New Orleans Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

The Unusual Way To Win A Week In The Roosevelt NOLA Hotel’s Presidential Suite – It’s A Real Steal!

People have been stealing things from hotels for eons. Towels. Bathrobes. Drinking glasses. My in-laws may or may not have stolen a garbage can from a Holiday Inn on route I-95 sometime in the 1980s or 1990s that may or may not be in use in Joe’s and my garage.

Anyway, speaking of stealing things…the Roosevelt New Orleans Hotel has been around since 1893, which means it just passed its 125th anniversary. To celebrate that special occasion, the hotel is running a sweepstakes that’s like no other I’ve ever seen before.

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The One Attraction in New Orleans That I Just Can’t Recommend

When Joe and I went to New Orleans last fall, we had a blast! It was my first visit (and Joe’s second) and we did so many cool things, from riding on the only paddlewheel steamboat in the city, to having our own second line parade, to enjoying jazz at Preservation Hall, to touring the place where they make Mardi Gras parade floats, that were so much fun!

Now, if there’s one thing about Joe and I, it’s that we’re honest. Sometimes, especially for me, brutally so (an ex-boss once said to me during a particularly painful staff meeting, “You know, when you roll your eyes like that, people can see you.”). So if there’s a travel-related item or place that we don’t like, we’re going to tell you, in the hopes that you don’t make the same mistake we made.

This is one of those times.

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Our Stays In Haunted Hotels

If you search the internet enough, you can find a ghost story about almost anywhere. I try to avoid these stories if I can. I’ve talked about how I feel about ghosts before, so I’d prefer to avoid spending the night with them if I can.

As it turned out, without knowing so, I’ve apparently stayed at several haunted locations in my travels. I didn’t know these places were haunted before we stayed there, but who knows…maybe was I drawn to stay at these places by the spirits????

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The One Thing A Visitor To New Orleans Should Never Talk About

When you visit New Orleans, you’ll find that the locals are willing to talk to you about most anything. The food, the bars, second line parades, Mardi Gras, King Cakes, ghosts, voodoo, pirates and the New Orleans Saints are all part of the past and current history of the town and open game for conversation. We were warned before visiting by some friends that there is one topic that a visitor shouldn’t bring up – Hurricane Katrina.

I’m sure that now that the “no-call” in the NFC Championship game against the Rams will be something else to avoid for a while as well but that’s a fresh wound.

Katrina happened in 2005 and the city is still recovering. We picked up tidbits of info here and there but we were still interested to learn about the hurricane, the impact it had on the people of the city and the how and why it happened in the first place. Continue reading “The One Thing A Visitor To New Orleans Should Never Talk About”

Our Trip On The Only Paddlewheel Steamboat In New Orleans

While in New Orleans, you have your pick of paddlewheel boats to go on a trip down the Mississippi River. However, only one of those boats will be a honest to goodness steamboat, like the ones from the days of Tom Sawyer and Mark Twain.

The Steamboat Natchez departs for several two-hour tours daily from its dock right behind the Jax Brewery building on Decatur St.

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