Breakfast, Mardi Gras World, Day 2 in NOLA

After a long and exciting first day in New Orleans, I didn’t pack as much in on Thursday. But, we girls still managed to have a lot of fun and ate lots of food.

Juls had a business meeting in the morning, so I went out by myself to Camellia Grill at 536 Chartres Street in the FQ (French Quarter).  They have other locations as well.

It seems like an old fashioned diner. They had 2 Large U-shaped counters. I got 2 eggs ($3.69), grits ($0.99), and a coffee ($1.99). The server said “Hey, baby.” Later, I learned that is a term of endearment that means “Hi, how are you, isn’t it a lovely day, and a wonderful place that we live in?” Yep, all of that in a simple Hey baby!

They have egg, grits, hash browns, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, and a full lunch menu.

This was our hotel at 8:30am. I’ll have to see if I can find a comparison of 8:30pm. I may have been to nervous and cautious to pull out my phone in the evening because so many people are on the street walking.. or trying to walk.

Next, the 3 of us went to Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World on the Riverfront, next to the Convention Center. They also offer free hotel shuttle service. We first went on a private tour to see their event space and then went on a public tour (Adult Admission $20/ Child $13) and saw the studios where they create the figures for the floats and then walked through the gallery and warehouse. Very cool. I took a ton of pictures!

A few of the parade floats

They take Styrofoam and then cover it was paper mache.

Then the artists paint them.

I think they also make the Chik-fil-A cows.

We had Lunch at Butcher at 930 Tchoupitoulas Street. It’s mainly a sandwich shop with a butcher area and wine bar. They specialize in house-made meats and sausages.

Most sandwiches are $10-$12. I tried the Cochon Muffaletta with House Meats and Olive Salad ($12). It was delicious!

Juls had the BBQ Pork sandwich and you can see the Mac & Cheese in the background.

New Belgium, one of my favorite brewers- Not available in MA….. yet!

Next, Juls and I got a tour of the brand new Ace Hotel.

It was a cute, boutique hotel. With a roof top pool!
Juls and I walked back to our hotel, with a pit stop at McD’s for sweet tea. And then it was finally pool time!

More people finally joined us!!! B & N

Decorating and stocking the bar began!
And we walked around and found a place for dinner. We made it to the Old Coffee Pot restaurant on Saint Peter Street. Here was a chicken dish with shrimp, green beans, rice.

We walked around to find some music and found 2 places.

Later, we walked to a different part of town to Frenchmen St and ran into some of the musicians from the previous place, too funny!

All on a Thursday!! Day 2 of 4 in NOLA! Maybe this was just as busy as Day 1!!

My First Trip to New Orleans

Back in May, I went to NOLA for Juls’ bachelorette party. This was my first time to New Orleans and I researched a little bit and also had a list of recommendations from a coworker.

I stayed 4 nights at the Four Points by Sheraton in the French Quarter ON Bourbon Street.I arrived on a Wednesday, while most people arrived Friday. I left Sunday morning, while most people stayed until Mon or Tuesday. It was a fun time, we weren’t too wild!

Let’s see….. Transportation options from the airport. The airport shuttle was around $25 a person, and takes FOREVER. I recommend splitting a cab with 1 or 2 other people. If it’s a single or double, I think it was $34 total. If it’s 3+, it’s $15 per person. I talked to 2 ladies behind me in the taxi stand and asked if they were going to the French Quarter. RIDE SHARED!

I got there several hours before anyone else. Looking back, I was soooo glad I came early. Each day, more and more guests arrived so it grew over time. I think at the peak, there were 20 of us.  I had Juls almost to myself Wednesday evening and Thursday!!! Ha Ha HA:)

I arrived before lunch time on a Wednesday. I did some window shopping but also stopped in a new touristy shops and also clothing stores. I was wedding dress shopping at the time.

At “Trashy Diva” on Royal Street, I tried on a few dresses that were vintage inspired. I really liked the “Liz” dress in antique white.

I was getting hungry so my first meal…..

I had Lunch at Coop’s Place. I had the jambalaya, highly recommended from my coworker and I loved it.

I walked around a few more hours, just up and down different streets. I loved the balconies, the ferns, the flags, the horses… just beautiful!

