Stay-cation in New Orleans

Spread the love

At the beginning of this month, to celebrate our 4-year dating anniversary, my boyfriend and I decided to take a stay-cation in New Orleans and enjoy some of the finer things the city has to offer. It was a short weekend, but it was one of our most memorable weekends in NOLA. If you’re in need of a break, I highly recommend treating yourself to a day of indulgence, being a tourist in your own town, or stealing this itinerary for your own trip to New Orleans.

Side note: If you’re planning a trip to New Orleans in October 2021, you’ll need to bring proof of COVID vaccination or negative PCR test within previous 72 hours to get into most indoor establishments.

Where We Stayed

The Roosevelt Hotel is an icon with over 125 years of history you can read about on their website: The Roosevelt New Orleans. With a rooftop pool and bar, spa, and four on-site restaurants and bars, you could spend your whole trip without leaving the hotel. It’s probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. In addition to it’s rich history, the gorgeous lobby is also renowned for its “Waldorf Wonderland” display during the holiday season. You can read more about that here.

What We Did

SATURDAY

We were able to check in early at noon, so we took advantage of the extra time. After checking in and finding our room, we decided to explore. From the rooftop pool to the conference rooms, we checked out everything the hotel had to offer. We even watched some of the setup for a wedding reception in one of the multiple ballrooms. During our adventuring, we stopped for a snack at Teddy’s Cafe. Try the red velvet cake!

Next, we headed to the roof to grab a drink and relax in the hot tub.

A few days in advance of the trip, we made dinner reservations at Josephine Estelle and dessert reservations at Brennan’s.

Josephine Estelle is a modern Italian restaurant in the Central Business District, a short walk from the Roosevelt. We usually go to Tommy’s Cuisine for Italian, but we figured we’d try something different this time, and it did not disappoint! We ordered the Canestri and the Rigatoni.

For dessert, we were able to get a reservation at Brennan’s for 9:45 PM. It was the only reservation left when I booked a few days in advance, but we were able to call ahead day-of and get it moved up by an hour and a bit.

One of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans, Brennan’s is renowned for being home to the original Banana’s Foster. We’d had the dessert before at The Court of Two Sisters and loved it there, so we were excited to try the original.

Part of the experience is that the bananas are flambéd tableside while your waiter or waitress tells you the history behind the mouthwatering dish.

SUNDAY

We kicked off Sunday morning with breakfast at the Fountain Lounge, one of the restaurants at The Roosevelt. The food was delicious, but the service was super slow for us.

Sundays are for the Saints in New Orleans, so our next stop was the football game. We were gifted our tickets from a friend who’s a season pass holder. My boyfriend was super excited to see his old home team, the Giants, and I even let him wear his jersey while I sported Saints gear. Against all bets, the Giants ended up winning the game in overtime 27-21. We’d been to two games in the Superdome in 2019, but I think this one was the most fun to watch.

Our last stop of the weekend was at one of our favorite NOLA restaurants, Lula Restaurant Distillery. I always get their Crawfish Mac-N-Cheese.

Explore More New Orleans

If you like what you read here, follow Genuine Sunshine Blog by Sarah Ritchie on Pinterest and @genuinesunshineblog on Instagram. Look for new posts here at genuinesunshineblog.com every Sunday to start your week with sunshine!

Cheers!

Sarah