After nearly four years of writing my “Deals of the Week” feature, I have decided to shift the focus of my blog from coupon and grocery deals to travel tips and trip reports. Some of my readers have expressed that coupon deals, industry talk, and current trends in the coupon space are topics that they no longer wish to read about; instead, these readers have asked if I would write stories that are more upbeat, vibrant, and are first-person accounts of experiences in which they could get to know me better. “Deals of the Week” has had a wonderful run, and I’m sad to see it go. As I retire it today, I bring you the first installment of “Travels of the Week,” in which I’ll plan spontaneous trips to destinations that I’ve never traveled to before, then share my experiences with you. Come along and enjoy the new direction of my blog!
Travels of the Week: New Orleans, Louisiana
Incredible as it may seem, I’d never been to the “Big Easy.” And we picked a whopper of a week to head down, as the NCAA championships are taking place in New Orleans. You might think that the costs of traveling to the city during the Final Four would be prohibitive, but it wasn’t too bad. Once we had a target travel date in mind, we started watching airfare. As the current week neared and we were within a 7-day window of travel, airfares took a drop from the ridiculous to the more-reasonable. So, three friends and I decided to head down to NOLA on Thursday.
Where to stay? With any trip to any city, you usually have a choice of staying closer to the airport or downtown, where the action is. When we started looking at hotels, the hotels downtown were over $400 per night (ouch!) but destinations near the airport were half that. We booked at an airport hotel (Crowne Plaza) that allowed cancellations right up until 6:00pm on the day of check-in. Then, I continued watching travel websites like Travelocity.com and Expedia.com, looking for lower rates to pop up. Two days before we left, those $400/night downtown hotels started to drop into the $159 range. It’s likely that hotels blocked off rooms for NCAA tourists, and when the rooms didn’t fill, the hotels started dumping the rooms off at lower prices. The day before we left, we booked new reservations for better rates, cancelled the other hotel reservations… and cancelled the rental car too. We would save money by not paying for the car, and we also wouldn’t pay to park a car we would no longer need. (During special events, many of the hotels downtown charge guests $30-$40/night just to park..!)
Do: Book a hotel reservation you can cancel without penalty, then look for a less-expensive/better-location alternative right up until the day you leave!
Do: Check prices for your flights across multiple airlines as you may save money. I flew down on Delta and home on American. This isn’t the best way to rack up flyer loyalty miles on one airline, but you can often save more money doing so. (Kayak.com calls these “Hacker Fares.”)
Do: Be willing to change hotels mid-trip to save even more money. After rates started to drop, we booked rooms at the Westin one night and the Hilton the next night. One had a good rate Thursday night but not Friday, and the other had a good rate Friday but not Thursday. We switched hotels mid-trip… a minor inconvenience for the money we saved. And, they were only about two blocks apart .
First Impressions:
Upon arriving in New Orleans, passengers were greeted by NCAA representatives at the airport handing out — what else — Mardi Gras beads with the Final Four logo on them! I grabbed some and headed to the hotel in a taxi.
Having never been to New Orleans, I was unprepared for how simultaneously beautiful and dark much of the city is. The architecture, some of it dating back to the 1780s, is gorgeous and imperfect. One of my friends said “It looks like Europe,” and certainly, the French’s influence is visible throughout the city. (France founded Nouvelle-Orléans in 1780.)
The cemeteries are hypnotic, with their large, white stucco and stone crypts sticking out of the ground. With parts of New Orleans sitting below sea level, burial has been done above ground for hundreds of years.
FrenchQuarter.com describes the city in this way: “New Orleans is opulence and squalor sharing an apartment, resilience and decay working at cross purposes, explosive abandon and graceful reserve saluting each other from across the boulevard,” and it’s so true.
Dining:
Of course, half the allure of going to New Orleans is the food..! Creole and cajun foods awaited, as well as the promise of fresh seafood, beignets and other delights. There’s plenty of chain-dining here, of course, but does anyone go to New Orleans to eat at Popeye’s Chicken? We sought out the Palace Cafe, which serves Creole food in a French-style bistro. The building dates back to the 1860s and is gorgeous! We ordered several plates of appetizers to share, including Creole crayfish, fried green tomatoes, and a delicious signature dish — a pecan crabmeat cheesecake. Divine. It was so good that we came back for lunch the next day too.
