The Lee Family: Visiting New Orleans

On Thursday afternoon, we loaded up in the Baron and headed to New Orleans with the girls. Luckily, Sofia had a short day so we were able to leave at 1pm rather than after school, which would have put us into New Orleans pretty late. CK had a conference there and I looked forward to exploring the city with the girls by day and enjoying receptions and dinners at night while the girls stayed in our room with a sitter.

We arrived and got settled into our posh room at the Ritz Carlton, ordered the girls room service, and got ready for the first night's reception and dinner. The sitter who arrived was friendly and did a good job with them while we were gone. It was a bit nerve racking to leave them with a college student who we've never even seen before, but both girls didn't seem to mind and it all worked out. It was great to be out with CK and socialize with his colleagues.

Friday morning CK headed off to his conference while I loaded up the girls and headed to Cafe Du Monde! I must confess I don't love beignets but their cafe au lait is heavenly. We walked down Canal to catch the trolley (the Canal Street trolley is closed due to construction) and met a couple from St. Louis who were very friendly and were also going to Cafe Du Monde. So, we ended up going with them and ate with them, which was great fun. They just returned from a cruise and were leaving that afternoon and were very interesting folks.

I ordered beignets, a large cafe au lait, a hot chocolate (for Sofia) and milk (for Olivia). I was certain Sofia would gobble up the beignets and would dunk them into her chocolate milk and enjoy the perfect combination....however, she took one bite of a beignet and never touched it again! She focused on her hot chocolate and was perfectly happy! Olivia on the other hand, tasted her first beignet and squealed for more! I brought her a slice of banana bread that I'd made at home, so I was able to get most of her belly full before she wanted to eat every beignet in the place! Sofia had a bit of a fever that morning, so I don't know if that may have affected her lack of interest in beignets.

After our Cafe Du Monde experience, Sofia begged to go on a carriage ride, which we'd done about two years before when we visited. She actually remembered the mule's name too - Shine! We couldn't remember the driver's name, but we asked about Shine and he was apparently "at the farm"...not sure if that's code for something else or not, but we met all the other mules. So, we walked around Jackson Square and then took a carriage ride. Both girls enjoyed it, although neither had slept well the previous night so Olivia fell asleep on my lap within minutes and Sofia was nearly asleep by the time we got back.

Since both girls were tired and Sofia still had a little fever, we decided to return to the hotel, eat and take naps. It was a good first day exploring such a beautiful city! Sofia's favorites included the trolley ride, petting all of the mules and the carriage ride.

That night, the girls stayed with another sitter while CK and I went out to dinner at Antoine's restaurant which was outstanding! There is no lack of great food in New Orleans!

Walking down Canal Street