New Orleans is a fun stop for some great grub, fun fitness classes and a ton of great places to walk. My friend Felicia and I decided to do go midweek and spend the weekend there. We tried workout classes, some amazing food and did a ton of tours and touristy attractions.
Where to stay:
French Market Inn (509 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA)
Conveniently located in the French Quarter, The French Market Inn offered a clean and relaxing getaway from the hype of the constant party that is New Orleans. Within walking distance to Cafe Du Monde, Bourbon Street, House of Blues, Riverwalk, St. Louis Cathedral and the French Quarter’s renown’s restaurants. It was clean and the staff was friendly.
We, unfortunately, were staying during a boil water advisory but the staff was great! They had free bottled water and helped us navigate closed restaurants. 10/10 highly recommend.
Where to Eat:
How could I go to New Orleans and not tell you about all the food I ate? We tried a bunch of different restaurants. From Creole to Vietnamese, we had some great culinary adventures!
Envie Espresso Bar and Cafe (308 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA & 1241 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA)
Envie is a great coffee place where you can grab a quick breakfast before you head out for the day. There are two locations on Decatur St, so it is highly likely you will be close to one.
I ordered a chai tea latte (of course) and lox on a bagel (am I predictable or what?). The tea was phenomenal and the bagel was super filling. I liked that they had fruit that I could pop in my bag for later, too!
St. James Cheese Company (641 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA & 5004 Prytania St., New Orleans, LA)
CHEESE COMPANY! Let me repeat that for you…CHEESE COMPANY! This place was amazing! I ordered the Gruyere sandwich. It has caramelized onion confit and gruyere cheese grilled on wild flour multigrain bread with prosciutto. The sandwich was gooey and salty with the hints of the caramelized onions.
Felicia and I split a manchego salad with arugula, sliced pears, and almonds with housemade quince vinaigrette. The sweetness of the pears paired extremely well with the salad.
Cafe Du Monde (800 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA)
If you go to New Orleans and didn’t get beignets, did you even go to New Orleans? It doesn’t get more quintessential Nola than beignets and these do not disappoint. They were fluffy and sugary and basically heavenly. I can honestly say that I would weigh about 54358 pounds if I lived closer.
If you are looking for souvenirs, there is a small gift shop with a bunch of Cafe De Monde merchandise including their famous beignet mix 🙂 I got some magnets and sweatshirts for my friends and family.
Lilly’s Cafe (1813 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA)
I know what you’re thinking – why did I get Vietnamese food when I was in Nola? Don’t judge! It was honestly the best Vietnamese food I have ever had.
We both ordered chicken pho and it was incredibly flavorful with moist chicken and had a nice variety of vegetables including bok choy. We also ordered fresh rolls and a Vietnamese Po’boy. The fresh rolls had shrimp and avocado and were phenomenal. The star of the show, though, was the Vietnamese Po’boy which is a crispy French roll with French butter, pickled carrots and daikons, beef, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeños.
Note: the YELP review says temporarily closed but it is very open and very good!
Original Pierre Maspero’s (440 Chartres St., New Orleans, LA)
We needed some hometown New Orleans favorites on this trip! We ordered the shrimp Po’boy and the present city sampler.
The Present City Sampler has a sampling of the city’s best dishes – Cajun jambalaya, crawfish Ă©touffĂ©e and chicken and andouille gumbo. The jambalaya was spicy and really flavorful. It was my favorite of the sampling dishes. The Ă©touffĂ©e and gumbo were good and I am glad that I tried them.
The shrimp Po’boy was really good and I would highly recommend it. It was well balanced with lettuce and mayo. It was simple and delicious!
Brennan’s (417 Royal St., New Orleans, LA)
If you’re feeling fancy, put on your high heels and get your butt over to Brennan’s! Before I headed to Nola, I asked some of my friends for recommendations and this was by far the best! The decor was really funky and very instagrammable 🙂
I ordered a sparkling watermelon (Louisiana watermelon and sparkling wine), roasted gulf oysters, artisanal eggs Benedict, and Bananas Foster (which was made right at the table!).
Everything was PHENOMENAL! The star of the meal was the roasted gulf oysters. They are roasted oysters with smoked chili butter and manchego crust. They were smokey, buttery, and perfectly salty with a nice crunchy layer. I could have ordered 10 more orders and eaten them for the rest of my life. They have been added to my death row meal.
The second place trophy goes to the Bananas Foster. The Bananas Foster has butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, rum, and bananas served over vanilla ice cream. It tastes like caramelized bananas over ice cream and it was to die for! It was sweet due to the caramel but the banana added some balance so that it wasn’t too sweet.
The eggs Benedict was perfectly cooked and rounded out a phenomenal meal!
Cafe Amelie (912 Royal Street)
If you’re looking for a nice place to eat outside and get some fresh brunch on the weekend, go to Cafe Amelie! I do recommend making reservations as the place gets packed very quickly.
