To and From New Orleans
Plenty of travel options from Dublin, nothing direct but best to break the journey in USA, taking the hassle out of immigration by clearing at Dublin Airport. Make sure you have valid ESTA – See 1 under Useful Links.
American Airlines fly via Philadelphia to Louis Armstrong International airport New Orleans MSY, prices can vary wildly on time of year and around major festivals—Mardi Gras in February. Alternative could be United airlines via Newark but expect to pay around € 700 per traveller on basic economy, adding bags will nudge up the fare as will carbon offset, but not going via London cuts down on air miles.
Climate also plays a part in this sub-tropical region, November to May probably best -oppressive humidity/heat and hurricanes fill the rest of the years calendar. Mosquitoes reign supreme during our summer months –so beware and pack sun cream, bug repellent and an umbrella.
See 2 under Useful Links.
Woke Tip : Clear customs in Dublin and fly one stop through USA. Bags will finish at destination.
Awake Tip : Careful of the climate.
Figure 1 Deep South
Arrival in MSY
Car hire is a must in the US, plenty of deals, * one useful site to try for comparison, but expect to pay a little more in New Orleans than other US states, at about € 30 a day –look for a GPS deal—great to have for the road trip.
See 3 under Useful Links
Free shuttle bus to the car hire centre and it is an option to drop the car back in downtown New Orleans if you fancy exploring the region and then taking a few days on foot to explore the city at the end of your holiday. New Orleans is best on foot as the roads are clogged and parking is limited and expensive.
Woke Tip : Take out additional car insurance at home if required.
Awake Tip: Plan your days and minimise the driving using GPS.
First Night
We plumped for Metairie –just a ten-minute drive from MSY, which after a long flight makes sense to rest up in a comfortable family friendly accommodation with free safe parking:
Country Inn by Radisson is a good option and if you are a reward member better still.
Location is excellent as five minute walk to Southern cuisine.
See 4 under Useful Links
Delightful cooking –excellent Gumbo to get you into the swing of things—or perhaps a frogs leg !
Woke Tip : Stay close to airport first night and ensure hotel has free parking.
Awake Tip : Don’t miss your first chance to experience Louisiana cooking within walking distance , as neighbourhoods are safe, certainly in Metairie.
Day One
After adequate buffet breakfast set bearings for the river road, iconic drive through the bayous of southern Louisiana –deep in Plantation country. There is no shortage of plantations to visit and no shortage of guides extolling their virtue and tempting you to visit. We headed for Destrehan as a guided tour in period costume just seemed a good option to enhance the overall experience.
Figure 2: The Old House at Destrehan
Figure 3: The master of the House and plantation Jean Noel Destrehan 1759-1823
Figure 4 Inside the slave accommodation at Destrehan
Figure 5 Sobering Inventory of Human misery and exploitation.
Later that day we travelled further along the River Road towards Nottoway Plantation.
A fully restored luxury historic plantation house – See 5 under Useful Links
Figure 6 Nottoway Plantation House
Great little bar and delightful restaurant in the grand house finishes a day worthy of reflection.
Woke Tip : Avoid the expensive well promoted and crowded plantations along the River Road, plenty of choice.
Awake Tip : Immerse yourself in history and stay overnight, Nottoway great for larger groups or families, with cottages on site, or limited mansion house rooms for the romantic couple.
Figure 7 – Dinner, Nottoway Plantation House
Day 2.
Leaving Nottoway behind we continue along the River Road towards Baton Rouge the state capital, first we must cross the mighty Mississippi for a lunch stop at Donaldsonville, the old state Capital.
Donaldsonville Onto Baton Rouge
For those interested in the Civil war, the town remained as a Union enclave within a largely Confederate occupied region of Mississippi river towns.
It was also the state capital from 1829-1831 and boasts an historic centre with fine Antebellum buildings, one of the oldest synagogues still standing in the USA (now an ACE hardware store), and the red brick Ascension Parish courthouse located on Railroad drive.
For a great lunch at reasonable prices – See 6 under Useful links
Heading towards the new state capitol of Baton Rouge you cross the Mississippi river courtesy of the Plaquemine Sunshine ferry which remarkably is free!
Onward to Baton Rouge we check into classy, elegant and modern, Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Centre hotel which offers a luxury spot to relax in downtown Baton Rouge. Nestled in the arts and entertainment district, there’s plenty to see and do here, plus valet parking.
Baton Rouge is an administration town, and has limited shopping, the malls are outside the town, but it does have two other great attractions:
The state capitol buildings the old one being a fine museum the other the working administration building holding the seat of government for the state of Louisiana. The Capitol houses the chambers for the Louisiana State Legislature, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The building is the tallest in Baton Rouge with a viewing platform commanding great views of the capitol gardens and adjacent Mississippi river.
Secondly the Capitol Park Museum, where you will be enthralled by the two permanent exhibits on the history and culture of Louisiana laid out over two floors.
Sunday is a quite night in Baton Rouge so eating options are limited—but one good quirky option is a blast fired pizza on Burbank drive
See 7 under Useful Links
Figure 8 Outside the Capitol Park Museum
Woke Tip : Avoid the valet parking—plenty of overnight garages in Downtown close to hotels at much cheaper rate
Awake Tip : Don’t miss the Museum, really worth a visit .
Day 3 : Bayous and Beyond
Head out of Baton Rouge over the Mississippi towards Lafayette, take Interstate 1 south towards Plaquemine and then take interstate 75 to hit the 997 then onto the 70 into Morgan City.
Figure 9 One of the many Bayous towards Morgan City
Morgan City is a quaint town –but has a unique oil rig museum worth popping into –tricky to find but GPS will find it.
See 8 under Useful Links
Note –they only have fixed tour times so don’t miss them.
Grab lunch at the Cajun and Creole classic; Morgan’s Restaurant Roderick’s Street 70380.
Unless you have a desire to celebrate the Shrimp as many do around here, head north to a truly wonderful celebration of a well know condiment.
Figure 10 Supersize at Tabasco
Figure 11 Disney comes to Tabasco
Avery Island is less than an hour North on I 90 –and home to Tabasco.
They have done a fine job in turning a sleepy manufacturing plant into a world attraction complete with Disney style shop selling the product and every conceivable branded memorabilia at inflated prices – on site café is worth a visit, but more spectacular and probably the best part are the gardens –you take the car but many parking spots allow a chance to take in the scenery and experience the wildlife—Alligators are common and irresponsibly encouraged by feeding.
Figure 12 Avery – Tabasco Gardens
Figure 13 Tabasco Gardens
Overnight in Lafayette at Hilton—number to choose from but may as well get the points to use another day: Click on link 9 under Useful Websites
Real reason was to pop to a well renowned Indian Tandoori restaurant
See 10 under Useful Links
Great food ambience and interactive owner originally from Delhi.
Woke Tip : Buy both tickets at Avery Island, the gardens are magnificent—and if over 55 avail of the OAP rate.
Awake Tip : Very busy at weekends so plan accordingly.
We really loved our road trip around the Deep South & found the roads the easiest so far to do in the USA , lots of quiet single & double lane roads!!
Catch all our updates on Insta :@wokeandawaketravel
Twitter:@WokeTravel
USEFUL LINKS
- https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
- https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/new-orleans/climate
- https://www.carrental8.com/en_US
- https://acmeoyster.com/metairie/
- https://www.nottoway.com/
- https://grapevine.cafe/
- https://lit.pizza/
- http://www.rigmuseum.com/
- https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lftcdgi-hilton-garden-inn-lafayette-cajundome/
- https://masalaindiankitchen.com/
