New Orleans 2018: Part 3

December 22: Today was the day. We were leaving the comfort of our airbnb and headed out to the Bayou for a swamp tour. We all piled into a couple of Uber rides and made the 30 minute drive out into the swamps. Upon arrival, we checked in and then piled onto a boat with 20 other people. Our boat captain's name was Captain Dan. He had a pretty good sense of humor. The weather was perfect. But since it was winter, most of the wild life was in hibernation mode. Captain Dan said that in the summer, you can see around 60 alligators at one time all throughout the bayou. Here's a bit of what we saw.

Even though we didn't see much wildlife, it was still pretty cool to see live gators in the wild. As we continued down the river, Captain Dan passed around a bunch of animal hides and fish that had been taxidermy. Then there was a gasp of surprise from so of the passengers. Captain Dan had reached into the cooler beside him and pulled out of it a live baby alligator. This baby alligator was abandoned, and they had rescued it. Once it's old enough, they'll release it back into the wild. But for now, he served as a treat for tourists who had the privilege of holding him.

The tour was great, the wildlife was cool, and the weather was amazing.

PC: Sam Chen

After being in the swamp all morning, and not having eaten much all day, it was time for a late lunch. We were headed to a popular place called Clesi's. They are well known for their boiled seafood, mainly crab and crawfish. We arrived around 3PM and since it was that time of day, the place was nearly empty. We had made a reservation just in case, and when we had, they told us they currently didn't have the crab or crawfish ready because that all came out during their big dinner rush...bummer. Well, at least we were going to try the shrimp.

Once we were seated and the waiter was taking our order and explaining how they normally do things, the manager came out. When he realized there were 12 hungry dudes who had come all the way from Cleveland to try their food, he told us that if we were willing to wait 30 min, he'd throw the live seafood in the pots and get us some. Our answer...heck yeah! Thirty sluggish minutes later, platters of freshly boiled seafood appeared. Crab, prawns, crawfish, so good. And then another platter filled with fried oysters appeared! "This one's on the house," the manager told us as he placed it in front of our hungry eyes. We tore into the meat and pretty soon, there was nothing but piles of carcasses on the table. If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, go eat at Clesi's. You won't regret it (unless you're allergic to shellfish).

At this point, we had to say goodbye to Dan. We tried to convince him to miss his flight and stay another day, but no dice. We parted ways and the 11 of us split up. Some went back to the airbnb while some went for some Pho (we gained a bit of a food addiction while we were here). Once full, the rest of us headed back to the airbnb for some rest and Avalon.

It wasn't long before we became restless and so we decided to try exploring bourbon street at night again. First we needed some body fuel. We found this hole-in-the-wall pizza joint and man was that pizza sooooo good. If you've ever had a really good pizza that you don't get often, think of that. We explored more of Bourbon St for a bit and then our group split in half. Sam, Seth, Stephen, and I went over to Frenchmen street and hit up Jazz clubs to experience the music that makes New Orleans famous. And it did not disappoint.

Before we knew it, 2am had rolled around, so the four of us decided to walk all the way back to Cafe du Mon for some more of those addicting Beignets.

PC: Sam Chen

Finally, our tiredness got the better of us and we all headed back to the airbnb and hit the sack. 

Day 3 in the books, be on the look out for the conclusion!

New Orleans 2018: Part 2

I totally forgot to mention what we did for dinner in part one. Why is it important? I'll tell you why. The New Orleans culinary experience was a major part of the trip. So many different, delicious, southern dishes that just catching a whiff of any one of them now and I could tell you when, what restaurant, and what had happened that day. It's all part of the experience.