On the second night of the trip, we also ate at the Crazy Lobster which was chosen on a whim for its live music, its outdoor dining on the Mississippi River, and a sign advertising its “steamed seafood bucket.” How can you go wrong with a steamed seafood bucket? Well, you can’t. While the Crazy Lobster states that its bucket of seafood is for two, there’s easily enough here for four:
The best lobster tail I’ve ever had… ever… was this. One of my friends who grew up on the East coast eating fresh lobster agreed wholeheartedly too. Everything was fresh and fantastic. The food was well-seasoned with a savory spice mix that packed lots of flavor without too much heat. And we ate, and ate, and ate. The bucket had lobster, crab legs and claws, crawfish, shrimp, mussels, clams, and vegetables, and again, it was fantastic. (When a restaurant brings you a bib, you usually know that what you’re going to eat will be good… and messy.)
Do: Eat seafood in New Orleans. Several times.
Entertainment: I don’t think anyone can tell you definitively what to do in New Orleans as there appears to be something for everyone. With the Final Four happening, parts of the city have been turned into “BracketTown.” There are lots of fun attractions to see and do. Coca-Cola took over an area by the Riverwalk with free basketball games, trampolines, mechanical-bull riding, and of course… free Coke! They were handing out mini basketballs, which came home for my kids (and were lots of “fun” to stuff into my carry-on.) A chalk artist had drawn one of those 3-D chalk art pieces on the ground, and you could stand on it and have your photo taken:
Our motivation for heading south wasn’t the NCAA tournament though, but rather the NCAA Block Party free concert series taking place at Woldenberg Park. My favorite band was in town to blow up New Orleans. But, this was the first time I’ve ever had the pleasure of standing in relentless, pouring rain for two hours during one of their shows. Prior to that, it had been a beautiful, sunny day in NOLA! But we had an amazing time rocking in the park with 30,000 other rain-soaked fans.
Do: Stand in the front row.
Do: Respect pyrotechnics areas backstage.
Do: Offer to take cellphone photos for local crew and their idols.
Do: Hope to be in as great shape as your favorite lead singer when you turn 60 years old.
Do: Have fun with your friends.
Charlie Q says
Looks like you had a blast.
Where are you headed next week?
debate says
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
meh2beh says
Is this for real that we wouldnt be seeing deals for the week in your site? I hope this is just part of the aprils fools……
dianeguerra83@yahoo.com says
please let this be a joke!!!
MomWifeNurse says
No more coupon blogging? You’re kidding…….right?
ynotpat says
Looks like fun & an excuse to go to fun places on a weekly basis. Just wanted to say “thanks for the deals of the week” and all of the articles you have done. You almost had me with this.
Happy April Fools Day to you also!!!
iluvcnc says
Very funny… Happy April Fool’s Day to you too…
LuluD318 says
My heart was broken. Can you blog on how to quit falling for jokes? You have gotten me EVERY……SINGLE………..TIME……….WITHOUT………….FAIL. Great job!
mr.deal says
thank God no more coupon stuff!!! tired of clipping and running to stores all the time!!! now i can just worry about my vacation spots… thanks jill for new platform, about time!!!
hwendt12 says
I surely thought I was going to have a HEART ATTACK when I read this. I know, I’m as gullable as they come, but DON’T DO THAT! Now I remember why I HATE April Fool’s Day!!!!!!!!! :)
kgill1028 says
Until I read the comments I thought this was real – I’m now choosing to believe it was an April Fools Joke! Wow – I was so sad because last week was my first week couponing!
jenni4c1 says
I came on this morning looking to see if you did an April Fool, and you didn’t disappoint. Honestly I was looking for one from Pepsi4power too. Good one Jill! Also, your trip looks like fun!
thisisfun says
I fell for the Smythe brothers commercial on April 1 when they stated they bought the Cubs! Very funny Jill…but please confirm soon that this is truly a joke; I feel like I lost one of my best friends!