I was able to check into the hotel by then, so I checked it out and then ventured out again. I stopped for a snack at Napoleon House at 500 Chartres Street.  This restaurant/bar was featured in a magazine that I read about a month before the trip, too funny! This was a pretty cool place. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but here are a few:

After much deliberation, I got the meatball po-boy sandwich ($7.75) and Pimm’s Ginger Julep (Pimms No. 1, soda, mint syrup, and ginger beer $8.00).

Knowing that I know now, I SHOULD have gotten the muffuletta- don’t ask me how to pronounce it! I tried the muffuletta at a few places later in my trip, but it’s a famous type of New Orleans sandwich. It has several types of cured meats and cheese, has a tangy olive salad dressing on an Italian loaf.

It was back to the hotel for a nap, seriously! I met up with Juls and we had dinner at Pierre Masperos.

That’s an order of chicken and waffles ($14) , rice and beans (I think), and cheese grits ($4).

And to bed!! I think. END of Day 1. Whew! Looking back, that was an awesome day.

Let’s get this show on the road

Not sure why, but I was just thinking about blogging and that phrase came to mind: “Let’s get this show on the road!”.  And 1 minute later, I am actually blogging…. after resetting my password because it’s been that long.

There is a lot to post about, but I’ll work on my Memorial Day 2016 Weekend, which was a Bachelorette Party for my Juls and I have a decent draft written already!

Other topics coming soon:

Everything that happened from May to Sept.. haha.  Let’s see, more work around the house, trip to NOLA, San Diego… and oh MY WEDDING! And Honeymoon and lots of local things too!

Here’s one wedding picture to hold you over….  I just found out today that my wedding photos are delayed for who knows how long.

June Update

Hi,

Again, it’s been too long since an update but I’ve been taking pictures in hopes of writing more. 

Spring finally arrived! We’ve been busy working on the yard and garden.  

The previous owners did a wonderful job of landscaping around the patio so we haven’t done anything but weed. 
We bought a cedar pergola 2 weeks ago and Tony got the foundation ready while I was away in New Orleans for Juls’ bachelorette party. When I got back, we assembled it. Nice, huh?  We also picked up a solar light at Samd Club. We also bought 3 rose bushes pictured below from a local landscaping company and we’re still figuring out where to plant them. 

We started seedlings inside and transplanted them in mid-May. We planted some store bought seedlings and I also planted more seeds so we have things in lots of different stages.

We have cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, chives, summer squash, basil, spinach, cabbage, peas, and 4 types of peppers. 

Below is the flower bed. I mainly planted flowers suitable for cutting. We are planning a summer wedding in the backyard so we’re hoping to have lots of flowers blooming and have lots of green back there. 

Here are some pictures from New Orleans. 

Enjoy!

Winter’s Over

Winter’s over!  Yay!  I found some pictures from over the past 2 months at the new house.

This captures a lot. My “front” window that I decorate with the seasons because we don’t have a mantel. I’ve done a Christmas one, winter (the one pictured below), and I just did the spring one last week. It also has the new truck in it!
Here’s the little tree to the left of the house.

Here’s from the front yard, into the street.

The right side of the back yard with the shed.

Hopefully the cold weather is behind us for this year!  It was much better than last year, but still!

 

Maybe a small change of focus

I think this blog is going to change focus a little bit. I hope to post more often and about other things as it relates to life in the outer suburbs of greater Boston! 

  
We bought a house about 30 miles North West of Boston right before Christmas (Dec 2015). 

You’ll start to read and see our new life and how we’re settling in. 
Cheers, Erica 

New URL: bostonrookie

Hi,

Welcome to the new site! I’m still in the process of setting it up and making tweaks.

We we got almost 9 inches of snow a few days ago.

I’m testing out posting from my phone!

New Site Address

Hi,

I am in the process of transitioning BostonRookie to the new site!

Not Your Average Joes

A few weeks ago, I got to visit the newest Not Your Average Joes (NYAJ) location in Waltham. It opened in late August. Our local NYAJ location is in Watertown, so it was fun to visit another location. They have over 24 locations along the East Coast.

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As the other diner arrived, we gathered in the huge bar area, with the counter top which had fossils in it, very cool!

Progressive Dinner at Bel Ari and Les Zygomates

A few weeks ago, the Blog and Tweet group was invited to a progressive dinner featuring Bel Ari and Les Zygomates, both in the Leather District of Boston.

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsGreat Italian restaurants don’t have to be in the North End! Bel Ari is modern Italian and I loved it. The space was gorgeous and we had a private dining room.