Spooky Week in the Big Easy, Day 3 & 4
Happy Halloween, everyone! Kristen and I are gearing up for our anniversary dinner, and resting our legs from the nonstop workout we've been getting this week. Over the last few days, we've toured the sights and learned about some of the spookier sides of New Orleans' French Quarter.
Day three of our trip was mainly a pair of guided tours, both courtesy of New Orleans Secrets, a tour group recommended by our friends that specializes in small bookings. After a late morning start and an excellent breakfast at Pierre Maspero's, we headed to the meeting point for what we'd both been very excited to sign on for: The Mysteries of Voodoo tour. Our guide Anderson was extremely friendly and animated, taking us through a long, history-focused journey on the origins and practices of this unique, living religion practiced to this day in the city. One of our favorite stops along the route was Voodoo Authentica, a shop dedicated to the real practices of New Orleans Voodoo. On display were shrines dedicated to the many spirits, or 'lwa', as well as information regarding their history, origin, and counterparts in catholicism.
After the tour, we meandered back to our hotel to rest up for later that evening, stopping for lunch at a lovely little place called The Gumbo Shop – though they certainly had more than their eponymous dish on the menu!
After we rested up, we set out into an evening of haunted happenings, the Ghosts of the French Quarter tour! Braving the biting chill of the wind, Kristen and I enjoyed an impromptu personal tour from our guide, Barrett, who regaled us with terrifying tales of some of New Orleans' rather dark history. While I'd certainly reccomend the tour to anyone interested in the spooky and grim, I'll warn that some of the (true) stories are quite gruesome – though Barrett knew exactly when to leave off the more visceral details.
By the time the second tour wound down, we were both feeling the evening chill, so we headed back for an early night, resting up for the next morning.
Having gotten so much down in the first few days, we took it easy on day four, mainly getting in a bit of shopping, and circling back to a few new favorite places. We did manage to add a lovely little French cafe to our growing list: Croissant D'Or. We also started to notice a number of – ahem – concerning signs regarding the availability of Ouija Boards.
That evening, we returned to Beach Bum Berry's for some tropical drinks and lively scttlebutt from the pirate-costumed bar staff. Sitting up at the bar was a completely different experience from the private tables, and we managed t osnap a few pictures of some of hte ecelectic decoratives adorning the space.
The menu had a number of additions, just in time for Halloween, and we took the opportunity to try a number of unique and interesting cocktails, before heading out into the cold once more, this time with the benefit of a booze blanket to brace us. A short jaunt back to the hotel, and we tucked ourselves in, ready for our anniversary the following day.