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Overnight Non rev to MSY (New Orleans) from ATL
Non-reved from ATL to MSY Friday night to Saturday afternoon.
Going was a nightmare...... even for revenue passengers , the flight was WIDE OPEN..but the plane was late getting in, then we had to change gates, then the plane had mechanical problems, then we had to change planes, then we had to change gates again...lol
So finally got to MSY rented a car from Avis (through priceline) $37.00 after taxes and fees, drove to my hotel in the French Quarter (Holiday Inn $99.00 Priceline RESEx was more like $160.00) kind of a straight shot from the airport using my personal "Tom Tom" navigator.
First time in New Orleans...WOW!
Checked into the hotel, it was rated 3 star on Priceline....meh...I would say 2 - 2/12 stars but it wasn't a dump by any means. It was after 10:00pm and strangely enough most of the restaurants were closed..go figure...but the hotel front desk person said to check out Oceana at the corner of Conti and Bourbon streets, they stay open until 1:00am. Being new to NO I got the Taste of New Orleans which consists of Creole Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee, Red Beans and rice and smoked sausage. My wife and I got a "Hurricane" which barely had any liquor in it (I was not happy about that- and I am not a big drinker) and a cup of gumbo...as my wifes co-worker once told her about some oxtails he recently ate---2 words to describe my late dinner, D - Lish!
That food was sooooo good...very tasty indeed. The only disappointing thing about that meal was the weak hurricane.
Going to the restaurant from the hotel which is on Royal Street, we went down Royal to Conti, when we left the restaurant, we went to Bourbon and again WOW! People were everywhere singing and dancing, live bands in bars..... just a massive celebration for no reason...it was awesome!
We took in the scenery on the way back to the hotel then crashed...Whew!
We woke up and checked out (paid the expensive 24hr parking fee $26.00) and left the car in the hotel parking lot and headed to Acme Oyster House....to go stand in line at 10:45 am (they open at 11:00am)
I decided to try their "New Orleans Medley" which consisted of Gumbo, Jambalaya, red beans and rice and smoked sausage. I also got the soup of the day, corn and crab bisque..meh..my wife liked it, I did too, just thought the other place was better - as did one of my daughters. The food was tasty and everything but the location of where we were seated may have played a part in my overall experience. We were seated right by the front door in the walkway in between the bar and the kitchen where the servers pick up the prepared
meals.
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We left and went up to Canal street and did some light shopping (bought some souvenirs) - got the car and headed to MSY. The flight was delayed 10 minutes but we made it home ok..... apparently after a few bad storms rolled through :)
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I will be going on an out back day trip because I don't know if you realized...but i did not eat any "craw dads"...I want to find out where is the best place to eat buckets of boiled craw fish and head back with my wife and kids in the near future - I want to take the bus from the airport this time. I hear it's a 1 hour ride to the trolley on canal street - my wife isn't too keen but we will see. I just don't want to have to deal with the expense of renting a car and paying for that expensive parking ( I plan to make these non-rev trips as affordable as possible so I can take as many as possible without affecting my regular household budget)
total cost of the trip
Car: $37.00
Gas: $5.00
Hotel: $124.00
Parking: $26.00
Meal for 4:$114.00 including alcohol and appetizers
Meal for 4:$89.00 including appetizers
Total:$395.00
My budget was $250.00 $145.00 over budget
Next trip ..hmmmm..I have a taste for some St Louis Ribs..mmmmmmm