Cheapolak says
Thanks for this great new information, Jill! But you forgot to include where visitors can attend the coupon-aholics meetings (SuperCouponing 3) or buy your perfume at these travel destinations ;)
RevaS says
Seriously, Jill?!?!?! I totally fell for it!!! Thank goodness, I read the rest of the comments before crying to my couponing friends and making a bigger fool out of myself. Good one, Jill! ;)
kfox says
‘Fools’! And, oh boy, I have been panicking. Thank goodness I decided to check to see if I had missed some sort of a ‘heads-up’ last week while I was away (and not online). I didn’t even realize it was April Fools Day!! Sure am glad it is! Don’t know what I’d do without your help!
cagrossmann says
OK. So, that’s the wrong 80’s rock group quoted in the subject, but you did get me. I logged in first thing this morning and have been moping around the house since. then I thought. . wait. . .April Fool! At least I hope so!
Good one Jill :-)
artmom6 says
Sorry Jill, I didn’t fall for it this year. But it was a nice article! Maybe you
should consider doing a trip blog IN ADDITION to your original blog. HAHAHAHAHA!
GinaG says
I read this late last night after submitting my last Dove Chocolate Discoveries order for March and started moping right away! I’m going to take my lead from the more seasoned couponers and say it’s a joke. I can’t wait to see the deals for this week!
classymom08 says
when I read this! I completely forgot about April Fool’s! Whew!
Flag1 says
Nice try, happy April 1st
TeeKay1972 says
I definitely do NOT want you to give up the couponing tips. However your writing style is very reader-friendly and the few times you have written about various trips or other off topic things, I enjoyed it.
4boyshunting89 says
OMG! I fell for it! We don’t celebrate April Fool’s as Son # 2 of the “4boys” was born on this day….so I totally forgot it was April Fool’s Day!
You got me! *slowing panicked breathing down*
maeberle says
So when I 1st started reading, I thought “this has to be an April Fool’s joke”. But then I scrolled down & there’s no mention of Deals of the Week & no separate post so I was beginning to freak out wondering what I was going to do now. Was relieved to see that it was really a joke.
Now give me my deals of the week woman!
J.R. says
Those are whole new England lobsters (my favorite) not lobster tail. You don’t find those critters in the gulf waters.
Mom with a coupon says
PANIC. I’m addicted to JillC. Not until I started reading the first comment did I realize the date. Whew. What an emotional response to my fav super couponer. Thanks for all your hard work Jill.
meh2beh says
Jill u really got me. I thought it was for real. I was a good one though.hahahaha.
ginni01 says
I was just about send the message to my couponing friends when I read some of the comments and realized that it’s an April Fools Day post.
Frugal Skills says
I was all prepared to leave a disapproving comment until I realized that it’s April Fool’s Day. Sadly, the reason why this joke worked so well is because I’ve witnessed several coupon blogs move away from the coupons and become entirely self-absorbed post about the blogger. Please don’t become one of those self-absorbed bloggers.
Nutmeg76 says
I was in a panic all afternoon when it finally clicked. TWO years in a row, I should know better by now! :)
HappyMom88 says
However, you didn’t really get me. Liked your article though. Hope you had a great trip.
SaraW946 says
Great April Fool’s joke! :) It’s amazing how we will sometimes get fooled. I did my own prank by posting on my favorite Dog Forum that I decided I will take DNA samples of my rescue dog, who has some health issues due to the fact that he is probably the product of some Backyard Breeder or other. I told them that I decided to clone the dog, and given my ties to various universities worldwide, I got a huge discount, so I was going to do it in Korea for about $40,000!! There were people who actually believed me, so there were a few indignant posts about the problem that are the overcrowded shelters and the financial crisis, before they realized I fooled them! lol
Outlander says
Just curious- how much does a Steamed Seafood Bucket cost? And how pricey were the restaurants in general? Thanks!
lopii363 says
I read the rest of the comments before crying to my couponing friends and making a bigger fool out of myself. I want to go.