Tag: trying new things

Posted in: Exploring Louisiana, Food, Sightseeing

Eating In New Orleans: Toast

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Eating In New Orleans: Toast

We found this awesome breakfast place called Toast. It is by the French Market in the French Quarter, which gives it a nice view and the opportunity to people watch.

Everything was delicious. It was a chilly morning, so Ben and I started with coffee and we got the boys hot chocolate. We picked 4 items from the menu and shared between us, so everyone got to try the different foods. We ordered chicken and waffles (it came with a delicious container of Cajun butter), a savory Florentine crepe, Aebelskivers (puffed pancakes) with chocolate sauce, and coconut cream stuffed french toast.

The puffed pancakes were little round balls of fun, and tasted like…well, pancakes. The crepe had a lot of flavors going on and was the most savory out of the things we ordered. Chicken and waffles are always a hit with our family. The Cajun butter was a nice surprise, not very spicy, just enough to add flavor and cut down on the sweetness. I think they used white and dark meat for the chicken. The stuffed french toast was huge. The macadamia nuts added a nice crunch and texture. I enjoyed it even though I normally don’t like coconut. It was a very sweet dish though.

Our waitress even brought us to-go coffees, which was super nice on a chilly morning. I would definitely recommend eating here!

When we eventually get more storage room, I may give making the Aebleskivers (puffed pancakes) a try. There is a special pan for them and I found a couple of recipes online (Recipe 1, Recipe 2).

Posted in: Exploring Louisiana, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Staying On Bourbon Street, New Orleans: Four Points by Sheraton, French Quarter in New Orleans

Written by tepetravels

We mostly enjoyed walking Bourbon Street during the day. Even with the COVID restrictions, it still was busier at night. One of Ben and my “bucket list” items was to attend Mardi Gras. We lost this opportunity, but wanted to make the best of it and still experience Bourbon at night. We also didn’t want to be in the midst of everyone down in the street.

Images on Bourbon during the day. Not quite the Scooby I remember 😂

We were lucky enough to book a hotel room on Bourbon Street at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had most of the 2nd floor under renovations, so we were on the third floor. We did have our own balcony (some of the rooms share a balcony). The rooms currently did not have a mini fridge or microwave with Covid being cited as the reason. Our room had two double beds (doubles or Kings only).

It was nice to have an unlimited hot water shower. The bathroom consisted of a sink, the toilet, and the shower/tub.

The room was pretty standard, I feel like you were paying mostly for the location. There was a closet with a luggage rack, a chair at the desk, two double beds (a little softer than I like and feather pillows), and an ottoman tucked under the shared nightstand. There was a TV as well, which the boys enjoyed. The balcony had two chairs with double doors that opened into the room. There were no screens on the doors, so in the summer I imagine the bugs could be a problem. The pool was open, but it wasn’t heated, so it was a little chilly for us. There was also a Grab & Go Breakfast option, as the sit-down dining was closed. Breakfast was not included in your stay.

Bourbon Street picked up a little on the weekends, and last weekend (1/16/21) was busier than we had seen it this month. (Still not as busy as it was in 2017.) Bars closed at 11:00 pm, so about 10:00 the lines started getting longer to get in. The one right across from us was doing temperature checks to get in. We walked around and got back to our room about 4:00 pm. Our our way back to the hotel, we only saw about 60% of the people out wearing masks. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of mask wearing as the night progressed.

Pool and elevator

We saw some crazy stuff: horses on Bourbon Street, a guy dancing on a trailer bed. There was a drum band next to the hotel, and later a religious group complete with a cross came to stand by the hotel as well. After the kids went to bed, we did see it get a little rowdier.

Pano view from balcony, street performer, horse group, cross bearing religious group, crowd watching drummers

The party is still going on in Bourbon, although maybe not a large of a group. VIDEO: Views From Our Balcony On Bourbon Street

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, Food, Sightseeing

Sonoran Hot Dogs In Tucson, Arizona

Written by tepetravels 3 Comments on Sonoran Hot Dogs In Tucson, Arizona

Have you ever heard of, or had, a Sonoran Hot Dog? We hadn’t either. Nathan sent Ben a link and recommended we try one while in Arizona.

These hot dogs are insane. They are wrapped in bacon, had pinto beans, tomatoes (or a mild pico de gallo), sauted onions, sour cream, and a chile sauce. There was a roasted jalapeno on the side. They were so good!

If you want to make your own at home, I found a recipe for Sonoran Hot Dogs online. Kroger has these bolillo rolls for sale near the bakery department (they are stupid cheap too, normally $1), that look identical to the buns used on the ones we ate.

Posted in: Exploring California, Sightseeing

Surf Lessons at Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA

Written by tepetravels 4 Comments on Surf Lessons at Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA

We decided to get the boys a surf lesson. When/where else would they be able to do it? Plus, they’re still pliable as kids and not as breakable as we adults tend to be. 😉

We chose a surf shop at Pacific Beach, Pacific Beach Surf Shop. We got them in a lesson together. The temperature was a little cool, both in the water and out.

The shop provided the boards and wet suits for the lessons. The kids also wore a bright yellow/green shirt over the wet suit. Lessons were 1.5 hours long, starting out on the beach learning about the board and how to stand on it, and then moving out into the ocean.

Their instructor, Angie O, was very encouraging and patient with them. She did a great job. Every time they got on the board she cheered, even if they fell off quickly. I think it helped give them confidence to keep trying.

They both managed to get up on the board in the water. They also made it into shore on the board a couple of times. There were plenty of wipeouts as well, but they kept getting back on. We were proud of them.

Since we didn’t take the lessons, the boys wrote a little bit about their experience! 🙂

Hey Guys! This is Will. How are you? The surfing thing was cool. We only learned about it 2 days before the event and I was pretty excited. It seemed like forever until we got to surf. We got there and talked to our instructor for a few minutes and she got us wet suits that were maybe 1/8 or 1/4 inches thick. They felt like winter coats all over your body except not hot. We went down to the beach and she taught us about all sorts of things such as how to swim with the board, how to get up, and how to, well, surf! We even got to ride the waves a couple of times and one of their guys got a couple of pictures of us. It was super fun and if you are looking for something to do in San Diego I would recommend, if it is in your budget, getting surf lessons.

Hello, my fans, this is Nick. You may have seen that Will and I went surfing. It was really cool. It was hard to get on to the board at first but we got it at the end. We did 30 minutes on land and then a hour in the water, it was fun. I made it about 4 to 5 times all the way back to the shore line. Some advice is to not go all the way to the shore line at the start. The reason is it will hurt if you do not land right. I got thrown off the board and got sand in my eyes on my first try. Another tip is that the wet suits are really hard to get on, but not as hard to get off though. Our instructor was really nice and was really good at teaching us how to get on the board and surf. She gave us most of the instructions on land and some in the water. That was my experience surfing!

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