Visiting New Orleans

I was browsing some pictures about St. Patrick's Parade but, I saw these set of photos in my folder. Well, I promise to post pictures of St. Patrick's parade later but first, let me share these photos. I personally took these pictures in New Orleans during Mardi Gras parade. I noticed that most of the souvenir stores in French Quarter area has this type of display.

It shows the culture in New Orleans. They love music and have a good time. Inside the store, there are plenty of souvenir items to choose from. They also sell voodoo dolls and all those black magic paraphernalia.

During Mardi Gras season, the French Quarter in New Orleans is crowded and the traffic is terrible. This is a fun place but, you should be careful always. Do not wander the streets at night! The food is delicious and affordable. The Southern Cuisine is always good you know.

There are so many hotels and few casinos in the area. My personal favorite is the Harrah's Hotel and Casino because I love the location. It is near the mall and the French Quarter area. Their buffet has a wide selection of great tasting food and very affordable too.

This is just one of the streets in New Orleans. We were heading to Harrah's for lunch before we head back home. Anyway, I miss going to New Orleans. In few weeks, we will be moving to Mississippi so; the thought of visiting this place again is what I look forward to.

A Visit to French Quarter in New Orleans

French Quarter in New Orleans is just an hour drive from our place in Mississippi. When hubby and I craved for beignet in Cafe' du Monde, we just hit the road and visit French Quarter. My husband loves the coffee in Cafe' du Monde because it has that great aroma and a Southern taste.

This is Cafe' du Monde along the French Quarter. If you are a tourist, you should not miss this place.

This is one of the streets in New Orleans.

French Quarter is a busy place especially in Mardi Gras season. If you love the crowd and party on the streets then, visit this place on Mardi Gras, Christmas and New Year. The streets here will transform into a party zone.

Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, the King of France

Here we are at the St. Louis Cathedral or  Cathédrale Saint-Louis, Roi de France where the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in New Orleans is located. Known as the oldest and continuously operating cathedral in the United States.

Saint Louis Cathedral is located in French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River. We are actually in the Jackson Square, a historic park in the French Quarter. This park was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Aside from Cafe' du Monde and French Market, you should also check out the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square if you plan to visit New Orleans.

Silver Mime in New Orleans

When we live in Mississippi, my husband and I would go to New Orleans and hang out in Cafe' du Monde for a good coffee break. Then, we stroll down the French Quarter and silver mime like the picture below is everywhere in the area. At first glance, you would think that they are statues. When you look at them again, you will realized that they are street performers. I would say, they are really good in their profession.They do not beg money but, you are urge to give a donation hehehe. That is their way of living so; be kind to them if you happen to see them in the streets. If you travel to Louisiana, your visit will only be completed if you take the time to check out French Quarter which is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. Plan a travel to Louisiana any time soon. If you love crowded places, visit New Orleans on Mardi Gras season. Party, fun, music, dancing and parades are overwhelming. Check it out.

The Streets of French Quarter

Have you heard about the famous place in Louisiana called French Quarter? The pictures below were taken at French Quarter area! The first photo is located at the front of the Catholic Church. There's benches and people just sat there to unwind. Some are tourists but, most of the people who sit here are locals who do their living as card and palm readers. You will also see some street performers and musicians.This sight is normal, street musicians will play their music and hoping you would give them some dollars too.Bourbon is a famous street in the French Quarter and most of the buildings in the area looks like this. They are preserved by the city because this is a historic place.
Inside of these building were mostly voodoo stores, bars, antique stores, restaurants and clothing stores.
These buildings are as old as the neighborhood itself. French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, dated back in 1718.
This is a fun place and very crowded during Mardi Gras Season. If you love huge crowd, visit this place when they have Mardi Gras Parade and you will truly amazed. Not every place here is good so, just take extra precaution. Park your car in a safe garage, there are so many beggars and street wanderers especially after sundown.

Cafe Du Monde at New Orleans

The original place for beignets, is right here in New Orleans, Louisiana: Cafe du Monde. A beignet is a deep fried dough and sprinkled with powdered sugar. It is like a doughnut or a pastry but, the unique taste of it makes it so original from this place.