We ordered the cafe breakfast sandwich, the Amelie muffuletta, and a starter of the burrata and crostini. The breakfast sandwich has eggs, ham, tomato, mayo, and cheese on ciabatta and is served with a green salad. The egg was fluffy, the ham was smokey and perfectly seasoned. It was well rounded out by the tomato and mayo which added a freshness. The Amelie muffuletta consisted of warm Italian meats and cheeses with chilled olive salad on ciabatta. The olive salad added a salty accompaniment to the warm cheese and meats. The burrata added a nice buttery element to the meal.
Where to get your sweat on:
As part of a promise to myself, I want to incorporate fitness into every vacation. I had to run a few miles in the morning to keep up with my half marathon training but also wanted to incorporate some fun cross training. I really want to thank Felicia here for letting me drag her to these classes. She was a really great sport and we had a blast.
Awakenings Pole Dance Fitness (1405 Canal St., New Orleans, LA)
This was definitely out of my comfort zone but I had a blast. We tried to do an aerial yoga class but ended up doing aerial core and I was sore for at least two days after.
The people in the class were really encouraging and the instructor made sure to check in with everyone and adjust positions to each person’s ability levels. I even learned how to hang upside-down! (see video on my instagram).
City Surf Fitness (5927 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA)
This was another challenging class and like nothing I had ever done before. We got a full body workout and danced to a bunch of 90s throwback music. There was a lot of jumping and squatting while trying to balance. It’s one of those workouts that you know that if you did it every day, you would be soooo fit!
The studio is well set up with mirrors all over the place so that you can easily see the instructor. There is really cool water themeD graffiti on the walls and their merchandise is great! I would highly recommend this workout.
Tour Cycle Studio (860 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA)
Spin classes can be hit or miss. This class was definitely a hit! The instructor was the best spin instructor I have ever had. Shout out to Brianna! She was comprehensive, easy to follow, upbeat, and encouraging. Literally, all you could ever ask for. She talked to us a bit after the class, too, and was the sweetest. If you happen to go to Tour, try to book a class with her!
What to Do:
With a wide variety of tours that are all free (do tip the guide though), there is always something for everyone. We booked three great tours: the Voodoo Tour, the Garden District Tour, and the Ghost Tour.
The Voodoo Tour started in Louis Armstrong Park and discussed the integration of African religions of the slaves with those of the slave owners. Our guide practiced voodoo and was very insightful about the New Orleans history of voodoo. She talked about prominent practices and how women take a large role in voodoo religions.
She walked at a good pace so that all of us could keep up with her. She was great with all of the questions and tried to give as much historical context as possible. You could really tell that she enjoyed history and voodoo practices. She ended the tour at a voodoo store and helped those with questions.
The Garden District Tour was super fun! We walked through cemeteries, past the house where they filmed Benjamin Button and the home where the Manning Brothers grew up. The tour guide was a hoot! She was really sarcastic and kept things interesting. Like the tour guide for the Voodoo tour, she was incredibly knowledgeable and gave great historical context. She also does independent research on home prices to give you an idea of the area that she is touring.
The Ghost Tour took place at night and was much better than I had expected. She wasn’t speaking about a lot of the folklore but rather the plagues, ghost activity/sightings, and the serial killers. She even walked us by the house that was featured in an American Horror Story episode entitled “The Covenant”. During the tour, she talked all about the fires in New Orleans and even how each area was affected by Katrina.
She walked us past a pharmacy museum and we ended up going the next day! It was really cool to see all the old instruments and prescriptions.
OVERALL – I would highly recommend doing all of these tours. The guides were phenomenal and the tours were a blast. They were great for all ages and offered a cool look into New Orleans history.
Laura Plantation (2247 Highway 18, Vacherie, LA)
I have to say that I was uncomfortable with the idea of visiting a plantation. I wanted to make sure that the history was not whitewashed and this plantation tour was truly outstanding. Our tour guide focused on the lives of the slave-owning family as well as the lives of the slaves. She discussed each slave-owning family members’Â relationship to the slaves and how some were vehement supporters of slavery and how others tried to be friends with the slaves.
One of the best things on the tour for me was when the tour guide discussed life on the plantation after the emancipation of the slaves. She discussed how African Americans were exploited and still worked the fields even 40 years ago.
I honestly think that this tour should be mandatory viewing when going to New Orleans and really gave me more insight into this time than I had ever received living in the North.
Gallier House (1132 Royal Street)
The Gallier House showed city living. The tour guide showed us how rooms were designed to be versatile and kept up with the incredibly warm summers in New Orleans. He knew a ton about architecture and showed us how the home was restored. It was a great attraction that was indoors and allowed for close up looks at furniture and period pieces.
Is there anything that I missed? If so, let me know in the comments. Also, if you happen to take any of my recommendations, let me know what you thought!
Until next time!
The Balanced Academic 