NEW ORLEANS GIRLFRIEND GETAWAY

by Jeanni Ritchie

I started planning part of this trip last summer. I’d been folding laundry, watching The Price is Right when the doors opened to a fabulous New Orleans trip for two. A festival, meals, and a stay at B&W Courtyards near the French Quarter. The contestant won the prize but by then I was already on my phone googling B&W Courtyards.

An idea was born.

I didn’t need to go to Los Angeles to win a fabulous vacation to New Orleans. I could create my own trip, complete with a stay in the featured hotel and build my own itinerary.

I stored away the thought.

A few months later my friend Mary mentioned she’d love to go to New Orleans to see Hamilton. Hmmm, I thought, my wheels churning. Maybe I could put together a travel piece on a D-I-Y NOLA trip. Unlike my usual solo adventures, this would be a “Girlfriend Getaway.”

My bestie certainly deserved the perks I’d been getting. For two years she’d listened to me whine about my life then held my hand through my divorce. She’d offered up her guest room when my rebellious attitude had been too much for my mother. And she’d told me quite simply to stop running and come home when I continued to try to outrun my mind. She’s always been good about speaking the truth, no matter how painful. Maybe this could be my thank-you.

A couple of pitches to editors and a few phone calls later, I had our trip mostly planned when I gave her a call. She always jokes about wanting to be my assistant on some of my travel trips so I told her I had a Hamilton weekend in NOLA planned and would she like to come along?

She was down!

We hadn’t traveled together in decades, those years of hopping in a car on a whim and going til the gas ran out long gone. We would find out that we were alike in so many ways and yet different in many others.

For example, I pack light. One rolling suitcase and a toiletry case. Mary packs for the apocalypse. Blankets, pillows, snacks, flares, flashlights, a suitcase for each day…you get my drift!

But we were on the same page when it came to the kind of fun we wanted to have. We built an itinerary tailor-made for both toddlers and The Golden Girls and- bonus!- we were gifted a pair of Hamilton club seats by Mary’s sister Sarah who’d won them in a raffle hosted by Atlas Realty Company in Slidell. We traded our cheap seats for the VIP treatment.

I could get used to that! In fact the whole weekend we felt like royalty, even down to our D-I-Y spa night!

Day 1 (Saturday):

After picking up our VIP tickets from Atlas Real Estate, we took turns selecting destinations. Mary’s first stop was The Occasional Wife, an estate shop. (Mary loves to shop!) I was merely creating TikTok content when I became fascinated with some of the finds- an Indian costume, a vintage typewriter, an 80’s board game I didn’t remember.

My first pick was New Orleans City Park. (I love to be a kid!) While I’d visited the park in January, Carousel Gardens had been closed. We rode on almost all the rides, laughing so hard on the Scrambler my side literally hurt. We took a really nice train ride through the entire park- that’s worth the trip to City Park alone. I also got on the kiddie roller coaster after being assured by a 7-year old that I would be okay!

We visited Storyland next, an attraction open year-round, where we got up close and personal with characters from our favorite fairy tales. I went into all three of the pigs’ houses, huffing and puffing and trying to blow the houses down!

We had a delicious late lunch at Magazine Pizza, a short walk from our first night’s stay at the beautiful Higgins Hotel, the official WW2 Museum hotel.

Because our Hamilton tickets included valet parking, we drove to the Saenger that evening. Neither of us had seen the show but knew of its massive success and popularity. We, too, were die-hard fans by the time the curtain closed. I need a Thomas Jefferson sequel!

We met several cast members after the show- I took selfies and Mary got autographs on her Playbill-while waiting for our car. As many shows as I’ve attended, I never knew some of the cast came out the side door for photo-ops and meet and greets!

We had planned to check out the hotel rooftop bar and get a couple of mocktails after the show but as we headed up the elevator we realized it was past 11 and they’d already shut down.

After 11 and we were shutting down too. We were asleep within minutes!

