When I started this journey of getting to know New Orleans, one of my reasons was to inspire others to go on adventures. I was delighted that my cousin asked me to take her on a New Orleans adventure! It was a Wednesday so there were no events or festivals happening that day. Luckily, I had some ideas up my sleeve of places that I knew she would enjoy. I told her to get dressed up, but I didn’t tell her where we were going or what we were doing. The agenda was this: Commander’s Palace, New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, and the Carousel bar.

First: Commander’s Palace. August is Coolinary month in New Orleans. Coolinary month is when many restaurants around New Orleans offer a special menu for a discounted price. For example, Commander’s Palace is known to be quite pricey, but if you order off of the Coolinary menu this month for lunch you can get an entrée and appetizer for $18-20. They have a dinner menu too. Also, year round during weekday lunch, Commander’s Palace has $0.25 martinis!

Right now, Coolinary is still happening. You can expect a full Coolinary article that combines all of my restaurant experiences when this event is over. Here is a list of all of the participating restaurants.

Second: Pharmacy Museum. That might not sound like fun to many people, but it's not the typical pharmacy that you're picturing. Louisiana was the first state to require a pharmaceutical exam to regulate distribution of medicine in 1804. This law was the beginning of pharmacy as a profession. The first licensing exam was given at the Cabildo in Jackson Square. Louis J. Dufilho, Jr. was the very first person to pass this exam, making him America's first pharmacist. Dufilho opened the first credited pharmacy and lived above it. His old house/pharmacy was turned into the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. When you walk through the doors, you feel like you stepped into the 1800s. As you read, you might find some of the information on 1800s medical practices a little grotesque, but it is definitely an interesting place. Plus, it's only $5 a person to enter!

Third: The Carousel Bar. AKA: the only carousel in New Orleans that you must be 21 to ride. Its the carousel that will keep you spinning long after you leave. Seriously, you just hop up on a seat that has an animal painted on it and ride around the bar as you order drinks. Don’t worry, the seats and the counter move together so you won’t ride away from your drink. It takes 15 minutes to ride once around the bar. We were there for over two hours because we were enjoying ourselves so much!

The Carousel Bar is located inside the Hotel Monteleone, which is the largest and oldest hotel in the French Quarter. The hotel has been open since 1886 and the Carousel Bar has been spinning for 67 years.

I had my first Sazerac here, which is the official cocktail of New Orleans. The drink was much stronger than I anticipated. After the bartender saw the look on my face he said, “yea, that drink will put some hair on your chest”. Thanks for the forewarning, bartender. Each of us had two drinks. The most delicious out of all of our drinks were the Pimm’s Cup and the Fleur De Lis.

It was the perfect adventure to bond with my cousin. I hope we get more days like this soon.