Hey Guys!
After spending 3 relaxing days at the beach, we packed up and headed to New Orleans for 3 nights!
But first, coffee!
After having our coffee on the balcony, we headed out.
The drive to New Orleans from Seaside takes approx. 4.5 hours.
Crossing into Alabama
After driving for a couple of hours, we decided to stop and have lunch.
Once my hubby spotted Freddy’s Burgers, he didn’t have to look any further!
He loves this place!
Their burgers are so good!
As we were having lunch, my hubby had a huge moth land on his arm!
After lunch, we continued our drive.
We passed through Mobile, AL and spotted the USS Alabama Battleship.
The ship was built in 1940 and began her World War II adventures in the North Atlantic in 1943, then later that year, went to the South Pacific seas.
In 1965, the ship ended up in Mobile, Alabama as a National Historic Landmark and memorial to millions.
There are actually several things you can visit at the Memorial Park, such as a submarine, planes and armor both inside and out.
Read reviews here
A little while later, we passed into Mississippi.
The roads were built over swamp land!
Driving over the Biloxi Bay Bridge
Fun Fact: Right before crossing over the bridge, you will be in a town called Ocean Springs. During the summers of 1951-1957, Elvis Presley stayed at the Gulf Hills Hotel in Ocean Springs. Read here for more fun facts about this area
We decided to get off the interstate near Biloxi and take a more scenic route.
This scenic road is called Beach Boulevard Scenic Byway …
This scenic byway offers miles of beach views, historic sites and more!
Biloxi’s biggest draw is their casinos..there are 8 located here.
One being the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Shortly after passing the casino, we spotted the Biloxi Lighthouse.
This is a very unique lighthouse, as it sits in the middle of the road!
The lighthouse was built in 1848 and stands 65 ft tall…it was one of the South’s first cast-iron lighthouses.
Until 1939 it was civilian operated and infamous for having multiple female lightkeepers, such as Maria Younghans, who worked the light for 53 years!
In 2005, the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina engulfed a third of the lighthouse’s height, broke multiple windows, destroyed the electrical system and knocked off many bricks.
After a 14 month, $400,000 restoration, the city re-opened the lighthouse to public tours in 2010.
In Biloxi, Katrina killed 53 people and destroyed nearly 20% of the town.
We noticed there were still a lot of empty lots here where homes and businesses haven’t been rebuilt.
There are lots of beautiful, historic homes along this drive.
We passed the historic White House Hotel.
The hotel was built in the late 1800’s.
The hotel sat vacant for 30 years and survived Hurricane Katrina. In 2013, restoration began and was completed in 2014. The boutique hotel now has 76 rooms available.
Driving along the scenic byway 
We decided to stop and check out the beach.
The sand was sugar white but the water was nasty! I would never swim in this water!
It appeared that no one else would either because we saw no one on or in the beach!
Fun Fact: Coastal Mississippi, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is home to the largest and longest man-made beach in the nation.
After checking out the beach, we continued our drive and passed the historic home that once belonged to Jefferson Davis.
You can tour the home and the presidential library.
I couldn’t get a good shot of the house because it sits behind a fence.
If you read my blog post on Elkton, KY, you will remember that Jefferson Davis was born there and has a museum and a memorial that was erected there for him.
Passing into the town of Gulfport, MS.
We noticed there were lots of beautiful, old oak trees in this area….what we didn’t realize is, Gulfport is home to a 500 yr old oak tree called the Friendship Oak!
The tree dates back to 1487 and is said to be the oldest tree in Mississippi!
The tree is located on the front lawn of the University of Southern Mississippi.
We then passed this cool looking restaurant called Parrish’s...it was built on stilts next to the water.
Crossing over the Saint Louis Bay Bridge
In August 2005, the Bay Saint Louis Bridge was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
On May 17th, 2007, the new bridge was opened to two lanes of traffic reuniting the two communities of Bay Saint Louis and Pass Christian, setting a record for the largest, fastest, continuously-sustained bridge reconstruction project in the United States!
Not long after crossing the bridge, we crossed into Louisiana.
We crossed over another bridge….this bridge, which is 5 miles long, links New Orleans and Slidell, LA,…it was also destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.
This bridge is new and what was left of the old bridge, became a fishing pier!
A little later, we passed the Folgers Coffee plant….I swear you could smell the coffee in the air!
Finally arriving to New Orleans after a 6 hr drive!
I loved all of the colorful buildings!
The architecture here is beautiful and dates back to the 1700’s!
