The Cruise Diaries--Get Me To The Pier On Time

Before we could board The Voyager of the Seas for our cruise on March 3rd, we had to get to the Port of New Orleans.

As far as driving trips from St. Louis go, New Orleans is about as straightforward as you can get.  After breakfast we loaded DIL Nicole's car, made sure the house was locked up, and started our adventure.  We left our neighborhood, drove 15 miles (and made two turns) to get to Interstate 55, then headed south. Waaay south.

Our plan was to stop in Memphis for a BBQ lunch at Rendezvous Restaurant.  However, the restaurant opened at 11:00 and we got into town fifteen minutes before that, so we popped into the Peabody Hotel to look around.  There were quite a few people waiting around, cameras in hand, and when we realized that it was almost time for the ducks to march to the lobby fountain we stayed to watch.  I've seen them before, but it's always fun to watch.

It was about ten minutes after the hour when we got to the restaurant.  We ordered a Greek salad, and plates of meat, which came with beans and cole slaw.  Even though the place wasn't busy yet, we had to wait quite some time for our food to come. While we were waiting the waiter came by with small bowls of beans and rice (a nice gesture).  When we were finished eating, there was no room for dessert!

After lunch we got back on the road, and except for gas and bathroom breaks we didn't stop until we reached the New Orleans metropolitan area. Our hotel was in Kenner, by the airport. We checked in, freshened up, and started thinking about dinner.  There wasn't anything interesting around the hotel, so we decided to drive into the city proper. After much discussion, we decided on Stanley Restaurant, right on Jackson Square in the French Quarter.  Traffic was a bit heavy on the way in, but we were able to find a prime parking spot on the street a couple of blocks from our destination.

Stanley Restaurant serves a wide variety of food. Some of us chose breakfast, others ordered dinner items, but everything was excellent.  After dinner we walked around Jackson Square, down Bourbon Street and back towards the riverfront, popping into several shops along the way.  Even though we had just eaten dinner, we HAD to stop at Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait:

After dessert, we realized how tired we were.  It was time to get back to the hotel and go to sleep.  Tomorrow was going to be a busy day!