Day 113 - New Orleans

I kept it pretty low key today, didn't even get out of the apartment until about 11. Like I said, I'm burnt out on being a tourist. But it's my first time to New Orleans, so I didn't want to spend the whole day inside. So once I did finally get myself out, I headed down to the French quarter for a volksmarch. This was my last of the trip. Had I started earlier, it probably would have been cool, but c'est la vie. I started the walk by stopping for food at a local joint on royal street. I had the new Orleans sampler, which is a small bowl each of jambalaya, étouffée, and gumbo. The étouffée was my favorite by far. 

The walk wound me down through the French quarter, along the waterfront up to the aquarium, up Lafayette street to the super dome, and down through the Tulane campus. Oh, and along bourbon street. The French quarter is super touristy. There are residences scattered throughout there, but it really is geared towards what the tourists' perception of New Orleans is. Especially that last bit of bourbon street was just seedy and slimy. But, in general, it was so much friendlier than I expected it to be. Lots of people randomly said hi to me, and not just the people that were trying to get me to go into their restaurants/bars - local people just walking down the street. 

Besides that, the walk was pretty uneventful. It was cool getting to see that portion of the city, but it's obviously not everything that the city is. I have one more day to explore tomorrow, so I think I'm going to check out the garden district. There's a historic house that I'll be checking out as well. 

After the walk, I came back to the apartment to relax. The shower for some reason has no hot water, so I talked with the owner and I now have access to two different apartments, one for me to sleep/ hang out in, and another one to go shower in. Good times. It's like I'm back in college. 

Found another wine bar for dinner tonight and they have a grilled cheese bar, so I got one of those for dinner. Tomorrow I'm going to try to find an oyster bar for dinner. That'll be a good last dinner for the trip. So weird!!