Weekend Escape to New Orleans

The hotel had a French courtyard feel to it. The room we stayed in was on the second floor and had an outdoor hallway. The room was spacious enough and clean. We had one king-size bed, so I don't know if that made a difference space-wise. The bed was comfortable but nothing to write home about. The sink was outside of the bathroom, and the tub and toilet were in a small room. All in all, there was nothing to complain about.

This was my first time ever eating at P.F. Chang's, but I was pleasantly surprised. The theme is outstanding. I felt like I was actually in China. The lighting is low, which creates a really neat ambience. For dinner, we split the fried rice. There were several meats that were mixed into the rice, including pork, shrimp, and beef. The food was superb (I'm not usually a Chinese-food fan). Overall, the dining experience was outstanding.

Usually when I have been to New Orleans, it was always hot and humid; this time, it was actually cold! So we decided to try beignets. Beignets sound expensive, but they are actually pretty inexpensive. They are square doughnuts with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. They are wonderful! Unfortunately, it's hard to find them outside of New Orleans or France.

The only problem I had with the restaurant was that there were pigeons flying around everywhere. I was always afraid one was going to leave me a package, but they never bothered us. If you go to New Orleans, you must go to Cafe du Monde.

The Aquarium of Americas is one of the top-ranked aquariums in the country. The Audubon also runs a zoo, so you have the opportunity to buy a ticket that includes the aquarium, zoo, transportation, and IMAX Theater.

The IMAX Theater has several shows running at any given time. Some of the films are even 3-D.

The aquarium is made up of several exhibits, including the rain forest ones, a temporary frog exhibit, and the shark one. The aquarium is very well kept and definitely worth a stop.