The Big Easy...

During a recent work related trip to New Orleans with Katie, I stayed in one of the nicer hotels I have ever been in, Windsor Court. We were surprised to learn upon arrival that we had been upgraded to the club level suites. (a perk of planning an upcoming meeting at their establishment)

I took pictures of every inch of the room. I plan to some day decorate my home in this color scheme.

The meeting space is exquisite. I told Katie that had I not already put down deposits for my wedding in Shreveport, we would be relocating to Windsor Court as our reception venue.

 Notice the painting that Katie is displaying for you. Care to guess what it's value is? I'll just go ahead and tell you. It is a 1.5 million dollar Van Dyck. The hotel itself is basically an art museum!

Their 4-star chef recently left the hotel restaurant, so what did they do? Hire a 5-star chef! This will be the chef de cuisine for our conference in January and I can-not-wait.

In the lobby they serve high tea every day. Unfortunately we missed it, but after our tour ended we hit the road toward Luke on St. Charles Avenue for a late lunch.

A flamenkuche is basically a pizza on uber thin crust with thick cut sweet bacon topped with cheese and onion. Filling and delicious. Katie and I both agree that the pork pâté is interesting on toasted bread with side options to top it with watermelon, pickles, mustard & gelée. I have definitely never seen it on a menu before. Props, John.

We walked around stopping in a few local shops, meandering through the colorful streets of NOLA until we found ourselves at the Green Goddess. Katie appropriately ordered "The Katie" and I got the "Glory for your salvation" - cucumbers muddled in ginger syrup, Pimm's No. 1, Koval Jasmine liqueur, Creme de Cassis, Flor de Cana 7-year aged Nicaraguan rum, Hibiscus liqueur, Orchard Apricot liqueur, fresh lime juice, and topped with ginger beer. Yep, that is all in that white cup I am holding there. Lizette did her thing, and I did mine ;) After taking a breather at the hotel for a bit, we hit up the complimentary club level lounge. I was most definitely feeling like a princess at this point.

Then we meet up with Griff and Alex and taxied to Magazine Street for our night out on the town.

Before leaving NOLA for the LSU game in Baton Rouge, we had to stop at the Rum House for their famous Caribbean inspired tacos. Check out this menu for their combo options. (We both ordered the Two Dat which allowed us to pick 2 types of tacos and 2 different sides) If you haven't been in the Rum House, RUN to the Rum House!!!

{next up- our day spent at Tiger Stadium}