Beignets, Beads, and Crushed Pennies

Do we win the “Parent of the Year” award? Not only have we taken our kids to the Las Vegas strip, but now we’ve taught them how to earn beads on Bourbon Street? We promise, they just used their sweet faces to get the beads!

Our first night in “Nawlins” introduced us to an evening of fantastic foods, lively music, stimulating lights and more smells than you can imagine. The kids dined on alligator, crawfish and the world famous Cafe Du Monde Beignets (similar to the Mexican Sopapilla or funnel cakes we have in Texas) These French pastries were served piping hot and covered with powdered sugar, so the kids were obviously instant fans! We had our doubts about what the French Quarter would offer for a family with young kids, having already taken a whirlwind tour through Las Vegas and knowing that this was also not a kid friendly destination. But the French Quarter is not defined by just the hard partying, Mardi Gras festivities, and antics that take place on Bourbon Street. This is a very large and historically amazing piece of American history dating all the way back to 1699 when French explorers were led by native Americans (members of the Biloxi and Bayogoula tribes) from the Gulf of Mexico across a narrow spit of land to Lake Pontchartrain and decided to name this new settlement after their Duke of Orleans.

The buildings and narrow alleyways remind us of Europe and the old world city centers we’ve seen in Germany, England, and Prague. The French Quarter is a unique and interesting place to say the least. Of course it has it’s street performers, magicians, musicians, artists, artisans, beggars, and all the usual entrepreneurs that will culminate in a tourist trap area like this, but it also has a very friendly vibe that reminds us of Austin in some ways.