NOLA Road Trip Day 7: The Long Road Home

Unfortunately, Wednesday was our last day in New Orleans. We had a really wonderful time so we were sad to see our trip coming to an end. Frank even joked that we should come back for the NCAA Final Four even if Michigan (his alma mater) or Duke (my alma mater) wasn't in it. I think any excuse is a good excuse to visit New Orleans. 

Before leaving town we had to take care of a few very important things, like eating breakfast one last time at Cafe Beignet. It is amazing how a person can eat beignets for breakfast three out of four days and still want to go back for more. Someone seriously needs to open a beignet shop in Ann Arbor. 

Of course we ended up getting beignets (just as delicious as ever!) but I also got a croissant filled with ham and cheese and Frank got a crawfish omelette with bell peppers and Swiss cheese since this was going to be our last sit down meal of the day and we needed something a little more hearty than just beignets to fortify us for the very long day of driving ahead.

Being the day after the bowl game all of the Michigan Sugar Bowl gear was on sale for half off in the stores around Canal Street. I had to take advantage of this and got a sweatshirt and a t-shirt for a grand total of thirty dollars which is a steal compared to the prices that are charged for Michigan gear back home. I couldn't believe that they even had t-shirts for sale with the final score on them less than 12 hours after the game was over.

We also had to make a stop in a praline shop so we could bring some of the famous sweets home. French settlers to Louisiana modified the original French recipe by substituting readily available pecans for almonds and adding cream as a thickener. Yum!

By the time we hit the road it was nearly eleven o'clock Central Standard Time and we had a 1060 mile drive ahead of us. Frank was a superman and drove the whole way, making it back in just over fifteen hours.  When we finally arrived in Ann Arbor it was nearly three in the morning and we were both absolutely exhausted. It was a wonderful trip but it was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6