In all of these years of living in Peoria, we must have driven the I-55 to go to Chicago countless times. Not quite as often, but the I-55 has also taken us down to St. Louis several times. And now, here we were, taking the I-55 all the way south, all the way to the Gulf Coast, to New Orleans! Now, Peoria to New Orleans is quite a bit to drive – a little over 800 miles, almost 12 hours of driving through 5 states – Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and finally, Louisiana – 2 days there, and 2 days back!!

We started from Peoria on the Wednesday of Thanksgiving weekend – a modest 300 miles was the target for that evening. Ajey had booked us an overnight stay in Cape Girardeau, a couple of hours south of St. Louis – and this town was the biggest surprise of the whole trip!! An absolutely charming little place, with a complete Stars Hollow vibe! A Main Street straight out of Gilmore Girls, with vintage street lamps, quaint little store fronts and dazzling Christmas lights!! Even the Marriott stayed in character – with the exposed brick and rafters, and cosy front lobby. It was too late to explore that night, but next morning – we did drive around a little, stopping to take pictures at the waterfront of the mighty Mississippi!

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Driving further south, it was exciting to see the temperature rising with each passing mile. And yet – even with temperatures well in the 50s – how can it be snow lining the road? Of course, it wasn’t snow – but, wait for it – cotton!!! Fields and fields of cotton, with huge bales harvested and ready to go, and fluffy cotton lining the road! Didn’t really get a good picture though. What with it being Thanksgiving day, most restaurants, including fast-food chains were closed – and we were lucky to find a Shoney’s for lunch along the way. It was late evening as we approached New Orleans, with spectacular views of the sunset and the new moon rising over the bayou.

Our hotel was a short 10-minute walk away from the French Quarter. Past the Harrah’s casino, along the brightly lit Canal Street, we made our way to Bourbon Street, the most famous – or perhaps, I should say, infamous – street in the Big Easy! Bars and Creole restaurants line the street, with live jazz music spilling out every other establishment. Unfortunately, most places had a 21 plus age requirement to get in – so no chance for Manasi to listen to jazz. She did get to try some shrimp gumbo, though!! The best part of the evening? Right on the busy Canal Street – was an authentic Chinese massage place – with foot massage advertised at $12!! Well, let’s not get too carried away – it was $12 for 10 minutes – but it was so much fun! Took me back to our Suzhou days!

Next morning, headed to the most touristy activity in New Orleans – breakfast at Cafe du Monde! It was a beautiful day for a stroll along the beautiful riverfront – fountains, a steamboat loading, and can it be – pelicans!!! Right across from Jackson Square, we stopped to watch a troupe of street performers – their acrobatics and dare-devil acts made us linger, but not for too long – the beignets were calling!! Cafe du Monde serves these French donuts absolutely smothered in powdered sugar that go perfectly with the steaming cups of cafe au lait. The wait to get a table here is quite long, but oh so worth it!!

The French Quarter during the day is very different from what we had seen the previous night. We walked through the charming little streets, with pastel buildings, and airy wrought-iron balconies, ducking into little souvenir shops – till we reached a statue of the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc – a replica of the statue in Orleans, France. Quite nostalgic – remembering that cold, rainy day we had spent in Orleans – I really should go dig up the pictures we had taken then!! Lunch was another New Orleans exclusive – a ‘muffuletta’ at Central Grocery – a sandwich made with a sesame-studded Italian bread with olive salad and cheese. Well, that was our vegetarian version – the original is stuffed with all kinds of cured meats.

Next on my must-do list was riding the St. Charles streetcar, the oldest streetcar in the world – the plan was to walk back towards our hotel along the tram-line, and hop on whenever we spotted the distinctive green streetcar. This was a different side of the city – a newer, shinier side with the high rise, glass front office buildings. We never did see the tram, and finally, decided to drive along that scenic route – with the antebellum mansions and moss draped magnolias. We drove past the Tulane and Loyola campus, and the Audobon Zoo – finally finding a parking spot on Magazine street to take pictures at the ‘NOLA’ graffiti painting – this was Manasi’s find, and hands-down was the best place to take pictures!!

It was back to the French quarter that night – and we were hoping to get some jazz on. Our hotel concierge had recommended that we go to Preservation Hall – one of the oldest jazz places in the city. They didn’t serve alcohol – this was a place for serious music – so shouldn’t be a problem for Manasi. The catch? They only did 3 shows per night, and had limited seating – so getting in was quite a challenge! So, it was back in line – but we had a vey interesting time here! Right next to us in line were a real-life Veer-Zaara from New York – and they regaled us with stories of their cross-border romance and marriage!

Preservation Hall was very minimalistic – the performance room was small, with only a few wooden benches for the audience, and standing room for the remaining. This made for a very intimate performance – the music itself was mind-blowing! The food adventure continued after the jazz – stopped for oysters at one of the numerous seafood restaurants – the jury is still out on that one!! The bread pudding was divine, though!!

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There’s a lot more to do in New Orleans – much more than we could cover in our really short time. I was hoping to see the Mississippi delta – but to get to that is almost a 3 hours drive away – so that’s going to have to be a separate trip!! The whole Bourbon Street party vibe – to be honest, it was a bit much. I don’t know what it is that makes people think it’s ok to drink until they’re senseless – but we saw many, many examples of that kind of debauchery. Worse than the drinking? I always thought it was cigaratte smoke – but sniff, sniff – what’s that sickly-sweet smell wafting all around? Ys, marijuana – and with that, I really think I’m ready to go back to a time when cigarette smoke was my biggest peeve. There were also tons of cops – especially on Friday night – and weirdly, instead of making me feel safer, the heavy police presence made me really nervous – they’ve got to be expecting some kind of trouble, right? And trouble there was – we didn’t hear about the shooting until we were well on our way back to Peoria – but it did put a damper over the whole NOLA experience!

I do have to make a special mention of the food on this trip – not the New Orleans food, although we did make it a point to try some of the specialities. Since we were driving, Ajey had suggested carrying our Instant Pot, our grill and groceries with us. Now, I’m never a big fan of cooking on vacations – so I was a bit reluctant – but Ajey talked me into it – and at the end of the weekend, I’m so glad he did! Every evening, we were able to eat a simple meal in our hotel room, before venturing out. It’s amazing how much pressure this takes off – we were able to enjoy ourselves without the worry of finding a place to eat at, and we could also sample a bit of the local cuisine without overspending!! It really worked out great – and all credit to Ajey!!

We came back home – and dived straight into the busiest 2 weeks ever – Madrigals Week and then Finals Week. And then right away, we were off on our next adventure. Stay tuned, for our European stop-over and then India!!