Voodoo, Taylor Swift, and an Alligator Walk into a Jazz Club: A Trip to New Orleans

Singing My Way to New Orleans

It's been awhile since my last trip, but that doesn't mean this one hasn't been planned for awhile. In fact, this trip was 14 months in the making. 14! Can you believe that?

It all started back in the summer of 2023. I had taken the day off of work and was visiting my family. Instead of sleeping in, my body decided it wanted to wake up early. Boy was I happy about this when I happened to open up Facebook to see Taylor Swift added 9 more shows to her already very long and sold out Eras Tour. Immediately I signed up to see if I would be one of the lucky people to be selected for the pre sale. I called my friend Katie who was obsessed with Taylor Swift and the same person I went with to see the Reputation tour back in 2018.

Between the two of us we were able to cover dates both in New Orleans and Indiana. I had hoped to get New Orleans as I'd never been to Louisiana. The concert was only two days from my 33rd birthday too which made it the perfect dates. We were excited, but had to wait a dreaded month before finding out if either of us received the code.

The day came and to my surprise I had received the code! I locked down my office telling everyone and anyone to not bother me as I tried to get seats. I'd heard of the catastrophe the last presale had created and was in for the long haul. All prepped I was 2,000 in line and just like that I was in. Frantically I picked seats getting them into the cart ASAP. Middle section of center stage. I hit buy and to my surprise the tickets were mine. I jumped for joy. I was headed to New Orleans for my 33rd birthday to see Taylor Swift in concert. The bad part was the trip was a whole 14 months away.

Somehow those 14 months flew!! And the day came to board the plane. I hate travelling by plane. If I could I would drive everywhere to avoid being sick but sadly this was a trip that flying was the better option. After one connecting flight we touched down in New Orleans and headed into the city to find our hotel.

Because we arrived late we decided to stay in for the night. We watched the latest movie 'Woman of the Hour' while eating donuts and spying the people of New Orleans as they walked the streets below.

After staying up late, we started the morning off early and the only way possible... with a cemetery tour. New Orleans is known for the above ground tombs and their celebrating of death. I nabbed us a tour at the St. Louis Cemetery #1 which began as a cemetery for people who died of yellow fever and eventually became the back up when the cemetery further in town became full. Many tombs enclosed had several family members, up to 150, across several ancestries including Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

I was surprised to find out they even had Nicholas Cage's tomb for when he perishes. As you can see very National Treasuresque. But the main reason I chose to go to this cemetery first was to see the tomb of Marie Laveau. Voodoo queen who helped many people back in the day and spread the word of Voodoo(which most people don't realize is a religion). The tomb was pretty basic holding several family members and people from her neighborhood.

Keeping with the theme of Voodoo we walked through the French Quarter taking in the architecture inspired by the French. There we found Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. I'd hoped prior to be able to have a reading done by the famous Psychic Phillip, known as the best in New Orleans. They don't do appointments online so I was happy to find out we were the first of the day. Let me tell you this was one of the craziest experiences of my life. For 30 minutes he held my hand(which was sweating btw) and told me my whole life story. Things I'd never told anyone before or even thoughts I had had the week before. I began feeling super light headed and by the time it was done I felt completely changed. It was an experience I will never forget and one I will definitely tell people to go do.

After, we walked the streets moving in and out of shops until we stumbled upon the Vampire Cafe where they sold blood bags to drink from. Of course we each had one. We ventured to Jackson Square where vendors lined the streets around the church. We stopped to enjoy the view of the Mississippi River where fish jumped along the shore line and battleships sat in port. We ended the French Quarter with some fried beignets and made our way to grab Taylor Swift merch which launched a day early. We only had to wait for an hour before I could grab my new shirt and hoodie to replace my old ones which were tattered to shreds since I had worn them so much over the last 6 years.

The night wasn't over though because we had to move hotels which I was fine with because we ended up with a full kitchen and living room for the rest of our stay. Cheesecake Factory was a great way to end the first full day in New Orleans.

Again we started the day off early with a drive out to the Oak Alley Planation. But first we were succumbed to an hour and a half drive which include the worse driver ever who droned on and on about who knows what exactly. I was happy to exit the vehicle and find a lovely mansion waiting to be toured. The guide was excellent and told the history of the house as if she was reading us a bed time story. It was surrounded by a lovely aisle of trees. The planation also contained the slaves housing which were surprising bigger than I thought. The sugar cane fields were being farmed as we walked the property. The best part was seeing the house where they filmed The Skeleton Key(one of my favorite movies) just down the road!

The day wasn't over as we prepared for an airboat ride through the bayou. Our guide, Jason, was fantastic and brought us to several large alligator males including Captain Hook, Bruce, and Slimey who liked to munch on marshmallows. Our guide even kissed Bruce right on the mouth! He even surprised us with a baby alligator named Turbo who made cute little noises while we held him...he was so soft.

After an hour of speeding through the water we went back to town to eat dinner with Katie's cousins. During dinner it was decided they were going to get a tattoo so we walked down the block to a shop where the air was filled with smoke from smoking weed and the people couldn't talk straight. They got tattoos related to Taylor Swift which was only appropriate. And just when we thought the day was over... it wasn't! We went to Candlelight, a quartet who play by candlelight. The theme was Halloween which I found to be funny considering some of the songs weren't ideal for a church where it was being held. It was beautiful and I'm so glad we went last minute.

Then it was the BIG DAY! Concert day. The morning was relaxed as we walked the mall to look for shoes. But then it was time to get ready and as we walked the streets to the Superdome I passed out stickers to people who walked by. My hair decided to fan out as I had been running and I looked awful but that was okay because people weren't there to see me, we were there for the concert!

We had incredible seats and were able to see all of the stage. Gracie Abrams opened the show who was quickly followed by Taylor Swift herself. She sang for hours covering all 11 albums. I don't know how she did it! It wasn't like she was taking a break. The stage itself was cool as well as things kept popping in and out as well as fire and smoke effects. She even surprised us with a guest performance of Sabrina Carpenter. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the concert was over. The one thing we had waited for 14 months was over in just under 6 hours.

Sad the concert was over I was still excited for our final full day in New Orleans which included another early wake up call to you guessed it, another cemetery!

A 2 1/2 hour long tour through the Metairie Cemetery which held tombs ranging from $30k-$6 million dollars. The founder of Popeyes is buried there as well as the famous author Anne Rice. The statues and marble work were incredible and I'm so glad we went even if it was early in the morning.

Lastly, we decided to hit the Audubon Zoo in hour final hours. The animals were super active even with the high temps and it being mid day. I took so many photos of animals sticking their out tongues and enjoyed some ice cream while meandering the paths.

Just like that the trip we had waited so long for was over and it was time to head back. I was sad but happy to take a few days to rest before going back to work. All in all I took over 800 photos and videos.. some would say that is way too much and I agree lol.

Have you ever been to New Orleans? If so how was your trip? Tell me in the comments where I should go next!