I’m one of those lunatics that grabs her iPhone from her dresser first thing in the morning and whilst still lying in bed, checks her email, Twitter, Facebook, you name it. This little find had me crying with laughter for some reason….

Why yes, Willy Wonka, I do go on many adventures. In fact, this weekend I’m headed to New York for another girls weekend trip. Can’t wait to tell you how it goes.

Happy weekend everyone! What are your plans? Isn’t there a football game or something?

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar in New Orleans is said to be the oldest bar in the United States. Today, it seems to run on barely any electricity – it’s lit only by candles and lanterns even when the sun goes down. The walls are a rustic brick and the front opens up to the street like the rest of the bars dotting Bourbon Street.

It’s quite a place, but it gets really special when you walk deeper into the darkened cave to find a huge piano surrounded by bar stools, draped with subtle candlelight and a place to rest your beer as a local musician bangs on its keys. Most nights I assume they play jazz, but if you were there the night I was, you would have had the pleasure of listening to a talented woman with a raspy voice sing the likes of Janis Joplin and Cat Stevens.

It was one of those nights that made you forget how late it was, that earlier you were exhausted from exploring the city and from sampling New Orleans beer, and that you may just be getting too old to party all night long, and you wish it could have gone on forever.

Do you know what I mean? When’s the last time you had a night like that?

[photo courtesy of Bryce of Extension Mattie per her Etsy photo shoot: girls weekend in New Orleans Edition, in which I'm sporting a beautiful, hand-made light purple and gold flecked cozy cowl]

When my girls weekend crew and I were wandering the streets of New Orleans, a strange, yet stylish urge came over me as we went in and out of local shops. I suddenly wanted to buy a hat. So I did, and it was thrilling.

What a weirdo you’re thinking, right?

Well, I dress pretty conservatively – and by that I don’t mean that I wear turtle necks and slacks (haha, ‘slacks’) – I just mean that I never really take risks. Yes, I know that a hat is far from considered a ‘risk’ to most, but to me, it’s just not something I feel I can pull off in my day to day life.

When traveling though, I can wear a hat. I can be stylish. I can be anybody.

I wore the hat for the entire trip and told myself that I’d still wear it when I got home. It hasn’t been worn since. All won’t be lost though when I bring it on my next trip and wear it shamelessly.

What kind of person are you when you travel?

Lisa, Caitlin, Me and Bryce.

[All photos taken by Bryce and her fancy camera. We also had a destination photo shoot for her Etsy Shop, Extension by b. mattie, where you can check out her new stuff!]

I hope everyone had great weekends!

For breakfast we shared a plate of beignets. Basically, they are pieces of fried dough covered with powdered sugar. We also enjoyed a local cup of coffee. At Cafe Du Monde, the coffee has a hint of chicory and it is traditionally served Au Lait, mixed half and half with hot milk.

[ Bryce took the above photo]

After we wandered through the Garden District of New Orleans we decided to stop for a bite to eat at Napoleon House Bar & Cafe before resting up for a night on the town. The restaurant has been around for about 200 years and it was first occupied by Nicholas Girod, who was the mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815. He invited  Napolean to stay there in 1821 as a refuge during his exile, hence the name. While Napolean never came, the name stuck.

Napoleon House was dark, but welcoming. It was clear that we were inside an historic landmark, but that didn’t stop the atmosphere from being casual.

Here, I ordered my very first seafood gumbo. I loved that there was a claw crawling right out of the bowl.

I also tried my first serving of jambalaya, which was perfectly hearty and spicy.

On Sunday we decided to have a late lunch at Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. This place tends to have a very long line at night, but thankfully we were early enough to avoid it. Here we enjoyed a serving of oysters on the half shell.

And I had my first Po Boy with fried shrimp and oysters. Until then, I had never imagined that you could improve upon something as classic as fried seafood, but somehow, it happened.

After more walking and a quick nap, we enjoyed a late meal at Evelyn’s Place. Though it was on a main street, this place couldn’t have felt more off the beaten path, in a good way. At around 10:00 p.m. we were the only patrons and we had an old juke box all to ourselves.

