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Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler

March 26, 2021 By Becky Wade

I spent last week in New Orleans! While we were there, one of our tour guides mentioned the phrase laissez le bon temps rouler — let the good times roll — which captures the flavor of New Orleans well.

We kicked off our time in New Orleans with a food walking tour of the French Quarter. I’m the trip planner in our family and I’ve had excellent luck finding vacation activities via TripAdvisor’s “Things To Do” section and also AirBnB’s “Experiences” section. Our walking tour turned out to be a great mix of history, sight-seeing, and food.
The French Market
Muffaletta sandwich
Our college girl didn’t have a spring break this year. (Apparently her university didn’t want all the kids going on trips and bringing Covid home as a souvenir.) And our 17 year old son stayed home to play basketball. So it was just me, His Highness, and our 11 year old in New Orleans. She’s the youngest and didn’t mind the undivided attention in the least.
We saw three alligators in the wild on our Honey Island Swamp tour! We also saw snakes, wild boars, lots of birds. And got pelted in the face with rain (which motivated a storm of giggles) as we raced back to the dock.
We were able to spend the better part of a day with reader and writer Rebekah Millet, her husband, and son. It was so kind of them to take time out of their schedule to visit with us. Check out those stunning live oaks!
Our cemetery and Garden District bike tour introduced us to New Orlean’s distinctive cemeteries filled with above-ground tombs as well as a gorgeous neighborhood of old homes.
Shrimp boil! Musicians played jazz for us while we ate.
Animal lover.
St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square.
No visit to New Orleans would be complete without sampling the famous beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe Du Monde. They lived up to the hype! In fact, we found them so delicious, we went back for a second round.
Lighthouse on enormous Lake Pontchartrain

I’m glad I set aside a whole week for our trip! Because we took our time, we were able to explore numerous facets of the city. The history, the food, the music, the architecture, and the melting pot of cultures make New Orleans one of the most unique and intriguing places I’ve ever visited.

Have you been to New Orleans? If so, what sticks out in your memory? Will you be traveling this spring?



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Becky Wade

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Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.
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Comments

  1. Stacy Simmons says

    March 26, 2021 at 4:32 am

    It looks like a wonderful trip, Becky. Happy you and your family got to go. We’re thinking of doing a quick trip to either San Antonio or the beach. ⛱Have a beautiful weekend!

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 9:12 am

      San Antonio or the beach sound like great options!

  2. Joy Tiffany says

    March 26, 2021 at 6:25 am

    I visited New Orleans back in 2007. It hadn’t recovered from Hurricane Katrina two years prior and the devastation was still quite evident. The music though was still everywhere and I enjoyed listening as we strolled from place to place. That’s what sticks in my memory.
    I’m excited to be able to travel with my travel buddies again this year. We’re meeting in a few weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 9:14 am

      Yes to the music. It really is everywhere as you stroll! Street musicians. But also music flowing out open doorways and over the speakers in stores and restaurants.

  3. Karen Witemeyer says

    March 26, 2021 at 7:29 am

    What a fabulous trip, Becky! I’ve never been to New Orleans, but hearing about your trip makes it sounds like a great place to visit. I know I would geek out over all the history there. We don’t have family trips planned yet, but I just got back from a weekend getaway with my college daughter. We had a girl’s trip to Waco where we focused on lots of historical sites and ended it with the new Disney movie, Raya. It was a great weekend. I’m so ready to start traveling again. Like Dr. Seuss said – Oh, the places we’ll go! 🙂

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 9:16 am

      Karen, you would ABSOLUTELY geek out over the history there. I did! I couldn’t believe how many old buildings and old houses remain. Here in Dallas, old homes in wealthy neighborhoods are torn down with regularity. But we explored blocks upon blocks there and all the old houses remain. It’s wonderful!

  4. Angie Quantrell says

    March 26, 2021 at 8:54 am

    I’ve never been! It looks like so much fun. One day…

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 9:16 am

      One day!

