Loooong post here…… grab a glass of wine or a bag of chips and sit back.
Ahhh New Orleans! My year is never complete with out a weekend in NOLA. The lights, the feels, the music and SNOW???!!! Yep, this year we experienced something in New Orleans for the first time…. SNOW!!!! Crazy, I know but yeah… it snowed on us, more on that in a minute.
The Roosevelt is our home away from home. It is one of the most well known beautifully decorated lobbies during the holiday season. If you are not familiar with The Roosevelt Hotel here’s an article filled with history and facts. And just looooook at the lobby:
The Roosevelt Hotel Holiday Decor – Photo from VIE Magazine
I mean, seriously. It’s a twinkle light wonderland! But that’s not the only reason we stay in this historic hotel. It’s charm, service, amenities and central location on Canal Street make it the perfect home base for our itinerary.
Itinerary? Yes ma’am! I start a few weeks out jotting down everything I’d like to do or see. Hubby knows to just play along, haha. This will be referred to as “The List” for the remainder of this post. 3 days and 2 nights in NOLA just isn’t enough time. I know that sounds crazy but it’s just not. With so many different parts of the city and so many different feels it’s nearly impossible to fit it into 3 days. Add freezing cold rain/sleet/snow and you lose precious time. Oh the agony!
Friday morning we throw our bags in the car and head west. Leaving from Pensacola it’s about a 3 hour drive. It’s super cold and we know snow is in the forecast. About 30 minutes outside of New Orleans all of a sudden the sleet turns to fluffy white snow flurries! It was so beautiful! We pulled over to gt some pictures.
Can you believe that? I realize to a person who lives in an area where snow is a normal phenomenon this is not technically snow, however, this is the closest thing to snow I’ve seen since our trip to Breckenridge this past March.
We arrived at the hotel, checked in and headed straight to the first place on The List – ACME Oyster House on Iberville for some world famous Flamed Grilled Oysters. What could be better on a freezing cold, dreary day?
One thing about the restaurants in New Orleans, if there’s a line, you better believe its worth the wait. Yes, there was a line, at 1:00 in the afternoon, in the freezing cold rainy weather, we waited outside for about 20 minutes. We were seated at the bar right next to the door – every time the door opened cold air rushed in, ugh – but you know the saying ‘things happen for a reason’ – check this out…..
The oyster shuckers at ACME have been working there for ever, and I mean for EVER. These guys arent’ the typical restaurant workers who show up and get paid and go home. These guys are professionals that travel all over the country to shuck oysters at events like The Master’s and other highfalutin’ shin digs. Our spot at the bar was in front of Master Shucker Stormin’ Norman. He has been shucking oysters for 30+ years. We started talking with him regarding a Masters chef coat displayed on the wall behind him. He said ‘yup, that’s my jacket but it will be his soon’ pointing to the shucker next to him. Before you knew it he pulled out his cell phone and started scrolling through pictures of events in Washington DC, New York City, Las Vegas, etc. It was amazing and he was super proud. I kept thinking of the line in Forest Gump where he said “I liked to run but I never thought it would get me anywhere” Who knew shucking oysters would take Stormin Norman to the places he has been? It’s remarkable.
I look forward to our next visit at ACME. And I hope we get the same bar spot right in front of Stormin Norman! If you’d like to find out more about Norman and ACME, check out this article from Life and Thyme.
Since it was still freezing and raining, we decided to forgo our plans on The List and stop in The Hotel Monteleone on Royal. It is another must while in NOLA. Check out The Carousel Bar and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a seat.
The Carousel Bar
NOLA Necessities
We were not so lucky since everyone and their brother had the same itinerary but luckily we were able to find a cozy spot in a corner and order a beverage. The Pimm’s Cup is by far the most delicious beverage aside from the Old Fashioned. I’ll add that this Pimm’s Cup was the best one I had on our stay.
From here we decided to get back to the hotel and unpack. But while in Rome…. we made a pit stop in The Saint Hotel.
Rose!
If you know me you know I love a good Rose. To my surprise we discovered Meiomi Rose!! I mean what the what! It was meant to be, haha. The Saint is a really cool boutique hotel covered in velvet and swanky patterns. The women’s bathroom is wall to wall mirrors…… lots of selfie taking opportunities for patrons 🙂 Needless to say we had a great time chatting with the bartender and discovering the evening entertainment was a burlesque show *insert big eye emoji*
The hubs on his velvet throne
Time for dinner!!!! Inside the Roosevelt is the most yummiest pizza place, Domenica. We ordered a pizza, of course and the roasted cauliflower…… totally the bomb!! Then we headed back over to the Saint for the burlesque show, ha. Like I said, while in Rome! It was very classy and tasteful if that’s not an oxymoron.
Being the old people we are, we hit the sack at midnight. Whew. What a day! The only thing on The List we accomplished was ACME. As I was falling asleep in that big comfy bed I told Scott, “BIG plans for tomorrow – you’d better be ready!”
