36 hours in New Orleans is not a lot of time, so we made sure to make the most of every moment. Before the trip (like all our trips), I made a google doc listing all the places we would want to see and restaurants we wanted to try. This makes trips so much easier when having a rough idea of your itinerary instead of wasting time during your trip trying to figure out where to eat and what to do!

Cam and I knew we wanted to spend the most time in the Garden District and in the French Quarter, so when searching for a hotel we wanted to find one within walking distance to both districts. We stayed in the central business district at the Catahoula Hotel and it was the perfect location! Our stay here was amazing and I will have a blog post up soon sharing our experience.

We started our first day in NOLA at 7am by walking to Bon Ami, a coffee shop just a couple blocks from our hotel then headed our way to the Garden District. It was about a 30 minute walk from our hotel, but it didn’t seem long because we were able to enjoy looking at all the pretty homes, clothing boutiques and antique shops. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes!

We stumbled upon Ruby Slipper Cafe on Magazine street for Brunch. Cameron got a dish called the trifecta which filled him up for the rest of the day and I was super basic and ordered oatmeal and breakfast potatoes. I also got my second iced coffee for the day. YAY!

After brunch, we walked around a bit looking at the beautiful homes and ventured our way to a NOLA cemetery. I was so confused as to why so many people suggested we tour a cemetery, but it is definitely something to check out if you’ve never seen a NOLA one! We gawked at a few more homes after the cemetery and then headed on our way back to our hotel.

We spent the afternoon in the French Quarter and did some major people watching and took in all the sights. Cameron had his first beignet at Cafe Beignet and we drank mango and strawberry slushies while listening to live music. Everyone was so nice and made the atmosphere so fun! We ended our time in the French Quarter at Brennan’s where we split the best glass of champagne I’ve ever had!

Cam and I planned to go to Frenchman street for dinner and to hang out, but after walking 10 miles that day we decided we were too exhausted. We ate dinner at our hotels restaurant, Piscobar Kitchen and then fell asleep early.

The next morning we woke up to thunderstorms and rain. Not the ideal perfect day, but we made the best of it and took an uber from restaurant to restaurant trying new foods before we left for the airport!

I was so grateful for all the people who sent me recommendations for restaurants and things to do in NOLA. I wish we had more time to explore and try all the yummy food, but we will just have to wait till our next NOLA trip! Below is a list of all the places we went to and that were suggested to us!