Scott & Geries Get Lost: Day 2: Beignets, Burritos, Streetcars, and Saxophones

Couldn't resist the beignets

Our second day in New Orleans got off to a much earlier start than we expected. The time change played with our heads a bit, and we unintentionally woke up at about 7:30am. So we took a nice early morning ride to Decatur Street and hit up a staple of New Orleans: Cafe du Monde. There we got some of the famous beignets, a pastry similar to funnel cake. Everything in the bustling cafe was coated in a thin layer of the powdered sugar that covered the fried dough in miniature mountains. A trumpet player had set up shop right outside the patio, regaling the cafe's patrons with some authentic New Orleans music. Next we took another quick ride down Deactur Street to head back to our host's place.

The bright open area on Decatur Street by the riverside was a stark contrast to the dim, almost claustrophobic atmosphere of Bourbon Street, despite their close vicinity. Both had their charms, though, and were definitely an integral part to our New Orleans experience.

After riding around for a bit more, which happened to be great fun in the mostly flat city, we took a quick break in the Marriott hotel lobby before heading out to Midcity to visit a former resident of Geries's and have lunch at Juan's Flying Burrito. The namesake burrito, containing chicken, steak, and shrimp all in a single giant tortilla, was delicious and fueled us for another full day of riding. We spent the next few hours riding back and forth from our host's house and stores to stock up on food for dinner and breakfast. Since we liked the beignets so much, we actually made a trip back to the Cafe du Monde for another round before catching a trolley on Canal Street.

One of our New Orleans insiders, Nick

Cafe du Monde's Sax Man

The streetcar ride was actually a lot of fun, and took us through the beautiful Garden District, where we passed some incredible old houses and a huge park that we would have loved to have ridden through. Unfortunately, though, we caught the trolley pretty late in the day so we didn't have time to take in the Garden District a little more thoroughly. Just getting to see the Garden District was pretty great, though, and the trolley ride made for a great way to finish off our time out in the city of New Orleans. I really hope to come back in the future and take some more time to explore the eccentric streets of New Orleans in greater depth.