Spring Break 2025: New Orleans

Our next stop on our epic road trip was New Orleans, LA. We hit some lovely weather on the drive, but otherwise the drive went great!

Said weather.

Trees growing straight out of the water. Nothing I've seen before!

The hotel was not as lovely as the last one, but I told myself it was only for one night, so we did fine. We found a fast-food restaurant called Sliders really close by and decided to try it out. The weather was super nice for eating outside!

Kids did great on the drive!

Time for some food!

We decided to go to City Park and check it out. It definitely exceeded my expectations! We drove up and saw all these beautiful trees with Spanish moss hanging, creating an ethereal effect. This park had many things to do, like an amusement park, a botanical garden, a storyland sculpture garden, mini golf, regular golf, and much more. We ended up doing none of those things, as there was still a lot to explore. 

Group shot on the swing!

We've put Eli to work to take pictures of Mom and Dad too.

In front of the mini golf area. 

I followed Noah around to get his birthday pictures.

After taking some photos we came across this super cute farmers market! They had mostly food. but the only place I purchased from was from a lady who made tons of homemade jams and jellies. There were so many flavors, but I bought a small jar of blood orange jelly and strawberry mango jelly. I didn't try them until I got home, but they were delicious! I used the strawberry mango one as a glaze for a tart I made too. Sad I only got two!

 

We then found the closest playground, and the kids played for a long time! It also happened to be by the cafe I wanted to go to, Cafe Mondu. Cafe Mondu sold beignets, donut-like pastries, special to New Orleans. They were even featured in Princess and the Frog. They tasted tike sopapillas to me, minus the honey and with tons of powdered sugar. 

The playground we spent a good chunk of time playing on.

Cafe Mondu.

This picture cracks me up. The kids faces made it seem like the beignets were nasty.

All our clothes were covered by the end with powdered sugar.

We found structures like these around the park.

One of the many cool trees we came across.

Music was around this park. One man set up his guitar and keyboard near the cafe. This group was really cool though, it was just for kids! They had a man each on guitar, saxophone, and tuba. It really gave a New Orleans vibe to the songs they played for the kids. They also brought scarfs and other things for the kids to use.

Wheels on the Bus time.

Spinning with the other kids!

The kids having a blast with scarves. 

After playing and exploring, we ended our time at the park by going for a walk. Like I said, there was so much to explore!

The white ibis. They were all over this park.

Going over this cool bridge.

Live Oaks with Spanish Moss.

Saying hello to the people on the train.

One of the biggest tree trunks we've seen in the park!

This tree had metal poles holding all the heavy, drooping branches.

Other moss and ferns were growing on these trees.

Look how much moss is on this tree!

These trees really are massive!

Another picture we solicited from Eli.

This park just had the coolest secret garden vibes.

Cool mushrooms growing on dead trees.

Another cool structure.

Our sweet Joseph.

I very recently started a state magnet collection and wanted to grab one for Louisiana. We headed to the French Quarter, which is probably the area most people think of when they picture New Orleans. The buildings were colorful, the streets were packed, and we saw shops for art, jazz, Mardi Gras, and voodoo. There was no place to park, so I jumped out at the gift shop and Sam drove around while I quickly picked out a magnet. 

A balcony with Mardi Gras decor.

VooDoo shop.

One-man band street performer. 

A VooDoo daddy. 

I found my magnet, and we got out of there. There were interesting things, but I can see why I got mixed opinions on New Orleans. City Park was a 10 out of 10 for me, but French Quarters was too busy to really appreciate it. Sam got stuck behind a horse and buggy while coming back for me. We drove to Mississippi shortly after that, so that concludes our blog post.