New Orleans hits different when you’re with your two best friends (the third time’s the charm)!

Although heading east after The Grand Canyon was bittersweet, we had a blast in New Orleans, and were majorly looking forward to that leg of the trip. Alex and Linley had never been, so experiencing it through their eyes was really fun. And it was fun to stay in a part of town and explore new places I hadn’t yet!

We stayed near Crescent Park in the cutest AirBnB (definitely one of my favorites of the honeymoon, and one of my favorites ever!) and walked New Orleans’ version of the Beltline toward Frenchmen Street. It was great to see another part of town that wasn’t as touristy as places I’d stayed at in 2022 and 2023.

Frenchmen Street is WAY better and much more local than Bourbon Street (next time we’ll be staying there more). We enjoyed delicious espresso martinis, mezcal drinks and seafood lunch at this cute cafe, and one of the employees brought her newly-rescued dog in! While we were eating, a gentleman struck up conversation with us and told us about some of the local history while we waited for his bike to be repaired across the street. He was a local artist himself, and it was amazing to hear about his life and all that New Orleans had been through. When we were done with our afternoon cocktails, Linley even found some “Jerry beads” along the way!

Before heading out for dinner, we knew we weren’t done exploring. While admiring the local architecture, funky art and old, southern charm down neighborhood streets, we stumbled across a dog-themed bar called Pepp’s Pub. All dogs got their photos taken and we even got our photos taken after a shot, too! A kind stranger who’d lost her dog not too long ago sat with us and it was awesome to hear about her life and her beloved pup.

All of our first afternoon reminded us to slow down, always chat with strangers and to appreciate the moments we had as our “Tracey Trio!”

We continued to have such a great time in New Orleans, but more to come on that later 😌

Photos taken Monday, March 24, 2025 in New Orleans, LA 💛