a NOLA girl in a Big world

It’s everything you thought it would be & then some! 



The city is full of locals and visitors alike all looking to have a good time. We started the day around 10am and walked through shops and all the streets downtown before We found a spot to watch the parade. The atmosphere was similar to Mardi Gras except there is no drinking on the street so fewer drunk people out and about. I was shocked to see no ladders with seats on top! NOLA could certainly help the parade goers here with our amazing invention!

We hung around awhile until we decided to go to a bar & that was the best decision we could have made. We walked into the Temple Bar & our eyes lit up!!! 450 types of whiskey & 5 actual bars to order from! This place was huge! At first it wasn’t packed and we found ourselves a spot at the end of the bar and watched the end of the parade from the TV. The parade is NOTHING LIKE MARDI GRAS! It is more artsy & mostly walkers. No throwing things. It was a bit underwhelming, but still pretty fun to see everyone in a festive mood. Tons of bands and dancers. It would have been cool to have Been here last year to see LSU March. All in all the parade was cool – glad we got to see it. 



Temple bar was made famous because U2 got their start playing shows there. I was grateful however that they didn’t continuously play U2 all night! We met some states people (college kids studying abroad), Serbians, Swedes and this drunk French girl in the restroom who I think everyone at the bar ended up meeting. The crowd was awesome. Everyone was dancing, singing & having a great time! There were no issues or fights & that was a blessing! While we were at the bar a couple stopped us and said “we were an attractive couple & Bowen was the most attractive man at the bar!” The Irish certainly love them some Bowen. After multiple Guinness (we lost count … Hey when in Rome) we tried to make it to Gogarty’s but they were at capacity. We checked back 2 hours later – still at capacity. We took a picture and kept on our way! 





We stopped at murphy’s ice cream at the recommendation of a friend & it didn’t disappoint. They make their famous sea salt ice cream by going down to the sea & getting the salt themselves.



We then took our travels east and headed to the whiskey and beer festival. We were immidiately greeted with sounds of Irish folk music and rows of beer and whiskey stands. It was glorious! We sampled many beers, ciders & whiskey! Had some local cheese, sausage and cookies. There was a band called Scoops playing that we Jammed out to for a while. Lucky the festival was close to our hotel & we were able to walk back. 





The day was amazing! Since we aren’t the biggest of drinkers, having all of those Guinness (lost count after 6) the day caught up with us! We weren’t the biggest fan of all the TWEENS in the city. They don’t understand personal space. The city was full of 13-15 year olds, unaccompanied by adults! But we made it work and the day was perfect! It won’t be a once in a lifetime experience for us! We plan to come back. 



Sláinte!