Monday Murals : First day in New Orleans

Monday Murals : First day in New Orleans

I hopped on the plane to New Orleans. Yeah, Southwest Airlines is known for doing only their peanut snacks from back in the day when most airlines did meals but now most airlines have cut back to just snacks too.  What makes Southwest Airlines special to me is that you get two free check-in bags.  Count them! Two.  Some airlines no longer give you free check-in bags with their cheaper flights. You have to be at a certain tier, have their credit card or some other criteria.  So when you get a bargain ticket, check the baggage and carry-on allowance.  Having to pay $50-$75 per bag may make you change your mind on the bargain.  Did I need two bags plus my carry-on and computer bag?  Nope.  The two bags were both only half full in case I bought souvenirs. You know.  Just in case.

Travel Tip:

check the baggage and carry-on allowance.  Makes a big difference in how “cheap” a ticket really is.

Landing in New Orleans

I met Lori Kay at the airport and off we trundled to the airbnb she’d chosen.  It was a cute little house in the Musician’s Quarter (not as close to the French Quarter as we thought but it’s all good).  The house is actually filled with young musicians with one room they rent out as an airbnb to supplement their income.  I love the artiness of the home.  They had original art on all their walls.

Since we were hungry and Po’boy sandwiches kept being mentioned in novels, I asked where we could get a good Po’boy. They said Melba‘s (was 10 or 15 minutes walk and quite good.  When people give walking distances, check if they walk a lot.  Turns out a lot of people in New Orleans bike to get around.  If it’s a local biker giving you directions, double the walking time especially if they are 1/3 your age.  It took us more like 30 minutes but I enjoyed the walk through several neighborhoods.  It’s different than Tucson which had a lot of homes built after air conditioning was invented and down to a reasonable price so our homes are usually at most a few decades old.  In New Orleans, some homes are turn-of-the-century and a lovely home

Melba’s Poboys

Melba’s Poboys (1525 Elysian Fields Ave, New Orleans, LA) was excellent — crunchy shrimp in a french bread roll.  (You can view a pic of a poboy on their facebook here. Not sure why but I have no pics although I had my camera.  Maybe the battery was dead? I can’t remember now and I know I meant to take pics. They did Southern comfort food. Take a gander at their menu). When you come in, it’s like a deli with a small computer so you can order before you go up to the cases. they had a bunch of sides you can also choose.  You eat in the next room.  What I loved in the next  room was they had another counter for frozen daiquiris with tons of flavors (names like “panty dropper”, “Mama Lois”, “dirty banana”, “black and gold” and XTC) and daily specials.  I bet Wednesdays are super popular because if you buy one, you get one. Today’s daiquiri special was an extra shot which they gave me in a test tube filled with red fluid. I thought that was fun. I took my test tube home to sip later. The room was decorated with bright paintings and had a little screened off section that said adults only.  I think that was gambling but I didn’t peek in.  Yeah, I should have been more curious but I was HUNGRY!  So excuse me for spending my time munching.  Oh and slurping my strawberry daiquiri.

Melba’s is also very community-oriented in a way that I loved.  There was a little card on the table reminding people if their child gets an A on their report card, they get a cake. And there’s no cake on the menu so only the A kids get the cake. Although there are some very tasty buttermilk drops if you want something sweet or bread pudding. Melbas also encourage reading by giving out free books at author signings at their “Eat and Reads”.  Buy lunch, get a free book (okay, Melba bought a hundred books so it was first 100 customers but still — this is awesome. Encouraging people to read REAL books.  Who can’t get behind that? Some stories on the book signings in the Times-Picayune).

Since we were hungry and Po’boy sandwiches kept being mentioned in novels, I asked where we could get a good Po’boy. They said Melba‘s (was 10 or 15 minutes walk and quite good.  When people give walking distances, check if they walk a lot.  Turns out a lot of people in New Orleans bike to get around.  If it’s a local biker giving you directions, double the walking time especially if they are 1/3 your age.  It took us more like 30 minutes but I enjoyed the walk through several neighborhoods.  It’s different than Tucson which had a lot of homes built after air conditioning was invented and down to a reasonable price so our homes are usually at most a few decades old.  In New Orleans, some homes are turn-of-the-century and a lovely home

We were too tired to walk back so we took Lyft.  So ends my first day in New Orleans.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Oh, today is Monday murals since I’m late for Sunday Funday.  So here’s a cat mural.  I saw the Hi-Ho mural along with the “Love U Mom” mural on the long walk the next day with Lori Kay.  Have to love the UFO cats, right?

Related photography blog hops/linkups:

Monday Mural

Jo’s Monday Walk

Awww Mondays

Affiliate Amazon search bar. You can use the Amazon search bar to do any search at Amazon as i did with “new orleans”. Results may vary. Today I got socks and a travel guide. Wonder what you’ll get.

As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a fee if you click on the above links and buy something. This has no effect on your price. You pay the same price you would normally. Amazon disclosure: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”