I’m kind of an obnoxious traveler when it comes to picking where we eat on our vacations…and I guess where we stay and what we do, too. 
(If you want to see the super involved and intense travel itineraries with choose-your-own-adventure outlines for each day that I made for Italy and Portland one day, just ask.) I guess these plans are only obnoxious if your idea of a vacation different than mine. On my trips to new places, especially places that I don’t expect to get to visit very often, I want to SEE and EAT everything that is local and delicious. Always at the top of the list are farmers markets and special groceries, food stalls, art and antique open air markets, breweries, and casual but delicious eateries.
On a less than 12 hour trip to New Orleans (which is possible because Laurel is only 2 hours north) to take our little person to the aquarium because he has an octopus and sea lion obsession, I STILL wanted to eat as much good food as possible. There wasn’t even time to traipse over from Downtown to the French Quarter, but thankfully Cafe Du Monde has a branch RIGHT next to the aquarium near a parking garage with MUCH shorter lines than the original location and then, just around the corner was Cochon Butcher, a place I’d been salivating over since I followed them on Instagram so we took the opportunity to pop in.
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