Who: Detra Cunningham

Location:

Package Type: Girlfriend Getaway

"

I don’t have enough fingers to count the number of times I’ve visited New Orleans, but this trip made me fall in love with the city all over again.' ""

Detra has always loved visiting New Orleans, but wanted to experience the “Who Dat” city on a completely different level.  With the assistance of Almeda Travel, Detra was able to plan a New Year’s Eve trip to New Orleans unlike anytime she had experienced before. 

“I don’t have enough fingers to count the number of times I’ve visited New Orleans, but this trip made me fall in love with the city all over again. Instead of doing the usual activities such as walking Bourbon Street, gambling, shopping and drinking. I was able to experience the Crescent City in a whole new light,” Detra said.

Take a moment and relive Detra’s trip through her eyes.

Lodging

The hotel that my travel agent suggested was the W New Orleans Hotel, located directly next door to Harrah’s Casino. The hotel is also in walking distance to the French Market, French Quarter, numerous restaurants, Jax Brewery, and the Riverwalk Shopping Center.

Once I turned the corner and laid eyes on the W New Orleans Hotel, I knew that Almeda Travel had suggested a great hotel for us. As soon as we pulled up to the hotel, the valet attendants rushed to welcome us and assist us with our luggage. When you walk up to the main entrance of the hotel, a curtain automatically draws open revealing the hotel lobby. This was such a red carpet feeling, as everyone turns to see who is walking through the door. 

Once I was in the hotel lobby I felt as if I had stepped into a scene of Sex and the City. The hotel has a modern, city, and posh feeling to it. The hotel staff takes time to perfect the smallest little details in the hotel. The smallest detail that stood out so big to me, were the floor mats within the elevators. The mats either read Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening; to reflect the current times of the day.

Food & Drinks

One of the best things about visiting New Orleans is enjoying all the tasty Creole food and “beverages”. During our stay we visited some of my favorite eating places and tried a couple of new places. Our first stop was at Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant, located on Tchoupitoulas Street. We enjoyed a few cocktails with friends and moved on to the next location.

One of my favorite seafood restaurants in Louisiana is Ralph & Kacoo’s Seafood Restaurant. The chef floods your plate with so much food, that it can be shared with another person. I recommend getting a dinner salad/a cup of gumbo and split the seafood platter, which will give you a little taste of everything.

Everyone that visits New Orleans must make a point to stop at Cafe Du Monde’ to try the dessert of the city, beignets. The line is always a mile long, but it moves rather quickly. We waited in the line for about 15 minutes before we were seated. The menu is pretty simple, beignets, coffee, and hot chocolate. Another plus to Cafe Du Monde’ are the operating hours......24 hours, so after hitting Bourbon Street you can fix that late night sweets craving.

If you are looking for a great atmosphere paired with a good cocktail, Pat O’Briens is the place to be. You can sit at the bar while listening to the latest music and watching the highlighted sports event of the evening. Pat O’Brien’s is of course known for its famous Hurricane, but my favorite drink would have to be the Rainstorm.

Tours

The thing that made this trip so different from all my other visits to New Orleans were the tours we decided to take. Almeda Travel gave us several options to choose from, but the two tours that stood out the most were the Swamp & Bayou Tour and the Ghosts & Spirits Walking Tour. 

For the first tour, we jumped on a motor-coach bus to travel to the location for the Swamp & Bayou Tour in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park – Barataria Preserve. Once we reached our destination we boarded a custom built swamp boat named, Swamp Queen II. Her majesty took us on an excursion through the swamp where we were able to see alligators as close as 3 to 4 feet away from the boat. At moments you wouldn’t even know that you were drifting by an alligator, but with the help of our tour guide we were able to see them masked within the marshes of the swamp. I definitely recommend taking this tour to see something other than Bourbon Street and learn about the Louisiana Wildlife.

The last tour on the agenda was the Ghosts and Spirits Walking Tour, which only takes place at night. Now if you do not like to walk for a long period of time, this is not the tour for you. It is literally a 2 hour walking tour through the French Quarter, with one bathroom/cocktail stop. Apart from the walking it was fun to hear the ghost stories of the French Quarter, as New Orleans is the most haunted city in the US, and see the actual locations of the haunting. Our guide was very knowledgeable about each individual story and you could tell each story fascinated him. The guide would also inform as to which stories had actual historical facts and which stories were simply folklore. I recommend this tour to anyone that enjoys “campfire” ghost stories and wants to learn some history of New Orleans. One of the highlights of the tour was walking past the front door of the home of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

“Overall my New Year’s Eve trip to New Orleans was unlike any other time I had visited before. Thanks to Almeda Travel I was able to bring in 2011 with a completely different view of an all time favorite.”