My Last Girl’s Trip

Since there are several travel restrictions at the moment, I don’t have any big trips officially planned. I seriously love to explore. My ultimate goal is to be able to take a trip somewhere every month. It doesn’t have to be a week long, or even be somewhere exotic. Just somewhere new, or somewhere I can explore and try something new.

My last purely leisure trip was in the beginning of March. We had been planning it for over six months. It was a simple girl’s trip. Me and one of my best friends flew to Texas to meet up with another close friend. We spent a day in the Houston area enjoying the scenery and resting, then went to New Orleans for a day, then back. We also spent a day in Galveston.

The trip was far too quick, as they always seem to be, but we had tons of fun. There were so many epic experiences and moments. In the Houston area we mostly relaxed and tried new food. We ate at Gringo’s Tex-Mex when we got there. Their sign looks like the famous “welcome to Las Vegas” sign, which we got a kick out of. Their queso was ah-mazing.

New Orleans is a city we’ve all wanted to explore. We wanted to go during Mardi Gras, but missed it by a week due to other life circumstances. (That’s definitely on the list for future endeavors.) We didn’t have a lot of time there, but we still made the best of it.

We only had one full day there, so we explored as much as possible. We ate at different restaurants for each meal, since there’s so much good food there. Of course there were plenty of seafood and Cajun options. Our first dinner in New Orleans was at Deanie’s. Everything was superb. I especially enjoyed the crab cake. The portions were big and the atmosphere was incredibly welcoming.

The next day, we got to try a few different places. I had my first shrimp po-boy, which I enjoyed. We all tried the infamous beignets and hot chocolate at Cafe du Monde. Very tasty. (And messy.) We were pretty stuffed at every turn. Thankfully, we did some walking to try to balance it out. The food was great, but the company made it so much better.

We took a cemetery tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and learned all about the history of the city, the tombs, the cemetery, and of course Marie Laveau, the Queen of Voodoo. We walked around the French Quarter and explored several different shops, including voodoo shops, an old book store, art galleries, and we stopped in a bar or two. (We had to try the shark drink since I’m a lover of sharks.) We ended up in the middle of a wedding parade with a live band, which was an incredible experience.

On the way back to Texas, we stopped at Oak Alley Plantation for a tour. This was another noteworthy experience, to learn so much about the history of the area and see artifacts that showed what life was like more than a century ago. There was definitely a different feeling present. It was heavy, but something many of us could benefit from learning and seeing. The home and the grounds were stunning. Being from the west coast, I enjoyed the different scenery. The trees are so massive and gorgeous.

The next day we drove to Galveston. We enjoyed exploring the small island. We took the duck tour in an odd vehicle that could drive on land and stay above water. Half bus – half boat. It was certainly interesting.

The tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the island, something I wasn’t really expecting. We also walked around the pier, got ice cream, did a couple of virtual reality experiences, which was like a 3D movie, and found ourselves at a bar of sorts.

We ate and sipped a bit. The other two aren’t really drinkers at all, so I became the designated driver to let them both enjoy themselves. We were celebrating my best friend’s birthday, afterall. Let’s just say there were cartwheels in the parking lot, split jeans, an adventure at Buc-ee’s (a gas station/store chain), and more. Certainly memories the three of us will cherish always.

Since we were in Texas, we had to eat at a local BBQ spot before going home. We were stuffed. The place closes when they sell out. If we would have been any later, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to eat. They were out of quite a bit already. I had a stuffed baked potato and probably the best potato salad I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Yummy. 

We got to enjoy these cities, just before they were shut down due to COVID-19. We were blessed to have the experience and are definitely looking forward to going back one day.

Where was your last trip? Where do you want to go next? Do you ever explore your own city as a tourist would? If so, what do you recommend? I currently have plenty of time to work on my list of places to go see and explore!