To all travel lovers out there! Valentine’s Day is coming up, which got me thinking, if I were to pick a destination for the occasion, where would we go? There’s no shortage of good ideas. Paris, anyone? We are, however, focusing on US travel, for the moment. I mean, how cool is it to experience all 50 states, and to do it as a family?!
Whenever traveling to a new destination, it’s pretty common to look up ” what’s the best time to visit?” But, realistically, can we base our timeline on that? We have work, families, commitments, and responsibilities, so going to Louisiana from March – May or October – November, as is recommended by Google, was not on our schedule. We had a few days in August, and as is our tradition for the last 5 years, we jumped on a red eye straight from our son’s birthday party onto a new family adventure!
We spent 4 days in Louisiana, our 19th state on the 50 state journey! While most of the time was in New Orleans, we did venture out to the capital, Baton Rouge, for a day trip.
Interior design enthusiasts, you are going to love this – we lived in a British Retro eclectic dream of a space, Virgin Hotel, in the Warehouse District, minutes away from the historic French Quarter, ironically all Spanish architecture, and steps away from the best coffee shop and chocolate cookies in town – Willa Jean cafe. If something a little more nutritious is in order, head across the street to The Daily Beet for a fortifying breakfast of lunch (their menu is in our kitchen for daily combo inspirations)!
Roam the sultry French Quarter full of restaurants and historical sights. We loved a Walking Tour because it paints a picture of the past in the way you cannot get from a paper guide. Now for extra flavor, take a Ghost Tour- all the history, but with mystery, drama and suspense, and actually, pretty cool for older kids, it’s not too spooky and really memorable.
A restaurant not to be missed in the area – Sylvain. They make charred cabbage a delicacy and I am still dreaming of that out-of-this- world short rib!
Jazz clubs! Frenchmen street is lined with bar after bar with live music spilling into the streets. Make a night of it. If you are traveling with kids, some clubs allow kids up to a certain hour!
There is enough to see and do for a week – see the iron work of historic mansions in Garden District, shop your heart out on Magazine Street, or spend hours taking in nature in one of the biggest parks in US, New Orleans City Park.
If you have a few days, take a day trip the capital. Baton Rouge’s original Capital building is nothing short of a fairytale medieval castle, its a sight to see, and on the way, drive through a picturesque Oak Alley Plantation.
This is how we planned our days:
Master list of highly rated food and drink, obviously we haven’t tried them all, but this is a great list to get you started!
Hope you guys will find this helpful! We love planning our trips and sharing our favorite finds.. Hopefully some of these will make for unforgettable memories!
Till next adventures,
A & K
