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Louisiana

We held a baby gator! We flew into New Orleans, and the very first thing we did was try beignets at Café Du Monde at the airport. There was a window where we could see them making it fresh. Mom had a large café au lait to start off our trip.

We took the rental center shuttle from the airport to pick up our car and was surprised by how long it took, a good 10 to 15 min drive from the airport. Afterwards, we headed to Cajun Pride Swamp Tours (about 20 minutes from the airport). It was a 1.5 hour tour and immediately after pulling from the dock, the alligators were swimming towards us. Our captain told us about the area, the wildlife, and the curse of Julia Brown (a voodoo priestess). 

Julia Brown’s Grave

We saw raccoons, hogs, turtles, birds, dragonflies, and large grasshoppers. With a muzzle on, we were excited to hold a baby alligator, 1 year old Baby Bruce. 


We then drove to the French Quarters and ate at The Market Cafe. I’m not the greatest at parallel parking so I was thrilled to find a parking lot close to the cafe. We were going to order the alligator bites, but they were not available, so we got the alligator sausage. We also ordered fried catfish and a Taste of New Orleans: gumbo, crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, and red beans and rice. I heard alligator kind of taste like chicken, and alligator sausage, well just kind of tasted like regular sausage. The catfish and gumbo was probably my favorite. I must say after trying Gullah red rice and beans (see my South Carolina post), the rice and beans here just doesn’t hold a candle.


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