Here, I had my very first muffaletta sandwich, which has an obvious Italian influence. The muffaletta loaf is filled with marinated olive salad and capicola, salami, emmentaler and provolone.  It was unbelievable. And as you can see, I couldn’t resist taking a couple of bites before capturing it in a photo.

On Sunday night we made reservations at Arnaud’s Restaurant in their Jazz Bistro. Here is where we got really experimental.

Bryce ordered the turtle soup and I had a taste. It was one of those experiences that we were happy to have tried, but wouldn’t do again. I think the sherry they added made it taste a little too acidic.

As an app we also tried alligator sausage, which tasted a lot like sausage due to the seasoning. The difference is that this meat is much more tough. I actually really liked it.

I also ordered a serving of oyster rockefeller. My dad makes this and I always love it when he does. Though I’ve had this dish many times I was excited to order it in New Orleans, its place of origin.

For dessert, we decided to order another New Orleans’ invention: Bananas Foster. I don’t know what was better – the actual dessert or the presentation. When you order Bananas Foster, the waiter brings an entire table over to prepare it in front of you.

We all watched, asked tons of questions and took a lot of photos. I also took a video of the process. My favorite part is that for most of the video you can hear the jazz band that was playing in the background.

Enjoy, and please forgive the scrappiness of the production.

Here is the final product. As someone who typically prefers chocolate in a dessert I can say that this dish was absolutely amazing.

On one of our strolls we walked passed Southern Candy Makers, stopped, and then decided it would be worth backtracking to check it out. A sign out front boasts that they make the best pralines in the country, and I think it’s a true claim.

I liked it in there because while you order you can watch them being made.

We bought a box to go for when a sweet tooth struck.

New Orleans is the perfect place to experience new foods and in my case, take a step outside of my comfort zone. The alligator sausage and turtle soup were probably some of my more adventurous foodie moments.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?

We had three full days and the last thing we wanted to do was be bound by a daunting schedule. It was nice that way. We took it all in at a comfortable pace. When we saw something interesting, we stopped. When we were hungry, we ate. And when we needed a nap, we slept – that’s the benefit of staying in a hotel that’s in the heart of it all.

We didn’t however, want to fly away from New Orleans without having done something a little touristy. So, we did some research – thanks again to my Droid – and found the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, which is in the heart of the French Quarter.

It was only $5 to get in and it was made clear that cameras were welcome, even with the flash. The museum is very small and has narrow hallways and secluded rooms packed with voodoo dolls, altars and shrines. And, a creepy skull.

The good news is, I made a new friend.

The museum also had a lot of literature and information where you could learn about the history of voodoo and how it made its way to New Orleans. It’s definitely a fun attraction to add to your agenda.

After the museum we continued to wander around the city, taking in the little details that make it unique. Another one of my favorite aspects was the lanterns.

Also, the Ursuline grad in me had to grab a shot of Ursulines Avenue.

The last site we toured before leaving New Orleans was the French Market.

While there I decided to buy Mike a gift. This Fleur De Lis key hook was perfect.

It has a cool story too. The person that made this use wood, slates and nails from old houses, many of them destroyed by Katrina. I asked the women selling these who made them and if they had a web site. Sadly, they don’t. But if you’re ever in the French Market, keep your eye out for their kiosk because there are many more and they’re all beautiful.

Before handing me back my credit card, the woman who sold it to me took another look and said, “what a cool last name.” Her comment kind of startled me for some reason. At first I felt like I shouldn’t take credit for my new French last name as I purchased a Fleur Di Lis. But really, it made me happy – proud even. I texted Mike immediately.

I can’t wait to hang it in our home.

Before we wandered through the beautiful Garden District of New Orleans, we kicked off our first day in the city at the great Cafe Du Monde enjoying a delicious beignet. This daunting line moved much more quickly than we expected and before we knew it we were filling ourselves with fried dough and more powdered sugar than I should admit.

