Family-Friendly Christmas Fun in New Orleans - Part 1

Steve, Trevor, and I just got home from our latest travel adventure, an 11-day trip which included two new-to-us states. We had a great time and I can't wait to tell you all cool things we did! Because I blog about educational travel, I received complimentary admission tickets, media rates, discounts, and other benefits for some of the places we visited. Some attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest, including all the food we ate. This has no bearing on my reviews; everything I am sharing is something that I recommend without hesitation.

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Family-Friendly Christmas Fun in New Orleans

Our Louisiana adventure began early in the morning on Sunday, December 22. We flew from San Francisco to New Orleans, landing around 3:00 pm Central time. By the time we got settled into our hotel, we were starving. We went to Creole House for our first authentic New Orleans food. 

Creole House is the oldest existing building on Canal Street and features all the southern classics you could want. It's casual, reasonably priced, and kid-friendly. Most importantly, the food is outstanding.

Our family of three shared five items, which was just the right amount of food for us since we hadn't had lunch. We had an alligator po’ boy with fries, cheesy grits, French onion soup, chicken and andouille gumbo, and boudin. All three of us enjoyed all five items; our favorites were the gumbo, boudin, and cheesy grits. 

This was Trevor's first time trying alligator. He gave it a thumbs-up.

Steve's parents (Dave and Pat) and sister (Teri) had arrived in New Orleans the day before we did. After we finished dinner, they met up with us for an evening walk to see the sights. First stop: Bourbon St. It was sprinkling on and off, but that didn't keep the crowds (or us) away. 

I'd read that New Orleans hotels get all dressed up for the holidays, so I'd mapped out a route of places I didn't want to miss. We started at the Royal Sonesta. It did not disappoint.

Next stop: Hotel Monteleone.

The Roosevelt was ridiculously crowded, so it was hard to capture the grandeur of the lights that extended from one door straight through to the next a city block away. Impressive, for sure.

  

We saved the best for last, though not intentionally. I absolutely loved everything about the Ritz-Carlton, particularly the life-sized gingerbread streetcar. 

The gingerbread steamboat was really cool, too. Although it wasn't life-sized, it was still impressively large. 

The details were so fun. I like the cherry gummy rings (affiliate link) and Swedish fish to enhance the nautical theme. 

After the Ritz, we walked down Canal Street. The street is so pretty with all the lights.

There's our hotel, the Marriott on Canal Street. 

The decorations at the Marriott were more understated than in the luxury hotels, but still nice. 

Overall, we were happy with the Marriott. It's in a great location, convenient to everything. And we had a great view. 

After a long day, we were more than ready for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I'll tell you about our first full day in New Orleans, which ended up being one of my favorite days from the entire 11-day trip.