Sight-Seeing in the South: A Week in NOLA & Biloxi

We traveled down south over winter vacation 2021. We spent a couple days in sunny New Orleans, LA and a few in Biloxi, Mississippi. Since the two towns were only 1.5 hours apart, I took the chance to cross off two new states on my list.

Monday, December 27:

We drove 10 hours the day before and arrived at the shared AirBnB with Hunter's family. We spent the morning with them exploring downtown NOLA near the Saints Stadium. We tried some traditional po'boy sandwiches, wandered through souvenir shops, and joined in on the Saints' pre-game party. While we were rooting for the away team (Miami Dolphins), we were impressed with the music, drinks, and fun atmosphere that took place before the game.

Tuesday, December 28th:

We ventured more around New Orleans and visited iconic areas such as Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, and the French Quarter. New Orleans is a bit of an older city, but there are plenty of fun areas to walk around and sight-see. Later that night, we ate at Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar & Fish House outside of the downtown area. Even on a weekday, many of the restaurants in the downtown area had long wait lines.

Wednesday, December 29th:

After saying good-bye to Hunter's family, we left New Orleans to head down to Biloxi on our own. We stopped at the Love Shack diner for a Southern lunch and then hurried to the beach. The weather was in the high 70s-80s, so we didn't swim, but enjoyed walking along the coast and sitting on our beach blanket. We saw one of the three lighthouses this day - the Biloxi Lighthouse, which is right on the strip.

Later that night, we went to a well-known chain restaurant called The Sugar Factory. They have many locations in big cities and are known for their fancy,"smoking" fish-bowl cocktails and giant shakes. The drinks & food were expensive, but it was a lively and Instagrammable experience. We spent the night at the Palace Casino and took our first shot at gambling. We didn't want to embarrass ourselves by playing at any of the tables, so we opted for the beginner-friendly slot style games. Even though we lost a couple bucks in the end, we managed to stretch our money out for a few hours.

Thursday, December 30th:

We drove around to two more lighthouses within 30 minutes of Biloxi - Round Island (Pascagoula) and Ship Island (Gulfport). None of the lighthouses are actually on shore or operating anymore, due to being destroyed by hurricanes many years ago. They were still a neat sight to see and interesting to learn the history surrounding them. We spent more time relaxing a the beach and ate at an amazing restaurant (Snapper's Seafood) on the deck right next to the ocean. We're enjoyed the cool breeze, sunset views, and great service. This is one of the few restaurants we found that serve alligator.

Friday, December 31st:

We headed back to New Orleans to spend New Year's Eve. We walked from our AirBnB to watch the Sugarbowl parade, which was awesome to partake in a true Mardi-gras style event. We came home with so many beads and trinkets. We ate at Cafe Du Monde to try some of the famous beignets and do a free tasting at NOLA Tropical Winery located in the shopping mall. We purchased some really tasty wine slushies that we were able to take to-go. We walked and walked, and were pretty tired by the time it came for the NYE festivities, but it was so cool to be a part of a huge celebration and watch the ball drop live - and do it all in warm weather.

Tips for your travels:

* Bring good walking shoes!

* Utilize SpotHero app for parking

* Make restaurant reservations where you can - we experience 1-2+ hour waits in the heart of NOLA!

* Make NYE hotel reservations early - many will sell out and be more expensive than normal