(Wow, is this belated. I started this post on 11/14! That's...many days ago.)
When we got to New Orleans last Thursday weeks ago--Kristie, Elizabeth, and I drove from Fort Worth, extending my Road Trips to the Blathering record to three out of three--we drove straight to the waterfront for a cocktail tour.*
I don't know if you know this about me, but I was a history major in college. You know, one of those lucrative degrees that earn you a ton of money and respect. Anyway, this tour combined my love of history with my love of fancy drinks, and I was a big, big fan.
We started off near Jackson Brewery (which is not a brewery at all, apparently, which I learned when I asked the window agent if our first stop was Jackson Brewery and she said to me, "THAT'S NOT A REAL BREWERY.") and walked to Pirates Alley Cafe. At the first stop, we got a history lesson of absinthe and the period of time when New Orleans embraced it as their alcohol of choice. Something about wine being too expensive or prohibition or I DON'T KNOW, I WAS HUGGING EMILY AT THIS POINT. Then we were offered either an absinthe cocktail (HAHAHA NO) or a Pimm's Cup (sure!). The latter was delicious. I'd never had one before, and I loved it.
We then went to the Court of Two Sisters, which was hilariously where we'd already booked our group breakfast the following day. Here we got a history of....stuff. And we had...sangria, I think? (Note to self: This is why bloggers write posts more timely, so they can remember things.) (I'm also regretting telling you I was a history major since I obviously RETAIN HISTORY INFORMATION SO WELL.)
Anyway, then we went to Arnaud's, where we got a tour of the bar's Mardi Gras Museum and a history of the restaurant and bar and owner and his (interesting) daughter. It was fascinating, actually. (A little bit more on all that here.) We had French 75's, which we've already established I'm a fan of.
We had to skip out on the last place (The Carousel) to get ready for dinner, unfortunately, but it really was a great time. A walking tour of the French Quarter, a history lesson, and our tour guide ordered our drinks for us, so we could spend more time not paying to attention things, it would seem. When/If I go back to New Orleans, I'll probably add this tour to my to-do list, especially if I'm taking Mike. I think he'd love it and he'd probably be brave enough to try the absinthe cocktail AND smart enough to listen to the tour guide.
*Note: the $29 tour price didn't include drinks, which makes it seem crazy overpriced, but I'd still recommend it. I also split a cocktail at each place, so that helped.