Stay:
We love Hotel Monteleone for old school charm and a great French Quarter location. My great uncle is a ninety-five-year-old Catholic priest from New Orleans, and he loves to stay with my great aunt at the luxurious Windsor Court Hotel.
Dine:
Acme Oyster House is just across the street from Monteleone and not to be missed. New Orleans is known for so many great restaurants but our favorite is La Petite Grocery. The crab beignets are la bombe. Compere Lapin is good too. They have adorable copper rabbit drink mugs but only eleven of them.
See & Do:
Hearing the band at Preservation Hall is our favorite thing to do at night. We always order VIP reservations online so we can go in the quicker line and get closer seats in the tiny wooden theater. They have five show times per night, so you can go to dinner before or after the show. They don’t serve drinks, so we always start next door at Pat Obrien’s and bring our drink to the show. During the day, my favorite thing to do is grab coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde’s coffee stand in City Park with the big oak trees then walk into the incredible Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden (which is adjacent to The New Orleans Museum of Art). It is hands down the best sculpture collection I have ever seen.
Shop:
I love vintage and one-of-a-kind finds, so naturally my favorite store is Funky Monkey. A killer copper, metallic long pleated skirt was my latest find there. Cool gift shops surround Funky Monkey on Magazine Street, and are always fun to find really off-the-wall stuff to bring friends and family. I found camp trunk stickers for my kids and computer stickers for me including Alice in Wonderland and The Secret of Nimh! This area is the Garden District which is also home to Ashley Longshore’s studio. Ashley is the reason I went to New Orleans this last time. She is one of my absolute favorite humans (along with her COO, Kate Grace Bauer Rouchell). Ashley's art studio is open to the public and is an absolute must see. It is bursting with color and humor. She has several works for sale in varied sizes as well as some accessories, like beautiful cloth napkins and plates.