The Little Blog Dress: May 2016

Five Things Not To Miss In New Orleans

Yes, you can go to Bourbon Street and spend all your time there, but I have a feeling because you read this blog-you are much more well rounded than that. I will tell you that it is very hard to pick what you absolutely have to do, even if you are there for almost a week like we were.

We hit a lot but still missed a bunch! But, if I had to give you a couple of things you must do or we can't be friends anymore...it would go a little something like this:

1. Drinks at 21st Amendment. This is where Megan had her night before wedding playtime and it is so cute. There are mixologists and the drinks are reasonable. What I love about this place is the entertainment they hire. When we were there, they had the most darling three piece that I may or may not got a little misty. Oh and when you are aggravated at the line at Acme, you can jump across the street here. Click on the Instagram below to kick it off the video. 725 Iberville Street, New Orleans

A video posted by Darlynn Nangano Tacinelli (@littleblogdress) on May 22, 2016 at 5:41pm PDT

2. Bloody Mary's at Erin Rose. This is the only time that I will go onto Bourbon Streets willingly and sober. It is small, dark, and has a great jukebox, VERY friendly bartenders and the best bloody marys that will start any day off right. LOVE. 811 Conti Street, New Orleans

3. Any Meal at Willa Jean's. This is a new kid on the NOLA block. It was our first official meal and it was amazing. First, it was so cute inside! Everything we had was delicious, I highly suggest artichoke and its cheese business. It was yummy! But please save room for desert, recently named the best, you need to get the Cookies and Milk. Yes, that is cookie batter and vanilla flavored milk. 611 O'Keefe Ave, New Orleans.

4. Burgers at Port of Call. I bet if I googled "Burgers at Port of Call and Bucket List" -there would be plenty! The burgers here are great, they cure whatever ales ya and how many times do you get to stop and get a baked potato with your burger. Shockingly once again, the Bloody's are amazing. I guess in a city that hurts you in the evening, they need to to fix you in the AM. 838 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans

5. Drinks at Lafittes. Allegedly the very first night I spent in New Orleans-we went here. I would like to say I discovered it on my very own when we stayed at an AirBNB down the street a couple of days later. Yes, it is the oldest bar, it is dark but it also so fun and the jukebox is a rocking. We stayed here all afternoon one day, that is hard to do in New Orleans! 941 Bourbon Street, New Orleans

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Country 500 Hosts a Weekend of Music to 25,000

Wow Wow Wow Wow. Daytona International Speedway, one of the most iconic motorsports venues, hosted the inaugural Country 500 music festival over this Memorial Day Weekend. I had the pleasure of going on day 2, and it certainly was HOT but the music was so great! Some of the highlights for sure were The Cadillac Three (above) were amazing! My friend was their record rep so I had the chance to bring a couple of friends up front and then back to meet these guys!

One of the people I was most excited to see was Chris Stapleton, I love him...but I must say his stage presence was most not magnanimous! But he still slayed on my favorite song, I pulled it off my Instagram (you may have to click on it, to kick it off):

A video posted by Darlynn Nangano Tacinelli (@littleblogdress) on May 29, 2016 at 5:06am PDT

I realized in a state of hot claustrophobia, there is a reason why I don't go to festivals as a civilian and how very lucky I have been over the years to be in the radio business. When it was time for Willie Nelson, we stayed in the far back, it was awesome. At 83, he still has it!

Don't tell his dad but I did not stay for Florida Georgia Line, I was beat! However, I woke up to a state of utter glee: glorious unpaid PR for my client Ed Kelley who is running for Volusia County Chair. Oh baby! I was squealing!!! Way to promote to 25,000 of our closest friends!!

Can't be happier for Daytona International Speedway for this turnout and execution! Short of the $85 beers and putting on Kid Rock and Willie at the same time, everyone had a blast and we pushed a lot of goodness into our economy!

Speaking of Daytona International Speedway I've been selected to participate in the Daytona Instameet next weekend, an initiative for Visit FL, super excited about that!

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The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is an amazing aquarium in New Orleans. I realized I never been to an aquarium in a very long time, if ever! This was such an important must do for your trip and it gives you a chance to cool down and see some fishies!

It is run by the Audubon Institute, which also supervises the Audubon Zoo, Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium and Audubon Park (in a different part of the city). It is located along the banks of the Mississippi River by the edge of the historic French Quarter off Canal Street, at the upper end of Woldenberg Park. (thank you Wikipedia)

This was so gorgeous! I noticed how much fun children were having, so safe to say this is an good thing to do for a date day or fun for the whole family.

I took 100 pictures at least, here is were some of my favorites. (Click to enlarge)

When you are visiting New Orleans, this is a must see, you can get your tickets here.

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See NOLA by Water via the New Orleans Creole Queen

While we were in New Orleans, we were pretty comfy with the lay of the land after a day or so. When we were gambling at Harrah's (another story for another bottle of wine...by the way-if you order Tito's, not quite sure what they put actually in there, shudder!), the dealer said that if we wanted to see NOLA on the water the New Orleans Creole Queen was the way to go. Luckily, I had some information from the New Orleans CVB, and it was on my list.

It was a gorgeous day, and we had a wonderful time visiting the French Quarter, the Port of New Orleans, and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. We also had a wonderful curator who was a New Orleans native and she gave us a detailed narration of New Orleans landmarks, history, vessel information, and river lore.