  5. Theresa says

    March 26, 2021 at 9:46 am

    Thank you for sharing!! Your lovely pictures brought back many memories: the colors, the history, the music, the food (mostly the food! so incredibly full of flavors I had not experienced before)! I was in New Orleans for a college conference and had recently returned from a study abroad in Europe…I felt I was back there again, only I would look around and see Chevy or Ford pickup trucks…a bit surreal! One favorite memory was stumbling across a Gospel music festival called, “Rejoicin’ in the Park.” Such Joy!
    I do not yet have plans for a Spring trip, but itching to go! Perhaps taking our younger boys (our youngest is 10) to visit their college aged sister who will not make it “home” this summer. Thank you for the inspiration and tour ideas. I’m glad you were able to take your time. My husband is usually “on a mission” so rarely do we have time to savor😉

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 1:28 pm

      “One favorite memory was stumbling across a Gospel music festival called, “Rejoicin’ in the Park.” Such Joy!” That sounds amazing! Sometimes the best memories arise from the things you didn’t plan. 🙂

  6. Perrianne Askew says

    March 26, 2021 at 9:48 am

    Ha ha! I was born across Lake Pontchartrain in the small town of Covington because there was no hospital in my hometown of Mandeville. Boy has all of that changed! The north shore population has really grown. My favorite thing in NOLA is the food, most especially the incredibly fresh seafood. Beignets are awesome and I haven’t had any in many, many years.

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 1:29 pm

      The seafood! That’s what we ate every night for dinner.

  7. Jen says

    March 26, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    Yes, we have been to N.O.
    My husbands aunt lived and worked there so we visited a few times.
    Like you we loved the beignets and walking around the French market.
    Walking along the river bank was another favorite thing to do and when Tante insisted she would watch the children we enjoyed an evening in the French Quarter.
    So glad you had a whole week of that unique place!

    • Becky Wade says

      March 26, 2021 at 1:30 pm

      Loved hearing about your memories! We enjoyed walking along the river bank, too.

  8. JoAnn Durgin says

    March 26, 2021 at 1:58 pm

    Hey Becky! I so enjoyed your photos and hearing about your wonderful trip to New Orleans. The one time I visited was years ago when I was single and working in Dallas. Two of the attorneys in our firm were getting married (the bride was from New Orleans and an alum of Tulane), and my girlfriend and I flew in for a long weekend…in hot, sweltering mid-July. Apart from the humidity, we had a fabulous time. It’s truly a remarkable American city with unparalleled history, cuisine, and culture. I loved poking into the unique shops, and the beignets and pralines were to die for! We enjoyed a memorable Sunday brunch at renowned Brennan’s (sadly, it was destroyed because of Katrina, but I was happy to see just now that it’s reopened!). Jim visited a few years ago when our local university played in one of the bowl games, and we want to go together one day. I’m glad you were able to go with your family, and thanks for sharing!

  9. Betty Strohecker says

    March 26, 2021 at 6:45 pm

    Love the pictures! So glad you had a great time.

  10. Suzanne Sellner says

    March 26, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Yes, I’ve been to New Orleans a couple of times. Once I went just with my husband, and the other time our daughter was with us. At the time, she was probably 12 or so. We loved touring the old section of New Orleans, browsing in shops, having refreshments at Le Cafe du Monde, dining in restaurants or cafes, and learning history lessons. It’s a fascinating place!

  11. Cele LeBlanc says

    March 26, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    On our way home from New Orleans now. We visited with your friend Elizabeth Simmons and her parents, longtime friends of ours.

  12. Teri DiVincenzo says

    March 27, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    It looks like you had a magnificent trip! I got to visit The Big Easy back in high school (pre-Katrina) and loved visiting Cafe du Monde, taking a riverboat dinner cruise, and exploring the above ground cemetery. It has been one of my favorite trips ever! We are not going far this spring, but we do have a brief excursion to Indiana (from Ohio) planned in May now that we will have had our Covid vaccines!

  13. Janice Laird says

    April 10, 2021 at 10:28 am

    How many times can I HEART N’awlins? My son fell in love with the city on a mission trip, which led him to attend Tulane University in Uptown. So yes, we have visited multiple times. Tulane’s commencement ceremonies in the Super Dome make every other college commencement seem pale by comparison. As a writer of WW2-era fiction, my happy place is the National WW2 Museum, although there are so many other places to enjoy. Yes, the seafood is outstanding! My favorite dish is shrimp n’ grits. Do hope you go again! To be honest, your photos make the city appear so sadly empty!

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