Cafe Du Monde wasn’t just our first stop in the city, it was the first of many culinary adventures that we experienced all weekend. We made such a huge effort to try as much local cuisine as possible that it warrants a post of its own. Until then…

After breakfast, yes that was breakfast, we headed over to the Riverwalk Marketplace along the Mississippi, where we walked alongside the steamboats floating down the river.

One of my favorite things about New Orleans was the constant soundtrack. Along the Riverwalk, and almost everywhere, there was a group of musicians playing jazz. It isn’t uncommon to have to dodge the slide of a trombone or the horn of a trumpet while walking down the sidewalks, as more musicians probably populate the streets than tourists. It was amazing.

Did you catch the Pat’s jersey?

Our next stop was right across the street in Jackson Square, where we admired the St. Louis Cathedral and the quaint balconies that overlook the square.

Back to the Garden District. While we didn’t try the official Garden District Cemetery tour, we did walk through the cemetery, which was peaceful and full of history.

While in the neighborhood we also stepped into a little art gallery. The man inside taught us about the architecture and the culture of the neighborhood and how it evolved over the years. He also gave us the inside scoop about certain celebrity trivia, without which I wouldn’t have known that one of my photos was of the house from Benjamin Button.

On our way back to the hotel we came across a piece of graffiti that really jumped out at me. I snapped a picture as I reacted and before my mind could tell my feet to stop walking. At first I thought my reaction was influenced by the message. I wondered who wrote it and why, when they wrote it and if it pertained to a particular set of events or if it was just a random piece of ‘art’ meant to make passersby like me think – in which case it worked. But when I got home I showed Mike the picture and he reminded me of a blog post that he wrote about this very same thing a while back.

Somewhere in the city this blood is real. When you Google this phrase his post actually comes up first. Maybe this post that I had forgotten was sitting in my subconscious?

This phrase can be found all over the city, but we can’t seem to figure out the meaning behind it, or who’s behind it.

Either way, it definitely gets you thinking…

Where do I begin? How do I do it justice? And most importantly, when will I find the time to give it the thought and attention it deserves?

I’ll figure that out, don’t you worry. But until then I wanted to at least share some photos that represent a particular part of New Orleans that will always stand out in my memory – the houses.

No matter where you go in New Orleans, no matter what style of home you see, you will always find porch upon porch, column after column, and a balcony here and there jutting out of the many classic houses lining the streets.

One day we wandered around the gated communities of New Orleans, which houses the house from Benjamin Button (first photo, below).

So, until I sort through our trip, please enjoy the loveliness that is New Orleans architecture…

I’m not even sure why I have no resolutions. Maybe it’s because 2010 was eventful in the best way possible and I couldn’t possibly live up to it this year. Maybe it’s because it was also filled with a lot of responsibility and I just can’t take the pressure.

One thing that I have always made a priority are travel goals. But this year, I want to start thinking about them the same way that I do health and exercise – as a way of life.

Whether I wrap ‘resolution’ around it or not, I am no doubt plotting out my next travel adventures. But for now, I thought I’d look back and appreciate the travel I was fortunate enough to experience in 2010…

Boston Girls weekend.

Atlantic City for Beth’s bachelorette.

Philadelphia for my Rugby Alumni Game and back again for our friends Ian and Ann’s wedding.

The Bronx for Caitlin’s engagement party…

Beth’s destination wedding in Mexico…

My bachelorette weekend in Newport and Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth…

To Philly again for my last girls weekend as a single lady…

And my honeymoon to Tunisia, Spain and Gibraltar…

Where did you travel in 2010? And what are your plans for the New Year?

Festivities began on Saturday morning when we made a quick stop at our old stomping grounds.

What’s so cool about visiting old places is you find out that some things never change.

And the things that do, really stand out.

Next we went on to another location, rife with even more memories – the plateau.

Throughout the rest of the day we gallivanted around Philadelphia – eating a delicious meal, enjoying the local lager and singing our hearts out at karaoke – you know, girls weekend stuff.

I can’t wait for our next getaway.