The first dinner we had there was at a quaint little place on Frenchmen St called Adolfo's. It's where seafood, pasta, and creole collide. Outside, the place doesn't look like much. Inside can almost be said the same due to the fact that it fits in an apartment sized space above the bar below it. We had to wait downstairs for our table because there wasn't enough room for us to wait up there. But don't let any of that fool you, the food was amazing. We first ordered 3 plates of mussels for the table. I think this is the second time in my life I've had them because I generally don't like eating boiled, slimy, organs. Since I was in New Orleans, I pulled a page out of Yes Theory's playbook and said screw it. I'm going to have some. Pretty soon I was popping one after another, until there were three plates of nothing but shells. About this time, our dishes were served. I had ordered a shrimp scampi with marinara sauce. I didn't expect to have any pasta while down here, but the opportunity arose to combine it with southern seafood and boy was it worth it. In fact, there was so much of it that I wasn't able to finish. Our waitress was super awesome as well. Serving 10 hungry guys crammed in a small space, remembering all our orders by heart, and her social game was so on point that I didn't mind when she frequently stopped by to check on us. A funny moment happened when we told her something not true about a few of us and she thought we were dead serious until we were leaving and broke the news of our false ploy. The look on her face and the reaction we got out of her was priceless.

Friday December 21st.  We got a few extra zzz's from the long day before, and as we were waking, Sam Chen had arrived. That makes 11 out of 12. The first thing on the agenda was to try a New Orleans culinary masterpiece. The ever so sweet, taste bud tantalizing, super addicting, warm, doughy, powdery goodness, known as a beignet. You can get three of them for less than $3. And the place that sells these scrumptious delights is Cafe Du Monde. Right next to the Mississippi River. And they're open 24/7. So if you ever needed to feed that french doughnut craving at 3am, that's where you'd go. Don't leave New Orleans without trying some.

Needing some physical activity to walk off the beignets, we decided to wander through the nearby market area. The section we wandered through was outdoors. From the direction we came, we ended up walking past all the food stalls first. Cajun, creole, and seafood as far as the eye can see. So many new things to try, but that would have to wait as the beignets had not yet been digested.

Once past the food area, we hit the section of the market where all the non-edible goods were being sold. Tables were lined back to back with goods laid out everywhere. Hats, hand-crafted jewelry, carved stones, magnets, key chains, harmonicas, voodoo dolls, and so much more. Like any popular outdoor market, people were everywhere. In some places I felt like a sardine in a can. I didn't end up buying anything this time, but I would return.


It wasn't long before the savory aromas from the other end of the market came calling. Now I'm always open to trying new foods and today was going to be the day that I was going to try alligator. So I ponied up the $10 for an Alligator Po'boy.

Yes this was delicious. The taste? Well...it tasted pretty close to what chicken tastes like, except the meat was a lot tougher. But totally worth the experience.

Walking was a big part of our adventure today, so we left the market and walked all the way to Jackson Square. It's a big, beautiful park with a big, beautiful cathedral behind it. We hung out here a bit taking pics, watching street performers, and even stepping inside the cathedral.

PC: John Chen

This weather was so amazing. 55 degrees and blue skies as far as the eye could see. We soaked in the sun and the view as we walked along the Mississippi River. By this time, we found ourselves in front of the aquarium. Some of our group was tired and decided to head back while the other half decided to explore the aquatic life.

There was a cool opportunity here. For two bucks, we could feed stingrays. You better believe I was doing that! Tim, John, and I were the brave souls who held slimy, dead fish, in our palms and plunged them into stingray infested waters. Stingrays don't fool around when it's feeding time. I thought I placed my hand low enough, but apparently not as the stingray ran into it and splashed furiously trying to grab the tasty morsel. In the process it managed to give John and Tim and unwanted shower (sorry guys).

After the aquarium, we headed back towards the airbnb, but stopped at a hybrid food store/convenience mart. It was time to try some New Orleans gumbo. There was almost no one in there, but it seems they had limited supplies at the time. It was a long wait, but once that large container filled with steamy goodness was placed before me, the nuisance of the wait went away. It had only been 2 days, but I had already eaten a diverse array of Nawlins' cuisine.

Jesse arrived late in the evening and now we had all 12 of us who planned on going together. We ended the day by exploring a bit more of the city night life. That's all for day 2. Be on the lookout for day 3!