Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in New Orleans.
Read Day 1 here
We started our morning with beignets from Cafe Du Monde since the restaurant was literally a 3-4 min walk from our hotel.
After purchasing our beignets, we headed back to our hotel to have our breakfast in the beautiful courtyard.
These tasted a bit better than the first ones we had. 
After breakfast, we packed up our luggage to move rooms.
I had tried to book 3 consecutive nights in a room with a balcony overlooking the courtyard but could only get two nights instead….so, we had to pack up, check out of our room & leave our luggage with the hotel so they could move it to our new room once the room was ready.
We then left the hotel around 11:00 am to start our day.
Our first stop, having our picture taken under the Bourbon Street sign.
We then began our 20 min walk to the riverfront.
We had booked a 2 hr historic boat tour on the Creole Queen River Cruise.
On the way, we passed many interesting places.
The first one was Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar.
The building was constructed sometime before 1772 and is said to be where the Lafitte brothers opened their blacksmith shop as a façade so they could carry out their privateer efforts.
Shots along the way
Before taking our boat ride, we decided to have lunch so we stopped in at a place called the Boulevard Bistro.
I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and my hubby ordered a cheeseburger.
The food was really good….it was actually one of the best grilled chicken sandwiches I had ever eaten!
Read reviews here
After our lunch, we continued our walk.
We passed the statue of Jean Baptiste Le Sieur de Bienville….he founded New Orleans in 1718.
We passed Cafe Beignet which is another popular place. It opened in 1990. They have 4 locations scattered around New Orleans.
Read reviews here
We first arrived to the Steamboat Natchez …you can take tours with this boat as well as the Riverboat New Orleans.
The two other boats that give yours 
Click here for more boat tours in New Orleans
Our boat was located another 5-7 min walk from these two boats.
Walking along the waterfront
We passed the Monument to the Immigrant statue
The “Monument to the Immigrant” was erected in 1995 and stands along the Mississippi River in Woldenberg Park.
The park encompasses 16 acres and is filled with sculptors and artwork.
We then passed the Malcolm Woldenberg statue ….the park is named after him.
As we continued our walk, we spotted some art work and murals.
The art work is located outside of the aquarium and depicts marine life.
A shot of the Audubon Aquarium
The aquarium is located on the Mississippi River adjacent to the French Quarter. It’s been voted as one of the top five aquariums in the country by the USA Today “10Best” reader poll.
The building was really cool!
Read reviews here
Finally arriving to the Creole Queen.
We had to go to the ticket booth and show them our online ticket so they could give us a paper ticket instead.
Near the ticket booth was a statue of a jester
After getting checked in for our boat ride, we had some time to kill so we walked around the area for a few minutes.
We spotted this huge fountain…there are several fountains in this park.
We also saw another huge mural painted on the opposite side of the aquarium.
After killing some time, we got in line to board the boat.
Our boat tour was from 2-4 and they started boarding around 1:30 pm.
We were third in line so we had our pick of seats ….so chose a table on one of the upper decks.
The boat was very crowded and it was really hot so we were glad to be in the shade!
After being on the boat for about 45 mins, we made a stop at the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery.
The Chalmette Battlefield is the site of the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. The battle is associated with the War of 1812, fought between the United States and Great Britain.
A British invasion force attempted to seize control of New Orleans and lay claim to the land of the Louisiana Purchase. U.S. forces, under the command of future president Andrew Jackson, successfully defended the city against the larger and more experienced British army.
After getting off the boat, the first thing you will see is the Malus-Beauregard House.
The first owner of the home built this house in 1833. Its last private owner was Rene Beauregard, son of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard.
The New Orleans Terminal Company then owned the property until 1949, when it became part of the Chalmette National Historical Park.
After leaving the house, you will continue your walk along the side walk which takes you to the visitor center.
A shot of the house from the sidewalk 
Along the sidewalk, there are several informational plaques talking about the Battle of New Orleans.
As we neared the visitor center, there was a ranger standing under a huge tree that was speaking about the area.
There’s no telling how old this tree is!
Arriving to the visitor center.
We walked behind the center to check out the Chalmette Monument.
The monument was completed in 1908 and stands 100 ft tall.
You can walk to the top of the monument but we didn’t have as they only gave us about 45 mins to check out the park.
We then walked back to the visitor center to check out the inside.
There were artifacts from the Battle of New Orleans, souvenirs and lots of information plaques.