If you happen to visit New Orleans, make sure you dine in at Cafe Du Monde. Buy the coffee and take out a beignet to eat later that night. Make sure you separate the powdered sugar from the beignet or else, it will be soggy in few hours.

New Orleans Address Plaques

New Orleans is a place which is full of charm and history. The famous French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Cafe Du Monde and French Market that has vendors with voodooo stuff, you will see them all in this place. My visit to Cafe Du Monde brings me to a wonderful experience knowing the history of this place.

You will see this sign right next to Cafe Du Monde, my favorite place to buy beignets. Check it out if you plan to visit Boubon Street in New Orleans.

At French Quarter

Showing you a couple on the streets of French Quarter in New Orleans. This is in the Charters Street nearby the Catholic Church in the area of Jackson Square.The French Quarter is located in New Orleans Louisiana where you can find the many historical building way back in 1784. You will see Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, famous restaurants and hotels. I love coming back to this place, you should check it out!

Pirate's Alley Cafe

When we live in Mississippi, travelling to New Orleans is just an hour away. When hubby and I gets bored, we just go to Bourbon Street and stay a couple of hours to unwind. I love to travel and take pictures of just anything that's interesting.

The logo designs in the restaurants, bars and in the gift shop stores are truly awesome! They are the work of art and you will admire each unique style. They vary in sizes, themes and wonderful color scheme. The picture above is one of the beautiful signs that I like. This area play vital role in history.

Pirates Alley is the reputed meeting place of the Lafitte’s and Andrew Jackson in 1814 where they formed an alliance and planned the successful defeat of the British at the Battle of New Orleans. They say that there are spirits here! The souls from people who lived and died in these streets that they refuse to hide in the dusty ruins of the past. Amazing ghost story? It's up to you to believe it or not!

Mc Donald's I Love

Back in the Philippines, Mc Donald's is one of my favorite fast food chains. I love the taste of their crunchy fried chicken and the tasty cooler goodies! I also love to collect their kid pack collectibles. I am still a child at heart by then, LOL! Right now, I am so over with the fun of collecting for myself but, I do buy them for my niece and nephews.

This is the McDonald's near Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. I was just attracted to take the picture because when I stand in this angle, the tree is right at the middle, LOL! Just a shallow fascination (wink)!

Oil Spill in Louisiana

This is what happened to Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig built in 2001 operating in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coast of Louisiana. The oil rig had a sudden explosion on April 20, 2010 and discharging up to 5,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

-source:foreignpolicy.com

Today, we drove by the beach and we smell crude oil moving to the area of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The smell is so strong in our area and much more on the beach. This could result into an environmental disaster if the crude oil reach the Gulf coast. It could damage the eco- system, the Gulf coast fishing industry and of course the habitat of hundreds of bird species like seagulls, pelicans and ducks. I just hope that the clean up process in the Louisiana area will be fast enough to keep this threat away from our shoreline. Deepwater Horizon sank at the bottom of the sea after 2 days of the explosion.

A Day in French Quarter

One of the major sights in French Quarter is this ride. We did not take advantage of this ride because we have certain stops in our itenerary.This is a French style building and is common in the street of New Orleans.While I was in the Philippines, I was watching Food Network and featured Cafe du Monde's famous coffee and beignet. This is the place and I love the food because it taste like "Butchi and Siakoy" Filipino delicacy.These buildings are not houses. These are bars, restaurants and special stores. The sidewalks are jampack with tourists.The mime on the streets. I really do not how they look so perfect. You can not even recognize if they are breathing, lol.We really had a wonderful time there. It was my fourth time and yet I so love every visit that I had.

Buffet in Harrah's Hotel in New Orleans

February 8 is a memorable day for me because we went to New Orleans to be in the crowd welcoming the NFL SAINTS team as the Champion of Superbowl LXIV. I am a big fan you know. There were 80,000 people in New Orleans that day and the parade started early evening. It was fun and since we arrived at 1PM, we had time to wander the streets of New Orleans. It was freezing cold walking on the streets and the people were wrapped up and some even have a blanket with them. Nobody cares because everyone does anyway. We stopped at Harrah's Hotel and Casino because the wind was blowing so hard and besides, we were hungry.

