A Morning in the Garden District

Early last week we had a wonderful morning/afternoon in the Garden District of New Orleans.  We started out with breakfast at Surrey's (another DDD's recommendation). 

They are known for their house-made bagels, so we shared one in addition to our meals.  We both agreed that it was the best bagel we had ever had, hands down. 

We each had a fresh squeezed juice.  Christopher had carrot and I had beet lemonade - mmm!

Christopher had a crawfish omelet that he really enjoyed.  I had a biscuit with sausage gravy, some eggs, breakfast meats, and grits, but pretty much ignored my entire plate and just ate the glorious, glorious grits.  They were absolutely incredible.  I miss them already.  

I seriously didn't even touch the eggs or more than a bite of the meat or biscuit.  I was too busy devouring my grits and talking incessantly about how good they were.  I probably said something really annoying like, "Errr merr gerd, the grits are so good, like #totallyamazing."  

I usually speak in hashtags.

After breakfast we just wandered, admired the architecture, did silly walks, and tried to peer into the backyards and windows of the houses we were admiring (not creepy at all).  We did all of this while using creepy stalker friendly voices to say "let us in" as we slowly and creepily normally walked by.

 

 

You can't blame us.  

The houses were absolutely majestic, and they just begged to be explored.

So ...

We broke into one.

 

Okay, fine.  We didn't really break into one. 

We paid for a tour of a home owned by the women's opera guild.

And because we hadn't been creepy enough yet for one day, we stopped at the Lafayette Cemetery - a gorgeous cemetery that appears in numerous movies.  It reminded me a lot of the cemetery I saw in Cuba, with above-ground crypts and mausoleums. 

As we were leaving, we spotted a little friend.  He didn't want his picture taken, but I snapped one just in time.

If you are ever in New Orleans, the Garden District is a must-see.

Have you ever had grits?  Do you like grits?  

If you have an epic recipe for them, please post it!