Roadtrip: Day 6: New Orleans, LA to Gulf Shores, AL

On day 6, we were officially starting the second half of our 10-day road trip vacation. We started out our day with a swamp tour with Cajun Encounters. It was awesome! We chose to drive ourselves since it was actually on the way to our next destination. Plus, this made it about $20 cheaper per person. We saw a ton of alligators. And our guide fed one a hot dog so we got to see it jump out of the water. That was fun. We also saw some swamp raccoons that were so cute. Our guide told us lots of information. He seemed very knowledgable. If you have time, I would definitely suggest this tour for anyone near the New Orleans area.

Then we drove to Gulf Shores, AL. We stopped at a couple roadside attractions along the way.
1. Giant Rocket from Apollo 19
Discovery Circle, Pearlington, MS
The area around the rocket was under construction so we couldn't really get close to it. But it's just so big that you can definitely see it. Plus, there were some other things to see outside. It's a nice little stop.

2. Crooked Feather, a 30-foot-tall Indian Head
500 Bienville Blvd, Ocean Springs, MS
This is a nice little stop as well, but there's nowhere really to park so we had to park at the hotel down the street and just walk to it. There's also a streetcar right next to it you can look in.

We checked into our hotel and then went out to get some dinner. We stopped at The Hangout.
101 E Beach Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL
It's definitely a tourist place, but the food was still okay. There's always something going on. There was a band outside, lots of photo ops, a sand hill for kids to play on, and a guy inside that talks a lot. I'm sure some people found him entertaining. I thought he was king of annoying. They have a bunch of cool drinks. I got the shark attack. Our waitress told a fun little story about a shark and then poured grenadine from the shark into the blue drink. It was fun! And my son got a vanilla milkshake with chocolate syrup in a big souvenir cup.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Express
160 W Commerce Ave, Gulf Shores, AL
It was a nice hotel and while it's not on the beach, it is right off the main road that runs down Gulf Shores so it's very convenient to everything. I would definitely recommend staying here. Breakfast was good enough. The room was clean and modern. It was everything I expected from a Holiday Inn.

Roadtrip: Day 5: Baton Rouge to New Orleans

We decided to stop at the USS Kidd before we left town and take a picture. We didn't have time to tour it, but it's very cool to see the outside. Then we were on our way.

On our trip from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, we stopped at a couple roadside attractions along the way.

1. Frostop Root Beer
411 E Airline Hwy, LaPlace, LA
There is a large rotating neon mug. It looks pretty cool, but I bet it's even better at night. Plus, they have darn good root beer floats.

2. Giant Safety Pin
Victor Ave, New Orleans, LA
So this one is inside of a park that has beautiful sculptures. We walked around for a little while and looked at some of the other sculptures around the park. They're all very cool, definitely unique, pieces of art.

Lunch: Mother's Restaurant
401 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA
We decided to order the Combination Platter to split. It came with jambalaya, red beans & rice, potato salad, shrimp creole, and grits. It turns out, I still don't like grits. But everything else was really good! I definitely recommend stopping here to get some great southern cooking. You definitely need to pay attention when getting your food. First, the guy tried to bring someone else's food to our table (we told him it wasn't ours). Then, he brought our son's food to the wrong table (and they didn't say it wasn't theirs). A minute later, we got our food and it wasn't until 5-10 minutes had gone by, we see the other table's husband come back with their receipt that we realize what happened. That woman was an idiot! I mean, come on, you hadn't even ordered your food and you thought that they just brought you some chicken fingers and fries for fun? And you ate it? I wasn't mad at the restaurant. I was mad at that woman. You didn't order it! Say something! It's not a simple mistake when you didn't order the food he's putting in front of you. Especially when you haven't even ordered yet! She's a jerk. Well, anyway, the people that work there were very apologetic. And they brought him some cookies while he was waiting for his food. Definitely eat here if you come to New Orleans. The staff is friendly. The food is good. People are idiots.

(The food was so good, I forgot to take a picture before we split it up and started eating!)

We hitched a ride on the trolley that took us down to the French Market. We walked through it and bought a couple souvenirs.

We kept walking and ran into a band playing jazz music. That was really fun. We stood and watched them for a while. Further down the street was Cafe Du Monde. My husband tells me that he'd never heard of it before we stopped there, but I just don't see how. Eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans is such an iconic destination. It's always been on my bucket list. Well, now it's crossed off. Everyone always recommends you get a cafe au lait while you're there too, but it was just so darn hot so we ordered a frozen one. And it was delicious!! We sat inside since it was a little cooler in there.

After we were done, we strolled past the Saint Louis Cathedral on the other side of Jackson Square. Then we met back up with the trolley, which took us to another trolley, which took us just a couple blocks from our hotel.

Tip: Get the app for the trolley on your phone and pay the $3 for a day pass if you plan to ride the trolley more than 1 time.

At night, we decided to take a Haunted History Tour. We chose the 5-in-1. It was so interesting. When I first mentioned going on a ghost tour to my husband, he thought that sounded really dumb, but when he realized it was true stories that are believed to haunt New Orleans, it was way cooler! They don't have any gimmicky jump scares. Even my 7yo son thought it was super cool. They stop half way through for a bar break. Definitely worth the cost. Just know that it's a 2 hour walking tour. You don't walk far, but if you don't like being on your feet, you might not like this one.

Hotel: Wyndham Garden Baronne Plaza
201 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA
This hotel was pretty nice. My husband was even “Guest of the Day”. We got a cute little bag with water, chips, some mardi gras beads, and some mnms. There's no breakfast and while we were there, the restaurant was under construction.
Overall, we just had a blast in New Orleans! It was one of the best days of our trip.

Roadtrip: Day 4: Dallas, TX to Baton Rouge, LA

We packed up the car and and drove from Dallas to Baton Rouge. It was a long and boring drive, but we made it by watching movies and playing games. Eventually, we did make it to Baton Rouge though.

Dinner: The Chimes Highland
3357 Highland Rd, Baton Rouge, LA
They are located pretty close to LSU so I'm sure it can get pretty rowdy during game days, but since we were there during the summer, it wasn't crazy at all. We got alligator, hush puppies, and crawfish etouffee. Everything was very good. They have some great options here. Plus, they have a pretty good kids menu so it's definitely family-friendly.

Dessert: Insomnia Cookies
It's located right around the corner from The Chimes Highland
I know this is a chain company, but we just really wanted some cookies! They're all so delicious. It is a little on the pricier side for just a cookie, but they're just so darn good.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Express
400 North Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA
This was a really nice hotel. We enjoyed it a lot. The only downside was that our room was right next to the breakfast area so it was kind of loud in the morning. Also, the only parking they offer is valet. It was $16/night.

It was a long day, but we ended up not doing anything super exciting while we were in Baton Rouge. I'm sure it has more to offer than what we did, but were more excited to get on our way to New Orleans the next day.