Fangirl Friday: New Orleans

I took this! My fave NOLA pic. 

Do you have a favorite city you've ever been, ever? For most of my life my favorite city was my hometown of Akron, Ohio, but that was until I visited New Orleans. I had no idea when I stepped off that plane that my experiences over the next three days would ensure that NOLA burrowed under my skin and into my heart, that I would long to be back in the Crescent City nearly every day until I could return. Since then I've become a fan of that Saints, I have an ever-growing collection of fleur-de-lis, New Orleans jazz and brass band music are in heavy rotation on my playlists, and I am drawn to TV shows, books, and movies set in The Big Easy.

What is it about NOLA that makes it such a part of your heart and soul? What makes it someplace that you need to visit again and again to finally experience it all, where does the city's palpable magic come from? Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you some of the reasons that once you visit, New Orleans lives in you.



There are so many things to love about New Orleans: food that is unlike anywhere else, incredibly rich history that includes so many cultures, architecture that has lasted centuries and tells a different story in each neighborhood, traditions as varied yet collective as the peoples who brought them, a rich musical story that spans the decades and can still be felt and heard with every step you take. But my favorite thing about New Orleans is the juxtaposition of old and new. Walk around the city and you see the gleaming glass high-rises, feeling like you're in any modern American city. Then you turn a corner and you can tell from the hinges and door-handles that the colorful little shotgun-style house in front of you has stood for generations. You can feel that while we're living in  the twenty-first century, we're walking in the countless footsteps that have come before. It's humbling. 

Gathering my thoughts about all the things I love about New Orleans proved a daunting task, so I asked the Wenches who have been to NOLA with me to share what they love about the city. Here's what they had to say:

Wench Anne
For me, New Orleans is like simultaneously going back in time, but also staying in the here and now. You have all of the old buildings and cobbled streets, juxtaposed with modern amenities. NOLA also has the most unique energy of anywhere I've ever been. I'm not usually one to notice thinks like that, but the energy of New Orleans won't be denied. As if that wasn't enough, this city combines my favorite vacation things: history, amazing local food, and hotels. I love nature and being outside, but I am a city girl at heart, even a smaller city like NOLA. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Guest Wench Jennifer
For me it's not just one thing but a bunch of small things but what stands out the most in my mind when I think of it is the feeling of walking straight into history. The raw, un-renovated, untouched French Quarter hits you as you step across its boundaries. And it's completely different than other historical cities in the US I've been to like Charleston, which is gorgeous, but carefully up kept and old meticulously re-done. NOLA is basic and weathered and REAL. Also...I love how every native you meet treats you like a long lost friend

Wench Zee
Stepping foot into NOLA for me was like walking into a meticulously crafted snow globe of

New Orleans I once saw (colorful confetti whenever you shook it) it's like stepping into this magical world so separate from the real world. It has its own pulse, and you can hear it in the always present music. And when you're there, your pulse automatically just aligns with its. NOLA is a living, breathing thing, and you somehow seamlessly become a moving part of it. Like you were always meant to be there! It's amazing. Screw Narnia, this is the world I want to find at the back of my closet. The music, the food, the people, the places, it's all one of a kind, all welcoming and warm. And more than anything it's just the energy of the city. The sheer brilliance of it. Basking in it's glow was an amazing experience. I cannot think of many other places that make you feel at home no matter how short of a time you're there. All I know is, leaving it was like leaving a piece of me behind in exchange for carrying a piece of NOLA with me forever. If magic at all existed in this world, that's what New Orleans is made of. Every single strand, and nook and cranny of it.

If that doesn't make you want to hop a flight to The Crescent City ASAP, I don't know what will. I love that the combination of old and new touched all of us. And I completely agree with Jennifer's observation about every native treating you like a friend. In every single restaurant, shop, attraction, and mode of transportation the people were the warmest, most welcoming, most helpful people ever. Just as much as the spirit of the city, the amazing people make you want to come back again and again just to feel that welcoming embrace. 

Saucy Readers, I could gush about New Orleans all day and still not cover all the things I love about it. Needless to say, we can't wait to get back, hopefully for January's Feversong release party, but also any other time the opportunity arises. There's no other place like it and I am looking forward to basking in the magic again.

Have you been to NOLA, Saucy Reader? Did you feel the magic? Or are you looking forward to your first time in The Big Easy? 

**All pictures taken by and property of The Saucy Wenches