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!