Getting the house ready, the dog to the vet, 7 people packed and 1 hedgehog ready was no easy feat, but we did it and even made it to the highschool by 11:30am on the last day to pick up M in time to leave town. Pretty impressive if I say so myself :)
First leg we were getting to Lafayette, Louisiana. Originally we were trying to get to Alexandria, Louisiana but after calling the hotel to confirm rooms and try to make sure we had enough beds, we decided they were rude and we were opted to find a different place to stay. It worked out better because we made it further on our first day then originally planned. We ended up at Drury Inn, which was just fine and the kids liked the free evening buffet, while the adults liked the three free evening cocktails with check-in. We stopped at O'Charleys for dinner (the buffet was not expansive at the hotel), food was fine, the servers were interesting and very friendly. They did whisper about our gluten intolerance though but were very careful about cross contamination which I really appreciated.
The next morning we were up bright and early and on the road by around 9am, we were headed to New Orleans with a pit stop at Bibi's bakery in Lafayette. It was a gluten free bakery we found online and decided to give it a try. They had lots to offer and we all left with something yummy for the road. The owner was very friendly too and is looking to expand, I hope he is able to!
New Orleans is an interesting city, fun to visit, but not really family friendly. It reminds me a little of Vegas, but dirtier. Everyone is trying to sell you something and it has a sketchy vibe. First stop was Cafe Du Monde, a New Orleans Icon. If you visit, you must go here, they have french style donuts (beignets) and coffee. It's very basic but delicious!
The last time we visited was during the month of November so we ordered hot cafe au laits with out beignets, this time it was hot so I ordered an iced one. Still just as good! Don't those beignets look delicious?
The boys waiting for their beignets
Soleil really liked the icing sugar on top the most
After Cafe Du Monde we went for a walk, J and I had a cocktail while walking down the street. Seems so wrong to me, but anything goes in NOLA. I forgot to take a picture of those, they were yummy. I ordered a Louisiana Lemonade (lemonade, vodka and grenadine) and J ordered a Hurricane (vodka, rum and juice). They were nice and refreshing since it was so hot and muggy. The kids tried on some hats along the way. Then we went to find somewhere to eat. Not many family friendly places but we found something that was, uh mediocre.
I forget the name of the restaurant, but they had a table available right way, which for a party of seven including an antsy toddler this was important. J and O ordered the triple sampler which had crispy thin fried catfish, fried gator and fried boudin. They both really liked the catfish and thought the alligator was pretty good, but neither were too keen on the boudin. I tried a small taste of the boudin and I did not like it at all. Guess it's a regional thing.
I ordered a salad after the server told me there is pretty much nothing gluten free on their menu, except for salads and the honey mustard dressing. So I ordered a salad and subbed the honey mustard dressing, it of course came out with the poppy seed dressing but I ate it anyway. I had a bad afternoon of dealing with a sore stomach, I suspect from the salad dressing :/ So if you are gluten free, NOLA is not the place for you. The restaurant was entertaining for S, she enjoyed stabbing daddy in the heart with the sword that was holding her burger together :)
A beautiful view in New Orleans
The hubs and I
walking around was exhausting for Soleil, she crashed pretty much right away.
Next stop was a Griswoldy activity. At one of the rest stops in Mississipi there is a Lunar Lander replica so we had to stop to see it.
Even Mars Bar came out for a visit, some tourist stopped and tried to pet her, it was kind of funny when Mars Bar puffed up and poked her :)
Next stop was Gulf Port, Mississipi and a giant rocking chair. I'm not kidding, it was giant!
We had one more touristy stop to make, it was to Lambert's Cafe in Alabama. We originally saw this place on Food Network (I think) and knew we had to visit. It was a really fun place. I would visit again for sure. J and S didn't bother ordering food, we saw how big the servings were and thought it would be excessive. I am frustrated that I didn't take more pictures, I only have a few so it looks like we will have to visit again sometime so I can get more.
One table had a giant menu to order from LOL
This is M's salad, this picture doesn't do it justice, it was HUGE. The bread bowl was big enough to be a hat!
We made it to Pensacola that night and spent the entire following day driving. We are now in Orlando FL and will be here for a quite a while. Tomorrow is Harry Potter world at Universal Studios. We are a little bit excited.
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