Day 2 (Sunday):

If you had a picture of us from the 80’s, it would clearly be labeled BEFORE. The AFTER shot would’ve been our hotel room Sunday morning. There I was cross-legged on the bed in fuzzy socks and pajamas, with an open Bible on my lap while Mary sat across the room in a chair stretching and doing some mindful breathing.

If you’d have shown our 18-year old selves THAT picture, they’d have protested loudly! We wouldn’t have it any other way.

We headed to Midtown for brunch. Wakin’ Bakin’ was a cool little brunch spot with cafe tables outside. I loved their original Cajun Smash Hash.

Even though we’d just eaten, Mary wanted to visit Angelo Brocato’s, a childhood favorite of her late mom’s. She shared stories of her grandfather and the Brocatos, the shop going back generations. It was like an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, fresh cannolis and other Italian treats lining the cases. I tried Baked Alaska and cannolis for the first time, the latter being my favorite.

We checked into our room at the B&W Courtyards next, taking turns while the other sat in the car in a loading only zone. There was no parking because of the nearby French Quarter Festival! With no way to go inside the hotel without parking a mile away, I gave Mary another gift: my blessing to find another estate sale! She made a beeline for an oak-lined neighborhood and headed inside while I reclined my seat and read until my eyes closed.

We went back to the B&W, parking a few blocks away and I worked on articles until time for our dinner reservation at Palace Cafe. We took a Lyft to the award-winning restaurant, part of the Dickie Brennan & Co. family of restaurants known for their culinary excellence.

Palace Café serves contemporary Creole cuisine, honoring New Orleans’ culinary heritage while offering fresh twists. Unable to choose between the Crabmeat Cheesecake appetizer found only at Palace Cafe and Crawfish Fondue, their newest appetizer, I skipped the entree and got two appetizers instead! Mary got a salad and shared the appetizers and homemade French bread with me.

Full once again, we took a Lyft back to our room at the historic B&W and had our own spa night, courtesy of official Mary Kay consultant Mary! One of the dozen suitcases Mary had packed for our weekend trip was filled with facial masks and scrubs, tubes to lift and brighten and tighten in a (rather delusional?) effort to regain a youthful glow! It was relaxing, though, and I enjoyed our GNI (Girls Night In) just as much as our GNO (Girls Night Out). We could even hear faint sounds of jazz music playing from the final night of the French Quarter Fest. It was the perfect touch to our grown-up girls’ slumber party in NOLA and became our nighttime lullaby.

Day 3 (Monday):

We walked through the French Quarter on the way to our breakfast reservation at Brennan’s before we left town. I loved the juxtaposition, like I’d stepped into a children’s book showing a city coming to life!

Trucks backed up to dumpsters, shop owners sprayed down sidewalks, artists set up displays, and painters spruced up storefronts. The sounds of early morning rang through the otherwise quiet neighborhood. The beeping of a truck in reverse, the chains of iron gates being lifted, an early morning musician playing for tips. It was like the sunrise of a city, stretching and waking up on its own timetable.

The iconic pink restaurant stood majestically on Royal Street, the indoor player piano hitting each note perfectly. We opted to dine in the courtyard, next to the fountain of turtles, which posed only a slight dilemma after Mary ordered the Turtle Soup appetizer!

The food was amazing and there’s no question as to why they will celebrate their 80th birthday next year. Housed in the renovated first bank after the Louisiana Purchase, it was five-star dining at its finest.

I had the Crème Brûlée French toast- divine! Even though Brennan’s had been the original creator of the popular Bananas Foster dessert, it was the homemade Snickers dessert I wanted to try. Oh. My. Goodness. That dessert was the best dessert I’ve ever had in my life!

I loved having a “driver” on my trip, even if her car was programmed to stop at every Aldi and Trader Joe’s along the way! I was able to finish editing videos and take notes, something I usually can’t do until after I return home.

But most of all, I loved sharing such a fun trip with such a good friend. Making memories with those you love is special yet we often put such pleasures off til they never happen.

Just like another young girl shared when she was in New Orleans recently, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it…”