Today's journey took me from Monroe to Mississippi to Myrtles Plantation (most haunted place in Louisiana?) to Baton Rouge to New Orleans (NOLO).
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| Myrtles Plantation...reportedly haunted..... |
My plan was to spend a night in Baton Rogue but after hearing everyone talk about NOLO I decided I may as well keep driving the extra hour and a half. I found a hotel in the French Quarter that wasn't badly priced and booked three nights. The Chateau Hotel is on Chartres and St. Phillip and it has parking (win)! Apparently in NOLO's French Quarter they can charge any price they want for a hotel, so each daily rate is different, even if you book at the same time. WTF. I ended up paying $109 per night for a room smaller than the size of my living room. It had a tiny tub (seriously, it looked like someone stole it from an RV) and even the bathroom door was mini. But, it was in a good location and had really good AC (though the TV was from 1980 but I'm wasn't really there for the TV). There was a small courtyard that had a pool and some seating areas. It was a nice place...nicer than my buddy's place across the street...which made me feel like I scored (and I actually found $20 when checking under the bed for serial killers, so double score).
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| The wildest ladies I've met in a long time, The "Ohio's" |
The first night I was there I was walking around lost when a man named Walter stopped to help. Walter does maintenance at St. Louis Graveyard #1 during the day and walks the FQ at night just helping people with directions. Turns out Walter is quite the tour guide. As we were walking he was telling me all about each house or restaurant's ghosts and residents. It was pretty cool. As we were walking we stumbled across two other tourists (from Ohio) who were trying to find their way back to their hotel. We gathered them up, cautioned them at every curb (seriously, they had been drinking a bit) and we all had a jolly time learning about FQ and chatting it up. One of them was wearing an Oregon shirt (ISUN: I shit u not!) so we became fast friends.
I made my way to Coop's and had some awesome (but very spicy) Gumbo with rabbit and deer meat. Then met Ohio 1 & Ohio 2 at their hotel bar...where they continued to drink Hurricaine's and amaze me with their drinking ability.
The next morning we hit Cafe Du Monde for beignets (which were good but possibly not worth the hype I've been hearing about them all week, I mean, who
doesn't love a donut smothered in powdered sugar?). The Ohio's and I then walked to the graveyard to meet Walter. Good times. I won't bore you with the details. We did NOT see any ghosts but we did see Nicholas Cage's tomb (thinking ahead and apparently why he's in debt...) also did not find Walter for our personal tour so I may go back and try again.
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| Cemetery #1, NOLO |
We parted ways so the Ohio's could hit Harrah's casino and I could go to Hotel Montecello (the most haunted hotel in Louisiana ...hmmm a lot of places are claiming that....). I ate breakfast there, giving the ghosts time to wake up. They didn't. Oh well. I then tromped back to my hotel, stopping at some shops that caught my fancy along the way.
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| Talented 'gator. |
The next few days were spent hanging with the Ohio's, eating great food, touring the city, drinking (a lot more than I would have though given the Ohio's ages). While sitting in a bar waiting for a ghost tour a group of wedding goers paraded down the street with music and umbrellas waving...totally the coolest thing I've ever seen. We went on an alligator tour that rocked. This is a MUST do...though by the end I was freaking out about snakes and not too concerned about the alligators. Apparently the best time to go to see the 'gators is in May when they are waking up from the winter and hungry....note to sell....stay away in May.
Overall, my time in NOLO was awesome. Mostly thanks to the great company. But, I was excited to get moving...next stop...Waco TX. Not your typical tourist destination, but me, I'm definitely "Waco Curious".
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