After leaving the visitor center, we walked over to check out the huge trees!
Tip: There is a national cemetery located here but we didn’t have time to see it. It’s one of the oldest national cemeteries and one of 14 national cemeteries managed by the National Park Service.
We then headed back to the boat.
Once everyone boarded the boat, we headed back to the dock.
On the way back, we passed the Domino sugar plant that was built in 1905.
We watched this crane picking up the sugar and dropping it in a bin.
You could literally smell the sugar in the air!
We passed the New Orleans Military Academy.
Tip: Click here to read about historic forts that you can visit
Next we passed the Clipper Kent & the Cape Kennedy.
Right before we docked, we passed Jackson Square where we were able to get some cool shots of the St Louis Cathedral.
After getting off of the boat, we headed to Drago’s Seafood Restaurant for dinner.
It was only a 3-5 min walk from the boat and located in the Hilton Hotel.
Sitting in front of the restaurant is a statue of Winston Churchill.
The 9-foot-tall statue of Sir Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during World War II, was unveiled at this in November 1977.
Once we were seated at the restaurant, we looked over the menu.
We decided to order their famous charbroiled oysters as an appetizer.
They were delicious!
For our main course, we both ended up ordering the All Surf, No Turf which was the stuffed mahi mahi with au gratin sauce, crawfish mac & cheese, fried shrimp and a side…I chose the sauteed spinach while the hubby chose the rosemary potatoes.
The food was very good!
Read reviews here & see the menu here
After dinner, we headed back towards our hotel.
On the way, we passed the Napoleon House.
Built in 1794 and enlarged in 1814, its name derives from the local legend that it was intended as a residence for Napoleon Bonaparte after his exile. A plan to bring Napoleon to Louisiana was halted by news of his death in 1821.
The building was also the home of Nicholas Girod (d. 1840), mayor of New Orleans from 1812-1815.
Since 1914, it has operated as a restaurant called Napoleon House.
Read reviews here
We then passed the Pharmacy Museum.
The pharmacy museum opened in 1950 and is housed in the former residence of Louis J. Dulfilho, Jr., the first licensed pharmacist in the United States, until 1855.
Read reviews here
On our walk, we spotted the horse carriages so decided to take a ride.
They offer several different types of tours but you need to book in advance.
In order for us to ride, they had to fill a carriage that held approx. 8 people.
We really wanted a private carriage but was told there was only one working that night and it cost $150 for 30 mins….no thanks!
So, we ended up going with the 8 person carriage ride that cost $30 pp.
We had a great guide who told us a lot about the history of New Orleans and about the buildings we passed.
We passed the St Mary’s Church.
The church was built in 1845.
This was one of the locations where Elvis Presley filmed parts of his movie called King Creole from 1958.
We passed several colorful buildings and homes.
We really enjoyed our carriage ride! It was a lot of fun!
Read reviews here
A picture of the mule that pulled our carriage.
After leaving here, we continued our walk.
We passed the back of the St Louis Cathedral where we could see the statue of Jesus that was built in Italy in 1926.
At around 7:30 pm we made it back to our hotel where we had to check into our new room.
This room had two queen beds and a very nice bathroom….however, we didn’t get the balcony that we had booked.
I had booked the rooms on Booking.com and it specifically stated that it was a balcony room…the employee at the front desk said they have had this problem before with Booking but I’ve only had this happen once before and we book hotels all the time!
So, if you want to guarantee that you will get a certain room type, then book through the hotel.
We did have a courtyard view and it was actually nice being on the bottom floor because we could walk right out of our room and be at the pool.
After getting settled into our new room, my hubby and I headed to the pool.
Once again, we had the pool all to ourselves!
After swimming for a while, we headed out to find some ice cream.
We walked a short distance from our hotel and found a place called Waffle Time.
I ordered a scoop of cookies & cream and a scoop of cookie dough.
So good!
After our ice cream, we decided to walk to Bourbon Street to check out the craziness!
The street dates back to 1718, when New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
French engineer Adrien de Pauger laid out the streets of New Orleans in 1721 and chose one to carry the name of the French royal family ruling at the time, Rue Bourbon.
The street is lit by neon lights & throbbing with music…..it’s loud and crowded!
Read reviews here
After spending a very short time here, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 3!
Read Day 1 here & Read about the first 3 days of our trip here
Click here for links to all of my blog posts