We were surprised that we slept this well, we expected The hotel being much noisier due to it being an old building which is not soundproof combined with people coming. back from partying late at night but none of that.

At 10:00 we left the hotel towards the place where the Steamboat Natchez is docked. We booked a lunch river cruise over the Mississippi on this old ship.

We got there early and walked around a bit, mama and Emily got to pick some more Mardi Gras beads at a souvenir store. Emily picked the one with the ducks and mama went with a bunch of necklaces. Moments later Emily had them all…

Soon it was time to board the ship and at 11am we could sit down for our early lunch. The buffet had a excellent selection of food fried fish, andouille sausage, baked chicken, rice with red beans and Jamabalya. Everything was delicious, Emily could not stop eating her rice.

After our seating was finished explored the 3 floors of the boat before we found the perfect spot and chairs along the railing to watch the river from the shades.

After we left the boat we rushed back to the hotel as it looked like there was a thunderstorm coming. Back in the hotel it took only minutes before our little princes was in a deep sleep.

Almost 3 hours later she woke up during a very loud thunderstorm. Probably one of the first signs of Alberto, the first tropical storm of this years storm season which is on its way to NOLA.

After the thunderstorm was over we decided to walk one more time through streets of NOLA.

Unfortunately it was still raining but we made it to Cafe Beignet on Royal Street.

And honestly this might not be the most famous beignets in New Orleans but they tasted better as the ones from Cafe Du Monde. And on top of that we had relaxing live music while we were enjoying the beignets, coffee and the people passing the cafe.

After we were done with the beignets and we cleaned up our sugary mess it was still raining and so we decided to spend some time in the hotel bar with live music, a drink and something to snack.

Around 8 it was time for bed, everyone is a bit tired and tomorrow is another relocation day!!!

Mobile was just a stop, we didn’t really plan on doing anything there but sleeping. Emily woke up late, actually very late at 7:50 if you don’t count the 1 hour time difference!

Our breakfast was from Costco, croissant and fruit and we were in the car by 9:00am for probably the shortest drive of the whole trip, just 2 hours. The road to New Orleans brought us beautiful views over swamps, rivers and forests.

After a short while we entered Mississippi, State #11 and this is were we stopped in Gulfport for a Starbucks mug and some shopping. Unfortunately there was no Starbucks mug due to a legal issue, 🙁 But we found a Disney Store outlet and a Tommy Hilfiger which both just stocked up for the Memorial Day sale. Memorial Day is this Monday.

With just an hour drive ahead of us we drove right to our hotel in New Orleans French Quarter. On the last bridge towards NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) it started to rain, or maybe pouring is a better description. Luckily we had Emily with us, still waving her American Flag shouting “STOP IT, STOP THE RAIN!” and just before we reached our hotel the rain almost stopped.

We stay just a block away from Bourbon Street in the Chateau Lemonye, a Holiday Inn Hotel which fits perfectly in the environment. Our room was ready right away and it’s beautiful.

After we arranged our stuff we left for lunch. The rain was reduced to just some drops and we hoped to find a spot in the Oceana Grill just a couple minutes away from our hotel. Walking there we already experienced some of where NOLA is all about, partying on the streets.

At the restaurant we got a table right away. We started with blackened Alligator Tail bites and for our entrees Emily went with the fried fish, mama the Mardi Gras pasta with Shrimp and Louisiana Crawfish and I went with the Fried Seafood platter with fried shrimps, fried Louisiana Crawfish and fried Oysters. Everything’s as delicious and Emily her fish was “berry delicious”.

After lunch it was time for an afternoon nap, when we walked back it rained but we found some umbrellas in a souvenir shop.

While we were sleeping mama researched what we needed to see besides the tips we got from Jeremy.

After the nap we walked towards Jackson Square and saw some very beautiful, typical for the French Quarter, balconies on our way over there.

Since we were close to Cafe Du Monde we wanted to see if there was a spot for us to eat the worlds most famous Beignets and not to forget just dip your finger in the powder sugar. And we were lucky just 40 minutes later we left after sharing 6 beignets and having some drinks.

We were close to the Mississippi and decided to look at some ships and trains. We also booked a lunch on a steamboat over the Mississippi for tomorrow.

From there we slowly walked back to our hotel along Bourbon street.

When we arrived in our hotel we shared some fries and had the final drinks of the day in the hotel bar.

After a long bath for Emily it’s time to go to bed to start tomorrow early!