Memorial Weekend 2016 - Louisiana

Memorial long weekend. There were some discussion of where to go during the weekend but no concrete plan was in place. So again, this is another unplanned trip that was decided after breakfast on Saturday morning. Mommy has been wanting to go to New Orlean but daddy has been deferring it. Although it is an unplanned trip, surprisingly, it turned out to be a pleasant trip.

Saturday - Beaumont

First stop at the Beaumont Gator Country



There was a 30 minutes presentation by some of the student interns and one of the owner. It was educational with some really funny moment. Above was one of the student showing the trained alligator he could kissed.

After feeding all the alligators, time to feed ourselves. Lunch at Willy Burger. Pretty fast and good burgers.



Louisiana...here we come!

Daddy wanted to try the local food so we stopped by The Best Stop Supermarket at Scott, Louisiana for their boudin and cracklin before we reach Lafayette. It was our first time and boy, the boudin is delicious! It was so good that we have forgotten to capture a picture to share. Cracklin is alright, the one that we got was too hard though.



Next stop was Baton Rouge.

Dinner was at Parrain's Seafood Restaurant.  We went there based on the reviews found online and in my opinion the restaurant was overrated. Maybe, it was the type of food we ordered. Will not be going back.

After dinner, we visited the Louisiana State Capitol. It was around 7pm on Sunday. With virtually no crowd, we relaxed ourselves especially after a long drive.



Gege and didi in front of the capitol.  I believe it says 10 or 11 thousands of flags honoring veterans. It was a day before the memorial day.



Gege goofy face. Crack me up!

Mississippi River was nearby so we went there for the sunset. Guess who suggested it?



We stayed at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Baton Rouge North with 10,000 IHG points. Also, was upgraded to a suite. Nice!

Sunday -

Holiday Inn Express provide free breakfast, Yum Yum Yum. We filled our stomach and ready for the day,



First destination, Baton Rouge Zoo which is about 10 minutes from the hotel. With our Houston zoo membership, we got in for free. Yeah!




Can't leave the zoo without a train ride.



This zoo is small, but the animals we saw were pretty engaging and entertaining. Mommy likes this zoo as it was less crowded, unlike other zoos that we've been.



We had lunch at Pho cafe. Food was good, but service was terrible. Long story short, they had forgotten the boy's meals.

New Orleans was next. This city reminds us of Penang, Malaysia, but with a lot more to it than just food. It was eye opening for gege and didi. So much to see.



Cafe du Monde - Unfortunately, we did not get to enjoy the beignets & coffee.  After 2 attempts, the line was long so we gave up.



You'll see people walking up and down the street with this frozen/ice grenade. Not bad.



Stopped by Willies's Chicken Shack for some yummy fried chicken. Pretty good. Went to Oceana Grill early and got the Jambalaya, Etouffee, Sausage combo with gumbo. Food is pretty good. The seafood gumbo is good.


Who remembered to take pictures before they took some good few bites?



Boys at Oceana Grill acting up.



We came out the restaurant after we were done and look at the line. Oh my god!
 

This picture is worth a show.  I have no clue how did that car got under U.S. Foods truck or vice versa.



Time to head to our hotel. Holiday Inn Express & Suites - Raceland.  We also got upgraded to a suite, but this time mommy complained to the front desk because the room we got doesn't have a bath tub. It's difficult without a tub with kids so they gave us an executive suite room. The room has 4 windows, 2 AC units, a bathtub with shower and a stand alone shower. We were shocked!
 

Monday -

Time to go home.  Before we go, mommy found some plantations that she wanted to visit. She found on Groupon, St. Joseph Plantation, so we took a brief tour.  Her ultimate location was the Oak Alley Plantation, which was right next door. We would recommend just paid extra and go to Oak Alley. There wasn't much to see at St. Joseph plantation, and it looks pretty good on Oak Alley, even just from outside.
 

Oak Alley Plantation -

View from the trail by the Mississippi River.


Gege posing at the Mississippi River.



Some bikers might as well just stopped and poised since there are people taking pictures :)



Lunch at B&C Seafood Market & Cajun Restaurant. I highly recommend this place. Food was fresh and ease to our tummy. Not as greasy and doesn't feel as bloated compared to other cajun food we had.