The French Quarter, New Orleans

Ella and I had never been to New Orleans before and we also wanted to go to escape our cold weather. We began our trip in the French Quarter and our hotel, the French Market inn. I absolutely loved the location of our hotel. It's down the street from Jackson Square and Cafe Du Monde, two streets away from Bourbon Street, and literally walking distance from everything.

Only two blocks from our hotel is Jackson square. It's a small little park in front of a historic church and another historic building, the Cabildo, which served as a government and law enforcement building of the past. The square is lively with small shops of artists and people offering to read your fortune. By the church was a band playing.

Much of that first day was spent roaming around the French Quarter just marveling at the architecture of the buildings. The streets are narrow and bustling with people, seemed like a nightmare to drive through. All the hotels looked historic and most buildings had a courtyard, which I later found out to be the norm in the past because the courtyard was used as an official entrance to a building or home. We found a lot of interesting art galleries and one really cool vintage store. Of course, we had to also get the famous hand grenade.

As night set, we went on our first tour known as the "Thrillers and Killers" tour. Our enthusiastic tour guide took us to places where tragedies occurred, both historic and recent. Here I learned just a little bit about voodoo, more about the infamous Delphine LaLaurie, and even some recent crime horrors where the killers did not go to jail. Perfect way to end a spooky night in a spooky city.