Sunday, March 19
April 11, 2023
Each morning, students were awakened bright and early to ensure students were getting the full experience of New Orleans. At the hotel, breakfast was available and everyone took advantage of it.
To start off the first full day, students departed for the live jazz brunch buffet at The Court of Two Sisters. The waiters were exceedingly polite and the room was bright and elegant. Chaperones and students had the choices of omelets, chicken and sausage gumbo, jambalaya, seafood, fruit, desserts. After the brunch ended, students were able to step out into the small courtyard the restaurant was surrounding to take pictures and visit some more with friends. At 10:45 a.m., students were to travel in small groups around Jackson Square, the French Quarter, St. Louis Cathedral, and any street listed on the sheet received from chaperones, to have time to explore and try new things. During this time, lunch was at students’ own expense at any place found in the French Quarter.
After a few hours of touring in the city, students met at Jackson Square at 2 p.m. to load the bus for the “Music of the City” tour. On the tour, the guide informed students about how jazz was born. The bus made two stops, the first one at the St. Louis Cemetery where the tour guide explained jazz funerals. The next stop was the City Park where students also received the opportunity to go inside Café Du Monde to try beignets. Beignets are deep fried pastries covered in powdered sugar. This pastry was light, fluffy, and warm. The funniest moment during that time was chaperones walking around and seeing the students’ faces and clothes covered in the sugar. The tour ended around 5 p.m. at the New Orleans Steamboat Company, where the next tour would begin.
Students boarded the boat at 5:45 p.m. to be seated for a Louisiana style dinner buffet and also the evening jazz cruise on the Riverboat City of New Orleans. The buffet consisted of gumbo, jambalaya rice, seafood pasta, potatoes, chicken, green beans, dinner roll, bread pudding and ice cream. Along with the buffet, students enjoyed a live jazz performance by the Dukes of Dixieland. Although it began to become cooler outside, many students were seen outside viewing the city from afar and taking many pictures. The long day came to an end as the boat came back to the landing around 9 p.m. Even as students were on their feet all day, many of them still had plenty of energy heading back to the hotel.
