We drove into New Orleans today to spend the weekend exploring and experiencing a city known for its vibrancy and resilience.

The drive from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans is a bit striking, in that so much of it takes place on bridges! We now know that Mississippi does a very poor job of bridge building, while Louisiana has a knack for getting theirs nice and smooth.

We headed down toward our hotel, and on a Saturday afternoon, walking (or carriage) is definitely the preferred method for getting around the French Quarter.

As with many of the hotels we’ve been staying at while traveling, we used Priceline.com to get a great deal, and be a bit adventurous, not always knowing what we’re going to get.  But the location of the Omni Royal in the French Quarter is just about as perfect as if we had picked it out ourselves.  We dropped our bags in our great little room and immediately went out to explore.

I am not really sure what I expected, but I guess I never realized that the French Quarter is so extensive, and that the trademark architecture is so prevalent.  With so many historic districts in cities, only a few blocks have the telltale stamp of a certain style or such, but not here.

Blocks upon blocks upon blocks in this area have the ornate iron work, balconies, and signature colors that New Orleans and the French Quarter specifically are known for.  Quite striking, really.

We took in some of the chaos, noise, and uniqueness that is Bourbon Street, and didn’t want to leave Buddy out of the excitement!

And had a fantastic dinner of sharing an original Muffaletta sandwich from Central Grocery on Decatur.  They definitely have this sandwich down pat.  The olive mix spread was the perfect balance of salty, vinegary and sweet, and blended so well with the salamis and cheese and sesame-topped bread.  So glad we stopped and picked one up, as they are closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Might not have been what other diners experienced at the multitude of seriously high end restaurants in the Quarter, such as what the kitchen staff were meeting outside about at NOLA, but for us, quintessentially a New Orleans’ meal all the same!  We’re looking forward to spending the day out and about tomorrow, starting with a much anticipated stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets!