Mississippi Day 8 (New Orleans, LA): The Last Day

Today is our last day of our Mississippi Trip.

Today we disembarked the ship and took a tour of the Garden District of New Orleans. We got to see some of the most beautiful properties in the area and we stopped at Morning Call for beignets and café au lait and a local cemetery. The beignets were amazing! The Garden District was once a neighborhood of very large plantations with huge gardens. There were only 2 properties per block. Later the properties were divided up and sold to the wealthy who did not want to live in the French Quarter. The Garden District was once known for the grand gardens on the plantations but is now known for its beautiful architecture.

After our tour we checked in our bags at our hotel and headed out to the French Market near Crescent Park. The French Market was originally a Native American Trading Post that started where Café Du Monde is and organically grew as it was rebuilt and renovated many times. The area doesn’t seem that big but there were a lot of vendors packed into the vendor stalls. It took me a while to get through all of them.

When we were finished with the market we headed back to our hotel and checked in. Our next stop was dinner.

We ate dinner at a restaurant that one of the ship staff had recommended. It was much better than that place we ate at next to our hotel. We ordered similar items at both restaurants but the restaurant we ate at today did it much better. One of the best things we ordered was the alligator. The waitress described alligator as having a pork texture with a chicken taste and she couldn't be more right. I expected to taste gamy but it wasn't at all. I loved it!  

After dinner we went back to our hotel and prepared for our flight home tomorrow.

This trip has been amazing! We learned a lot about the antebellum era in the south, saw some beautiful plantations and museums and heard some very interesting stories. We also explored a new city, ate some amazing food and got to experience a whole new culture. As always, we met some amazing people along the way.

What an adventure! Here’s to many more!