The food selection in the buffet were plenty even if we came in late at almost three in the afternoon. The people we met everywhere were friendly. We happen to meet a family who loves BOOMTOWN casino buffet in Mississippi too, my workplace.

These are the food choices that I had eaten. If only I can take pictures of the food display but, it is not really allowed as what I knew of. If you are in the casino area, no taking pictures and that's the rule.

We had a good time with our meals. On this day, Harrah's giving a 50% discount of the buffet and we only pay $23 plus tax. It was worth the money and the ambiance where we were seated was awesome. They open the function room for the elite because the dining buffet area was already crowded.

The corn that you see on my plate look like the "binake" LOL. The taste is nowhere near it. This is spicy. The binake is sweet and creamy and the smell is good and tempting. I saw other guests love it though.

The clams are my favorite and I ate so much.

Look at the salad, delicious huh? The food selection in the buffet was really great. We stayed in the casino for almost three hours. We played few of the slot machines and we didn't win, LOL.

Here is what I like in that function room, the art on the ceiling. The cloud painting was amazing.

Here I am, desperate to take a picture of the people around us using my smartphone.

Just showing you the elegant ambiance of this area. Beautiful isn't it? This casino/hotel is the sister company of THE GRAND CASINO in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Saint Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

These pictures were taken at Jackson Square at New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the famous Saint Louis Cathedral and accross this church is where you can find the famous Cafe' du Monde.

The woman seated with a big umbrella at the middle of the street is a card reader. They are locals who make a living with this palm/card reading. The other men shown with drums and saxophones were local artists that entertains tourists. They sang good and some tourists gave them something too.

This church was built in 1789 but completed in 1850. A Renaissance and Spanish Colonial Architectural designs and visited by Pope John Paul II in September 1987. It felt so good that I had the chance to visit this Catholic Church also. The inside design is so grand. I will try to post the video next time.

Just a plaque on the wall inside the church showing the history of Saint Louis Cathedral.

Traveling A Bit

These pictures were taken a year ago while we travel from one place to another. I just took four of those and share it here. We are in a Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida attending a Wedding. This is my second day in the US. A nice party during reception and they welcome me. West Palm Beach is a very gorgeous place in Florida.

The next picture was taken in Louisiana, New Orleans. This is the famous Saint Louis Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. This is known to be the oldest Cathedral in the US that is continously operating since 1718,1793 and expanded in 1850. We are standing the Jackson Square facing the Mississippi River.

This is the conveyor for crawfish. Awesome! A store in Gulfport, Mississippi known to be the supplier of crawfish and shrimp. If it is a shrimping season, expect that this place sell them for less. The owner invite us to eat as much as we can eat for FREE.LOL. When we go back to Florida, we bought 20lbs for $22.00. Off season, it is $4.50 /pound.

This is the original Cafe' du Monde in the French Quarter Area. This is one of the places that I am dying to visit. The first time that I saw this place was in Food Network Channel while I was in the Philippines. I was influenced by my favorite chef's Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Ina Garten, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay and many more. Influenced by the restaurants they featured. Well, I love the French Quarter in New Orleans.

French Quarter

The oldest and most famous part of New Orleans is the French Quarter. This is the place where Geraldo Rivera took his live reporting on Storm Gustav for Fox News Channel. He had the clever idea of choosing this place as the safest place to take refuge if Gustav becomes worst. He is right indeed! After all, French Quarter existed since 1718 and it stood strong as time passes.

Cafe Du Monde In New Orleans

I always love watching Lifestyle Network when I was in the Philippines because of the cooking show. Cafe' du Monde in New Orleans was featured in one of the shows. I was intrigued by the food they call Beignets and made a wish that i will gonna go there and eat. I was able to convinced my husband to go to New Orleans and see Cafe'du Monde in French Quarter. This food reminded me of the "siakoy" which my neighbor sells every merienda time.LOL! It is just an ordinary snack for ordinary Filipino. Though siakoy is presented in a twisted shape , beignets on the other hand is like square shape and is soft and served with sprinkled sugar at the top. What an experienced! They should come to the Philippines too and try our Siakoy, right?