Cafe du Monde « Elle Houston

November 10, 2020

14. Going Back to New Orleans

One morning, I woke up to a text from my mom proposing a family trip to New Orleans. About fifteen minutes later, one of my best friends texted me and asked if I was interested in meeting her out in New Orleans. As I finished reading her text out loud and my husband and I both looked at each other, a little stunned, that both these texts had come only minutes apart. Seemed like the Universe wanted us to go back to New Orleans.

I hated the idea of trying to decide between a family trip and a trip with one of my closest friends, but I threw out the idea about us all meeting up together and everyone agreed. I couldn’t believe I was getting to go back to New Orleans again! And this time I had a completed first draft, so if there was anything I wanted to see again or confirm, I had another opportunity to do so.

Almost a year to the day, I was meeting my mom, brother and sister-in-law, my best friend and her sister (with my husband) for a long weekend in New Orleans! We got to visit a lot the favorites that we enjoyed the first time (a beignet at Café du Monde was still a must!) but this time we also got to check out Frenchmen street and visit a speak easy on Bourbon Street. We spent more time in the Garden District, where a lot of my story takes place. I tried to pay more attention to the details like how the houses were spaced apart from each other and what the sidewalks looked like. I took even more pictures for reference later. And New Orleans was just as wonderful to visit the second time.

It was meant to be!

New Orleans from the Mississippi River

A Crawfish Boil

A House in the Garden District

Tiaras and Necklaces at LolaNOLA on Royal Street

A view from the speak easy on Bourbon Street

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July 10, 2020

10. New Orleans

I decided to set part of my book in New Orleans for two reasons. The first is that from a story perspective it made sense that a movie would choose to film in New Orleans and was the perfect way to get my character out of LA. The second reason was because I had always wanted to visit New Orleans and I hoped that by setting part of the story there it would motivate me to visit.

A special opportunity presented itself when my mother-in-law offered to take us on a trip and we could help decide where we wanted to go. I asked my husband what he thought about New Orleans and knowing how much it meant to me (he had gone before he met me) he heartily agreed. When we asked his mom how she felt about it, she loved the idea too and soon we were booking our flight!

This coincided with me starting my first draft of writing and as luck would have it, the week before our flight, I finished the first act. This was perfect timing because the second act started in New Orleans! This meant that when I got back, I would be able to start writing about New Orleans while it was still fresh in my mind. I was so excited.

New Orleans was everything I hoped it would be. (Except that it was very, very cold. We went in January, during a particular cold spell and it actually ended snowing the day we were supposed to leave, delaying our flight!) Getting to see the architecture I had always seen in movies and photos live and in person was everything I hoped it would be. It felt like we were somewhere in Europe. The history of the city makes it one of the most unique places in the country. We listened to music at Tipitina’s, visited the famous graveyards and learned why bodies are buried above ground. We did a movie tour, visited Commander’s Palace, had beignet’s at Café du Monde, enjoyed dinner at Galatoires and had brunch at Brennan’s. Anytime my husband or mother-in-law saw something they thought might be helpful for my book they would stop and point it out.

It was such a wonderful trip made even more special by the support of family. Now it was time to get back to writing.