Chilling In The Crescent City

It came to light this morning that Malcolm went to Bourbon St last night and not Cafe Du Monde! He made up for it by visiting early this morning and bringing home some beignets and coffee for breakfast. The beignet can be thought of as the state doughnut of Louisiana. Deep fried and coated with powdered sugar, it is a great artery clogger and the perfect comfort for the chilly temperature.

Breakfast!

Coffee and beignets

The faster you eat, the more you get!

Much of the US is in a deep freeze with temperatures plummeting to unseasonal lows. We braved ourselves for the cold and headed out to start our day. A free shuttle took us to Mardi Gras World, our first destination. I must admit I was rather ignorant of the facts of the New Orleans Mardi Gras and learnt a lot today! We were able to work through the operational workshop as they prepared the props and floats for the upcoming parade. The kids were happy because they recognised many of the characters and scored some free King cake.

The free shuttle was a god send!

Our ticket was a bead like the "throws" that are given out during the parades

Taking photos before our tour

Guess which one Jonah picked

Many of the "props" for the float are recycled where possible. Poor Iincredible getting dismantled...Most are made from styrofoam and then paper mached on top

Some of the floats getting ready to be dressed

Free King cake!

Who's that fool?!?!?! Oh that would the one that I married. Who's the fool?

He found his new hero

Look who's here!

Some of the gorgeous costumes on display

The royal theme continued as we proceeded to Royal Street to the counter service section of Kingfish restaurant. We ticked off a few more New Orleans essentials including smoked goose gumbo and mufflettas. Salty, smokey, but good.

Sigh...still working on the youngest to look at the camera

Lunch! More importantly somewhere warm...

Catalogueing their loot from Mardi Gras World

Smoked goose gumbo on the left, bluecrab soup on right. Both delicious

Muffaletta, meat with olive salad on bread

We walked along the Mississippi River to the French Market. However  the promised treasures of food, antiques and crafts never eventuated. It was a bit disappointing actually. We were there around 2pm but it was mostly empty and we encountered many homeless people and beggars scouring the rubbish bins. The whole city seemed deserted compared to yesterday. The extreme cold, and it being a weekday rather than a weekend, were probably contributers.

The disappointing French Market

More comfort food food for dinner

With the thermometer hovering just above zero and wind chill bringing it down into the negatives, we called it quits and returned to our hotel for warm drinks and board games. Our dinner choices were limited with many establishments not allowing children. We were keen to get food quickly from any place close by and so decided to go with fried chicken, gumbo and jambalaya. We scoffed and scooted home for coffee, fudge and more board games.

Boardgames indoors the way to go. Our room set to 16 degrees feels absolutely toasty!