Mallory

If you come to New Orleans and you’ve never been here, you simply have to go have at least one drink at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone. Sit at the bar itself….don’t worry, you’re THAT drunk, the bar actually rotates, so you may sit down facing Royal street and end up facing the lobby later.

If you go here the cafe au lait and beignets are essential. If you go when it’s hot outside, though, try the frozen cafe au lait instead. Super yummy. I work in the French Quarter and I’m always looking for an excuse in the summer to walk down to Cafe Du Monde for a froze cafe au lait.

We just got back from a motorcyle trip around California. We headed out to see the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca in Monterey. We rented a bike in Vegas, headed west through Bakersfield and caught Highway 1 at San Luis Obispo. We stayed in Carmel for the race weekend and then headed north toward San Francisco. Unfortunately part of the road was closed just north of Half Moon Bay, so we had to take some interstate into San Fran.

I loved the trip! So beautiful! I shot some video from the back of the motorcylce…I can’t wait to see how it comes out once my boyfriend edits it all together.

My favorite store of all time! (Even though there are two locations now, one in the French Quarter and one in the Garden District.)

I came back to NOLA in mid-October after evacuating for Katrina. Yes, there are certainly some things here that will never be the same as before the storm. There were some things that made it seem almost like nothing had even happened when we came back in October…much of the French Quarter and Garden District/Uptown were relatively normal.

If you’re wondering if you should come now and visit New Orleans, whether you’ve never been here and always wanted to come, or whether it’s a longtime favorite city, I say come. The city needs your tourism now more than ever…a large percentage of the population is employed in tourism-based industries and the city gets much of its tax revenue from tourism. Be respectful of what has happened here, yes, but believe me, we welcome the tourism!

I live 4 blocks away from the Fairgrounds where Jazzfest takes place, and yet I’ve still never actually attended. One day. Just to say I’ve done it. Though I hear the food is really good.

One of my favorite places in the entire world!