This was used as a reminder and to build morale after the hurricanes

For more information, and to book your cruise when you are in New Orleans, click here....I promise you will love it!

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Drago's Seafood Restautrant vs Acme Oyster House Charbroiled Oysters New Orleans

Dear God, I am in love with charbroiled oysters!!!!! If you haven't had the pleasure I would need you to stop reading this, run to your local seafood market (we love Hull's Seafood Market of course) and figure out which recipe you will try out of the two infamous New Orleans charbroiled oysters: Drago's Seafood Restaurant (recipe) or Acme Oyster House (recipe).

Although it would be impolite to tell you which I prefer (Drago's), to be fair they were both amazing. I was threatened and told bad things would happen to me by Megan if I did not go to Acme Oyster House. So, let's visit there first shall we?

Acme Oyster House

First off the line is ridiculous, allthough it goes very quick. The staff couldn't be friendlier and I love the checkered tablecloths. The bloody mary was amazing, although I ordered a oyster shooter and it never came out (boo!).

The oysters were extremely large in size, perfectly cooked and very yummy. The stuffing was a little on the heavy side and as you can tell from the picture, sadly wasn't cooked all the way through and there was no charbroiled taste, it was sort of bland. I ended up taking off the stuffing and enjoying them almost as a steamed style of eating but that was annoying because the point was to wait in a line for charbroiled awesomeness. I was a tad disappointed.

The size of the oysters, tho, look at them! They were perfect.

PS Steve's Po Boy was delicious.

But I don't go to a steakhouse for the chicken, and nor should any of you.

Drago's Seafood Restaurant

Sigh. Even writing those three words makes me sad and my mouth water a little. Drago's is in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside which I was thinking that maybe we had made a mistake. I didn't want to go to a hotel bar for some oysters. Oh, quite the contrary! The restaurant had the same kind of feel like the casino restaurants in Vegas, it was Ginormous! I would be surprised if they were ever on a wait! It was rocking and rolling on a Wednesday night but yet we were seated instantly. Since I was still feeling a little Irish fluish, I didn't drink but one glass of wine. I was there for the oysters, let's go!

SO! I ate almost two dozen and could have kept going. They were cooked to perfection, had this amazing charbroiled finish and the garlic butter and stuffing...oh my gosh, I never wanted it to end. They were a little smaller than at Acme, but other than that...there is a reason Drago Cvitanovich has been the oyster king of New Orleans for four decades–and that’s saying something.

I promise you will be happy either way, but I am interested in your experience!!

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New Orleans and Its Architecture

I am very excited to visit New Orleans again. This time, it wasn't the rush of Megan's wedding (which was so fun)-it was just a boy and a girl who wanted to get away and used the grand excuse of their third Anniversary to do so.

I had the privilege of connecting with the New Orleans CVB and they issued me a very cool VIP Media Pass. It was awesome and I am thankful. Before I get started on all the great things we did, ate and drank, can we speak about the gorgeous made for Instagram with no filter memories, also known as every building in NOLA? Old is the name of the game and that is way okay with me. Although I threatened many times I was quitting my job to become a street photographer, I think I have a way to go.

There are a lot of great places that offer walking tours of New Orleans, check them out here.

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Then Comes Marriage...

Today is Steve and my third Anniversary. I wish I could plan my wedding every day, I enjoyed every single minute of it. Some days I feel like maybe I should help other brides achieve their dreams but then remember that all brides to be are bat shit, so I don't know.

Marriage is hard, it really is literally a piece of paper but even if you have spent almost a decade with a person before you run down that aisle there are some shifts that take place. I remember getting insanely cold feet after the fact, they don't tell you about that!

But, I am the lucky one, I married my best friend, I don't look for girls night out to get away (I actually hate them, truth be told) and when things go really bad...and things have gone really cussword bad...someone is there is to pick you up, and maybe you have to return the favor, but it's a reminder that if you strike out you have someone by your side to go to bat at it again.

It's been a trying year for us, but it made us a little more united and more focussed on what it is important. Cheers to another year! (PS 3rd Anniversary is Leather so I bought myself a little prize, ha ha)

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Join Einstein Bros. Bagels for Summer Fun!

Between now and July 31, bagel lovers everywhere have permission to play (with their food) to show off their best Twist ‘N Dip moves. Fans are invited to post a photo or video that captures how they Twist N’ Dip on Facebook,Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #TwistNDip.

Einstein Bros. will select weekly winners to receive cool prizes such as Six Flags prize packs, summer swag and even FREE bagels for a year.

Beginning May 5, the all new Twist N’ Dip bagel gives fans a reason to look forward to morning office meetings, an afternoon escape or even the simple joy of a shmear mustache on their kid’s face. The Twist N’ Dip bagel doesn’t just offer a new way to enjoy a bagel, it offers a FUN new way to play with your food!

Revolutionary perforated plain bagel easy to twist and tear into bite size pieces for dipping into two of Einstein’s 16 flavors of signature schmear.

For every Twist N’ Dip sold Einstein Bros. Bagels will donate a bagel to someone in need.

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Junior League of Daytona Beach-The Year That Was!

Tonight is our last General Membership Meeting for the Junior League of Daytona Beach. I was super happy to lead such an amazing organization. It has been a great year, and I look forward to June 1st to putting up the gavel and continue to do the good work that the JL does!

JLDB 2015-2016 by Slidely Slideshow

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