New Orleans: Bucket List

Bucket List Item #15: Visit New Orleans

The best part of this bucket list item is who I got to experience all these things with. Just a month before I was set to leave for Colorado, I got to plan this weekend trip with my older sister. It was so great to have some sisterly bonding time and have four solid days of just the two of us together before I moved. It was such a fantastic trip. We went over Easter weekend, which I would definitely recommend. We got to experience New Orleans with a celebration in the streets. There were Easter day parades as well as a fabulous pride parade. I got hit in the face with so many beads, but I loved every single minute of it. 

There are so many things I loved about NOLA. The culture is so rich and the history is fantastically spooky. We even went on a walking ghost tour to learn some of the stories about brutal murders and the ghosts that allegedly haunt the area. Call me strange, but I really enjoy learning about the history of haunted places… not that I believe in ghosts. We spent a bit of time up and down Bourbon street, but the majority of the street consists of mostly bars and clubs. We preferred the jazz scenes and less crazy Royal street and Decatur street in the French Quarter. I’ve been wanting to go to New Orleans for quite some time and I am happy to confirm that it met all of my expectations. The food is delicious; we had some great jambalaya, red beans and rice, po’ boys, and beignets of course. Oh, I ate so well down there. I think I will definitely find myself back to NOLA someday. Things I would do more of would be checking the best jazz clubs, learning more of the history, being more adventurous in trying new foods, and overall just letting myself get more swept away by the fun energy on Bourbon street.

While my trip is the main bucket list item, I have to include that while in New Orleans, there were five other bucket things I got to cross off. It was a fun packed weekend, that’s for sure! Some things I got to do there:

#125: Try chicken & waffles — yum 🙂

#185: Drink a Bloody Mary — never again, so nasty
#187: Go to a Jazz Club — skip the crappy club music and instead listen to jazz every night in this city. 

#242: Eat a beignet from Café du Monde — try not to have beignets every single day in NOLA and let me know how that goes… look at that face, pure joy

#255: Go to a burlesque show — nothing but class and sophistication.