A Not-So-Scary New Orleans Halloween

Last week my daughter and I took a mini vacation to New Orleans, one that we’ve been planning for a few years, so we were very excited to finally make it this fall. We had a lot of things that we wanted to pack into our few days there, including some Halloween festivities. The plan was to have a Saturday night at the New Orleans Halloween Parade, then a ghost tour, and finally a vampire bar, but I had a bout of crazy allergies after walking around outside all day on Saturday, so we didn’t get to see so much of the spooky side of New Orleans. However, fortunately we still got to see plenty of this fascinating city, as well as some really cool Halloween decorations.

This was my first time visiting and her third, and I was very excited to experience the unique culture, the music, and all of the glorious food that New Orleans has to offer. We started with a show Friday night and a walk around the charming French Quarter on Saturday, and these were some of my favorite spots: jazz night at Preservation Hall, the definitive balconies of the French Quarter, lunch at Rue Royale Antoine, dinner at Nobu in Caesar’s (a famous Japanese restaurant we had to try, and it was well worth it!), Jackson Square, and souvenir shopping.

Preservation Hall is a historic jazz venue in the French Quarter which has intimate New Orleans jazz shows. Each one typically lasts for about an hour, as ours did, but there are some things you should know before you go: there are standing and seated tickets available, but the seats are simply hard wooden benches with no backing, and in my opinion they overbook the shows, so a lot of people are stuffed into a very cramped space. Also, they have a strict no-phones-out policy and will call you out in the middle of a show if they even see a phone. However, the music was very good and it was cool seeing the inside of the venue.

On Saturday morning, it was back to the French Quarter to see more of it in the daylight. The first thing I noticed was the signs. Sometimes, I like to take photos of my favorite signs when I go to different places, and the French Quarter definitely has some of the best signs I’ve seen! Here are some of my favorites.

If you want a variety of great New Orleans food to choose from, then I would highly recommend Rue Royale Antoine in the French Quarter. You can get all of the best in southern and New Orleans cuisine here, like fried green tomatoes, seafood pistolettes, gumbo, crawfish étouffée, jambalaya, po-boys, muffalettas, and much more! They also had the best espresso martinis!

Jackson Square is the site where Louisiana became part of the United States territory in 1803 in accordance with the Louisiana Purchase. Unfortunately, the square is named for Andrew Jackson, a former president who owned hundreds of slaves, and who was credited for the victory of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, but the square is a must-see stop. Designed by architect Louis H. Pilié, it is a beautiful plaza that was vibrant and bustling in the midst of an art fair on the day we went. The square is also home to the St. Louis Cathedral, which was built in 1789 and is one of two of the oldest cathedrals in continuous use in the United States, the other being the Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey, California.

We spent a lovely Sunday morning having coffee and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde on the Mississippi River, and then headed to the garden district for a stroll through the neighborhoods. We spent some time at a cute local book shop with lots of New Orleans literature, The Garden District Book Shop, and enjoyed seeing a variety of colorful and historic Greek Revival, Victorian, Italianate, and Gothic Revival homes, many of which were dressed to the nines for Halloween.

On our last night there, we went to Pat O’Brien’s, where the original hurricane was made, sipped on an insanely strong hurricane and mint julep, and enjoyed an incredibly fun time in the piano bar room and then snacks in the nice open-air dining area.

All in all, even though we missed out on the spooky side of New Orleans, considering all that we got to do in two and a half days, it was a total win. But someday I’d like to go back, not only for ghost tours and vampire bars, but also to do a few things that we didn’t plan on this trip, but that looked fun, like a swamp tour and a steamboat ride!