Hey Guys!! We survived our fun in Florida and we basically started making our way back to Tennessee for the winter. We took the long way back and headed to Louisiana for the week of Jerl’s bday…to eat…

Since we were in the NOLA area, I thought we should really try to squeeze in at least one National Park Unit in the area. Thanks to hurricane Ida that went through the area early that year, all of the NP Visitor Centers in the area were closed. We could still go walk around the Chalmette Battlefield and learn about the Battle of New Orleans though. So, we spent a couple of hours on a beautiful October day and did one of our favorite things…learned some history.

The Battle of New Orleans was the final military engagement between the United States and United Kingdom during the War of 1812 and is considered by many to be one of the greatest American land victories of the war. The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 between the US led by future President, Andrew Jackson, and the UK led by Edward Pakenham on what was at that time plantation lands. The US put together an army made of many different peoples that included frontiersmen, Louisiana militia, Free Men of Color, businessmen, warriors form local Native Tribes, smuggler Jean Lafitte and his privateers, sailors as well as US troops. The Americans were extremely outnumbered, but at the end of what was a long bloody day, the Americans stopped the UK from gaining control over a vital coastlines and ports.

The Battle of New Orleans destroyed a good chunk of Chalmette Plantation leaving the Chalmette family in financial ruins. To help with that, the family decided to break up the plantation into smaller tracts of land and sell it off. In 1817, the St. Amand brothers, who already owned several other plantations in the area bought the property you see in the photos above. The St. Amand brothers who were Free Men of Color that owned several other plantations and slaves repaired the damage caused by the war, built a house, and returned the land to sugar production.

Let’s talk about the real reason we spent a week in the NOLA area…foodies. And Guys, we found so many amazing foodies that weren’t even in NOLA. We mainly stayed in the Slidell and I have to admit, it was much more relaxing and less crowded which made it more enjoyable for us. The food in Slidell is stellar! We found all of our faves and even discovered a few new faves. If you ever have the chance, go to LeBlanc’s Creole Kitchen, Jazzy Pete’s Poboys, and Beignet Au Lait!! We also stopped by Peto’s I-10 for some of the best stuffed boudin balls you’ll ever have…anywhere.

We stocked up on some of our favorite snacks before we headed down the road…gotta have road trip snacks, right?!

And…even though it was late October and heading into the Fall season…I managed to find some pretties.

The week flew by as we stuffed ourselves with the foodies and our minds with some more American history…both are important things.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour