Travel: New Orleans & Texas

After leaving Florida, I hugged the bottom coast of the country and went to visit a friend in New Orleans.

I had visited once before, but spending a full week there was a much better way to see the city. I even got to help her around the house on some gardening while I was in town. Her two huskies kept me company when I worked during the day or slept at night.

We walked to a lot of her favorite places the day I got there so I had plenty of street shots on this trip.

After work, since I was slightly on a different time zone, I took some time to do more touristy things like visiting the Carousel bar. Tip: you can sit at the bar inside without waiting in line to sit AT the carousel itself. The bar is famous for it’s Ramos Gin Fizz and I certainly indulged.

I also signed up for a tour through the historic areas to learn about the architecture and history of the city. This gave me a great orientation for things and was nice to do early in the morning while the streets were quiet.

Of course, I also sampled some beignets from Cafe du Monde! No trip to NOLA is complete without it.

On the tour I learned about “romeo poles” and “gingerbread” house decorations. The poles had little spikes on them so the deterred unwanted men from visiting homes and trying to slide away! The gingerbread was any of the extra decorations that lined the framing of homes.

I also walked through the elevated graves. On the tour, I learned that the phrase, “I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole” came from checking if bodies had decomposed yet in the tombs.

I did sample plenty of local food including a German beer garden called Bratz Y’all, dinner in St. Roch’s Market, and District Donuts. I went to two places thanks to Somebody Feed Phil -- Turkey & the Wolf and Shaya.

After New Orleans, I stayed along the bottom of the country and took a ferry to Texas.

My first stop was Galveston. I spent Easter Sunday wandering the downtown area. I got lunch on the water at Fisherman’s Wharf and tried to find buildings I had read about in a book about the hurricane that struck the area in the early 1900s. I picked up a latte at Mod Coffee house and took it with me to enjoy East Beach.

That evening I headed to Houston and stayed at a friend of a friends where I got to enjoy a movie with some kiddos by the pool.

I worked a lot that week but hopped around the area to different Harvest Host spots. I tried plenty of coffee shops for morning working and stayed in the van for the afternoons. The breweries I slept at or tried included: Ingenious Brewing Company, Equal Parts Brewing, and Fortress Beerworks.

Twice during the week, I got to meet up with my friend Virginia and her fiance John (clients of mine too!). A few years ago, I got to hang out with them when they were living in Austin. One night we went to Moon Tower Inn and another to Kirby Ice House (the biggest bar in Texas!). They also let me do a load of laundry!

I spent most of my time in Texas in San Antonio where I met up with two Richmond friends that were there in their RV. We spent the week working together and playing in the city at night.

Upon arrival I snagged an iced latte and wandered the River Walk alone. I got myself a pair of black cowboy boots because the store was closing. I ate lunch in The Esquire, home to the longest wooden bar top in Texas (over 100 feet). I picked it because just a month earlier or so I had seen the WORLD’s longest marble bar (70 feet , 3 inches) in Wakulla Springs Lodge in Florida.

While I did take a river boat tour at night, I wish I had taken one at the start of my trip to hear the history along the river walk. I spent a few nights after work alone in the city shopping the Historic Market Square and snacking at unique spots.

One place I ate at for brunch and loved was Halcyon. I got a Southwest Benny and was so satisfied.

a

With my friends, we did go see the Alamo. I have to admit, I knew very little about the history here but learned a ton. The gunshots in the building were quite impressive.

The Pearl area was certainly a highlight. I went twice. The first time I ate at Bud’s Southern rotisserie in the food court and got a Mango Margarita from The Park Bar. True story: the guy that bought it for me had an ocelot in his backpack. For dessert that night, I got Lick ice cream.

I brought my friends back for the second time and we ate together at Botika. We split everything family style. I love being able to do this to try more things when I get time with others.

Our last night we did some evening touristy things including watching “The Saga,” a light show, on the face of San Fernando Cathedral. Afterwards, I started heading west out of the city and slept quietly at a golf course.

I hope to visit San Antonio again with friends sometime in the future. Felt like there as a lot more to see.

Here is a collection of my feet from the first few weeks of the trip out.