So far New Orleans, or NOLA for short, is living up to my expectations. Even though our first full day was filled with monsoon like rains and flooded sidewalks, we still managed to thoroughly enjoy ourselves.

To start, our B&B Chez Palmiers, is absolutely perfect. We have the Loft Suite, which is spacious and includes a bar kitchen and ensuite as well as TV and WiFi. Our hosts Schuyler and David are so friendly and provided the most wonderful breakfast spread in the morning as well as a custom list of recommended restaurants, cafes and bars nearby. We are staying a couple blocks from the world famous French Quarter in a residential neighbourhood called Marigny. We love being able to walk everywhere.

This place is so unique. It’s hard to believe that we are even in the U.S. anymore. Some moments, like today on our New Orleans history walk, it feels like we’ve stepped back in time. And then mere seconds later we are being dazzled by hilarious locals like Billy the Hootenanny who won us over with his killer dance/hip thrusting. You had to be there but I promise, it made our day.

We are slowly but surely attempting to try the local cuisine. Today we tried muffeletas (sandwich) and Shrimp Creole, which were both successful. In New Orleans you are allowed to drink alcohol in the street so most places serve drinks in plastic to-go cups. Basically, the whole city is a bar. Did I mention that alcohol is really cheap here?

Most of our day was spent experiencing 19th century holidays in the New Orleans style on our walking tour of five historic houses. We were told the history of the owners and even got to see the home of the first princess of Monaco who happened to be from New Orleans. It was really interesting and gave us a better appreciation for the rich history of this city that has seen so much change over the centuries.

So far the people have been extremely friendly and we’ve had many interesting conversations. Most of the locals are amazed that we are here all the way from Canada. One of our tour guides advised us to have as much fun as possible and that what happens in New Orleans… Gets Celebrated! Well Sir – we plan to… in fact, I don’t think we have a choice. The party never stops in NOLA.

Tonight after dinner we were wandering down the streets of the French Quarter, looking in shops, and then decided to stop at a bar on Frenchmen Street called Cafe Negril. Frenchmen Street has been touted as the local’s Bourbon Street so we definitely wanted to check out the scene. The bar had no cover and a really great Blues Rock band. We enjoyed that for a while before spilling out into the street to find another band playing on the street corner with a large crowd dancing in the street, like actually in the street. Of course, we joined in. At one point the crowd had grown so big that the cars were having difficulty getting through. One car was clearly annoyed and ran over a lady’s toe (or so she said). She obviously got upset and somehow dented his car. While we stood there in shock watching the confrontation – no one else seemed to notice. Just business as usual on a Saturday night in New Orleans!