We kicked off the day by going on an awesome walking tour of Lafayette Cemetery No 1 and the Garden district. Syd was fascinated with the idea of the ‘villages of the dead’ aka above ground cemeteries. The stories there were fascinating about how they do burials, how they maintain these old structures, and family stories. I loved the 4 dudes from wealthy families and how they all had 4 above ground mosoleums for their entire families next to one another on a corner plot. That goes beyond ride or die if you ask me.
The tour was absolutely incredible! Our guide was a local and really funny. We learned a ton of history about everything from illnesses to architecture. Also where a lot of terminology came from. It wasn’t boring at all! We did walk several miles though, so on tours be prepared to walk on uneven sidewalks, over roots, and dirt, and a long ways. My ballet flats were fine. I hadn’t discovered tieks yet on this trip (game changer), but if you need more support you can always bring a tote bag and wear sneakers but bring a change of shoes if you are going somewhere nice after. (Like we did).
The tour then went all over the mansions of the garden district. We saw John Goodman’s home. Anne Rice’s. and Sandra Bullock to name a few. The guide’s personal stories and local humor made the tour incredible. If you go to a city like New Orleans where people put their heart and soul into entertaining people (Including tourists) please bring extra money and tip them well! It’s good karma. It’s their livelihood, and if you can afford to take the tours, you can afford gratuity. You wouldn’t go out to eat and not tip your waiter would you? Of course not!
Here are a few of our favorite mansions on the tour
The tour was all and all just perfect. The perfect length, amount of info, and pace. Much to my surprise, It ended at Commander’s Palace a famous older New Orleans restaurant. It has white glove service! It is one of those incredible places where you won’t just remember your meal, but the whole experience. I worked in 5 star restaurants. I know the difference! I was crazy happy it ended there, because that’s where I booked Syd’s Birthday Lunch!! Yay! I love it when things align that way!
A few tips on booking at Commander’s Palace
- Book way in advance
- Go for Lunch instead of dinner! Similar choices lunch prices
- Let them know if you’re celebrating
- Don’t forget the 25 cent martinis
- Order the cheesecake trust me on this one
We got the royal treatment right away. This was a big milestone birthday for Syd so I wanted to make sure it was special!
They seated us near a window (As I requested in the notes section when I made the reservation). Always, always, always ask for what you want. It doesn’t hurt to ask. It rained during our meal and we got to watch the storm roll in. They put balloons on the table and everything. We also chatted up the next table over. They were hilarious and photo bombed our chef’s hat pic at the end of the meal. The staff were warm, funny, and made us very very happy. I didn’t take a picture of the cheesecake, but it was one of the best desserts of our lives. I’m not kidding. Syd is a chocolate person with a sweet tooth and I’m from Wisconsin. We know desserts, and I know dairy. This cheesecake was a religious experience. We loved it so much we almost ordered one to go (and we’re relatively healthy eaters)! We regretted not getting one to go. Syd doesn’t normally like cheesecake but he was more into it than his chocolate dessert (Which has never happened before)! They told us they couldn’t even replicate this holy cheesecake in other cities because something about the humidity of New Orleans makes it perfect. Writing this makes me want it all over again. If nothing else, just go for the cheesecake and coffee in silver. You won’t regret it.
They know how to make you feel special at Commander’s palace!
25 cent martinis at lunch! 
Our beautiful view of the rain! 
The iconic entrance 
Birthday boy/photo bomb!
After our little tour/lunch, we headed back to the quarter in a lyft to the Omni to chill and nap and later dress for dinner. We were full and tired and happy!
Syd got drenched in the downpour and had to change shirts for dinner. I tried to blow-dry the first one, but Syd has a thing about things being super dry! Ha ha. I have to restart the dryer like 3 times when I’m the one doing laundry for his socks to be ‘dry enough’ ha ha! This led to us totally matching!
For the evening of his B-Day I booked a dinner cruise on the Steamboat Natchez which felt very very haunted even in the early evening. We had a nice dinner on board. Syd joked around with the lady staff who ate it up with a spoon. (He’s so darned charming). Then we explored the boat. I had been on this one once before. We went to the engine room, the bar, the gift shop, we went and watched the paddles turn at the back. But the best part by far is the live band!
The beautiful but haunted dining room 
Twilight on the Mississippi 
The amazing band 
Just in case! 
The skyline 
The deck 
Birthday boy and his ‘younger woman’ 😉
I stuck up to them and asked if they could surprise Syd for his 50th birthday with a song and it was fine to ‘surprise us’ They later did at the perfect moment playing ‘When I’m 64’ by the Beatles right before docking. Syd was Surprised, touched, elated and embarrassed. He hates being the center of attention, but also people treated him like a rockstar afterwards. Everyone wanted to talk to him. It really was a magic moment/night.
We hopped off the steamboat and jumped into a pedicab to go to the highly recommended carousel bar at hotel montelone.
I have taken pedicabs before especially when I lived in Austin, but in New Orleans it was crazy worth it. to see the sights, feel special, enjoy the music from the cab, and get a breeze in the humid air! It was the right thing to do on this day since it was the actual birthday and our feet were tired from walking so much already. (Miles and miles).
We were lucky enough to get seats at the bar right away. The carousel bar is exactly like it sounds. The bar itself makes a full rotation every 20 minutes. I had the bourbon milk punch. It was incredible. It was really hard to get good pics but the best one of both of us was this one we snapped in the side mirror as we went by. You’ll find it opposite the tv’s if you need to get a selfie with some of the carousel in them. The ones others tried to take were comical and unflattering. Ha ha. The carousel kept turning slowly too which was super funny.
We apparently didn’t have enough, so we walked down bourbon street for Syd’s first time at night. It was crowded by this time and filled with rude and wasted tourists. It was sensory overload. I remember thinking this was exciting and fun at 19. It was just gross and obnoxious this late at night for both of us. We popped into a voo doo shop to look for a new deck of tarot cards, but it had dark energy and I was like nope! Syd agreed.
We continued on covered in beads (I danced for them don’t worry! No nudity involved). We made it to the quiet streets between bourbon and La Fittes. After the gay district. We felt eyes on us from all of the spirits behind shutters. This little street is very very haunted. It probably is even more so because it is fed energetically from the other side of bourbon. We were so done. We grabbed some snacks and bottled water at a walk in convenience store and went home to crash.
Today was the most action packed of the trip and a really full birthday! I’m so glad he loved it. He deserved it all!
The Adventures of Syd and Meg 
It seems you had a nice day:)
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