Once we arrived, we headed straight to our hotel, the Place d’Armes.
The hotel offers parking but it was $47 a night! Most all of the hotels in this area charge for parking.
After leaving our car with the parking attendant, we headed inside the hotel to check in.
Once checked in, we headed to our room.
The hotel is located in beautifully restored buildings that date back to the 18th & 19th century.
I had booked a room with a courtyard view.
There are 2-3 different courtyards located at the hotel. One of the courtyards is where you will find the pool.
The courtyards were beautiful and so peaceful!
There were old fountains scattered throughout the courtyards.
After checking out the courtyards, we headed to our room.
Our room had a king size bed & a huge bathroom!
After getting settled into our room, we headed out to find something for dinner.
A shot of the hotel from the outside.
This building was the site of the first school in Louisiana back in 1725!
The hotel is located in the French Quarter and just steps away from Bourbon Street and Jackson Square.
Read reviews here
Walking through the French Quarter
So colorful!
The back of the St Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.
More shots of the French Quarter
For dinner, we decided to eat at a restaurant that a co worker had told me about called Oceana.
The restaurant was voted one of the top 10 restaurants in the US for everyday dining.
This place is very popular and I highly recommend you make reservations if you want to eat here!
However, with that being said, we arrived at 4:55 pm and were seated right away!
We were taken up 3 flights of stairs and had the top floor almost all to ourselves!
We were seated at a table by the window.
After looking over the menu, we decided to order the gator tail bites.
So good!
For my main course, I decided on the Redfish Oceana.
It was a lightly breaded & pan seared Redfish that was topped with a crawfish mushroom sauce and served with garlic mashed potatoes and turnip greens.
My hubby ordered a platter of fried fish, oysters, shrimp and fries.
The food was very good!
Read reviews here
Shot of the restaurant 
After dinner, we decided to walk around and check out the crazy town of New Orleans!
As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed a few pictures hanging on the wall of some well known celebrities that had eaten at the restaurant.
When walking through New Orleans in the evenings, you will see some crazy stuff!
During the day, it’s fine but at night, it gets crowded and loud!
There are lots of street performers and people dancing in the streets…..all night long!
Of course, we had to take our pictures on Bourbon Street!
Bourbon Street dates back to 1718, when New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
We loved this building with all of the ferns hanging from each of the balconies!
We stopped in at Rouse’s grocery store to pick up a few things.
I loved the front doors of the market!
After leaving the market, we headed to check out Jackson Square.
The beautiful St Louis Cathedral overlooks Jackson Square.
This church was completed in 1794 after the first church, built in 1727,caught fire and burned down in 1788.
On January 8, 1840, Andrew Jackson returned to the scene of his triumph against the British twenty-five years earlier. He went to the St. Louis Cathedral where an oration was given in his honor.
Jackson Square is a National Historic Landmark nestled in the center of the French Quarter. The 2.5-acre space welcomes over 2 million visitors and locals each year.
It has even served as a backdrop in a number of popular feature films and television shows.
The landmark earns its name for the bronze statue of Andrew Jackson located in the center of the square.
The park is small but beautiful and a great place to sit and relax.
A shot of the fountain in Jackson Square
The sun had started to set and made for some beautiful pictures of the church!
We exited the square through the opposite gate and checked out the horse carriage rides.…actually, they are mules.
We decided to wait another night to do the carriage ride.
Since we had walked so much, we were ready for dessert.
We headed over to Cafe Du Monde for some of their famous beignets.
The cafe has been opened since 1862 and only sells coffee & beignets.
Read reviews here
Before we ordered, we walked around to the back of the restaurant to watch how they make the beignets.
Beignets are basically a donut sprinkled with powdered sugar.
The powdered sugar was everywhere!!
After watching the beignets being made, we sat down at one of the tables and ordered two coffees and an order of beignets. The beignets only come in orders of 3.
Their coffee is usually served au lait…which is half coffee and half milk.
It’s very good but if you order it black, it will make the hair stand up on your head…it’s super strong coffee!!
The beignets were just ok to me…some people rave about them but they tasted like they had been cooked in old grease!
Word of advice, don’t eat beignets while wearing black! You will be wearing it all over you!
Tip: 2 coffees and the beignets cost $10.75
After our dessert, we headed back to our hotel.
My hubby wanted to go swimming so, he swam while I sat out by the pool.
He had the pool all to himself!
We loved this hotel….the courtyard & pool were awesome!
After his swim, we called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Read Day 1-3 of our trip here
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