I had a little bit of money saved up, so fortunately I was able to go on a short, spontaneous trip with my friend B to New Orleans and New York (special Southwest deal made the plane tickets cheaper) for three days in each place.
We couchsurfed in both cities, and luckily we had great hosts in both places.
We flew into New Orleans on the night of February 1st, and since we rented a car, we drove to our host's apartment. It was interesting passing by houses with so many columns (Louisiana architecture?), but almost every other house was pretty dilapidated. The dark, empty streets made us a bit nervous.
When we arrived at our host's apartment, we were scared to get out the car. The neighborhood looked a bit shady, but the inside of our host's apartment was completely different and really nice. Below is a picture of the street in the morning. Let's just say things looked better in the daylight.
This was taken outside.
Dining room inside the house. The tour guide said that the hanging fan above the table was considered very rare back in the day. Only the rich could afford it.
This was what I really wanted to see-- the beautiful alley of Oak trees leading up to the house. The guide explained how the wife of the owner used to throw large parties at the house and would stand at the balcony to greet guests as they walked down the alley of oaks. Was this where Forrest Gump ran?
We also bought the Mint Julep, which was a minty bourbon cocktail. Honestly, it wasn't that great, but our host told us it was a one of the popular drinks we should try.
At night, we went to the French quarter, the popular touristy place in New Orleans. We made a stop at Cafe du Monde, which is famous for its beignets (fried pastry covered with powdered sugar) and cafe au lait. Both were so delicious and worth the try!
