see some new streets on our way to the Cafe Fleur-de-Lis. We played a round of coup while waiting for our food. Below you can see the face River makes to cover for the fact that he has no poker face.
The food was good, although the kids prefer Ruby Slipper. Liam got a seafood omelet, and River and I shared a huge plate of biscuits and gravy.
On our walk back toward the hotel, we stopped to shop for a mask to take home as a souvenir. The masks were works of art, and it was hard to choose.
We dropped the kids at the hotel and went to the time share presentation that was the reason we got our hotel for free. We listened to their pitch, then left. The kids enjoyed some down time in the hotel. After we were free, we walked to Jackson square, checked out an artist’s coop, and hung out under an incredible tree. The day was hot and sticky.
We decided to cool off and spend the hottest part of the afternoon at the Audubon Society’s Insectarium.
The exhibits were very well done, and we were stunned by some of the facts we learned. Liam really enjoyed using Seek to identify the bugs.
They had a cafe where you could eat some food made with insects – also known as the protein of the future.
The butterfly exhibit was really fun, with way more butterflies than we have seen before. Liam and Willow each had a butterfly land on them, and Liam’s stayed for a really long time.
We walked a TON in New Orleans, and we also really loved taking the streetcar.
After a short siesta at the hotel, we headed to Napoleon House for dinner, a restaurant recommended by the tour guide we would be meeting after dinner. The food was unbelievably good, even by New Orleans standards. By now, everyone has their favorite dishes, and Liam ordered Jambalaya, while River had red beans and rice.
We met our guide, Leann, by the river for our tour. She started with some background information about the history of the city as we made our way to Cafe du Monde. It’s the most famous place for beignets in New Orleans. Liam got his tea hot so he could dip the beignets. We learned that they still serve their coffee part chicory to commemorate the time when that was all they could get.
Our haunted New Orleans tour was a little different from many. We learned about the things that happened in different spots that led to people believing that it was haunted, so it was really more of a history tour with a haunted twist. It was really engaging, and spooky to see the fireplace that they used to put people in, and the alley that is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the twenty people who were hung from chains in it.
