Friday started with Starbucks for breakfast and a slight chance of rain. As I mentioned in my last blog, this was the busiest day of our amazing but short stay.

After our slow — and needed — start to the morning, we headed to Chartres Street to meet with our French Quarter walking tour guide, Muriel. We started the tour at Jackson Square Park, a National Historic Landmark formerly known as Place d’Armes and renamed in the early 19th century in honor of Major General Andrew Jackson, a hero of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

The square was first used as a trading post with French crusaders and is now surrounded by artists, fortune tellers, music and more. Directly across from St. Louis Cathedral and a couple of short blocks from Café du Monde, Jackson Square now serves to remind visitors and locals alike of the city’s connections to a darker past, as it was used to hold executions of criminals and slaves. From Jackson Square we meandered through the French Quarter, winding our way up and down the historic streets until we reached St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and Louis Armstrong Park. It was fantastic to learn the history of the buildings and architecture around us as well as learn about the current city from a proud resident. Muriel was great to talk to and not only recommended us a local favorite place to dine after the tour but even dropped us off on her way home — talk about Southern hospitality!

From first glance, the pink exterior and neon signs of Mandina’s Restaurant create a cozy, homey feel that continues as you walk up the ramp, through the doors. Opened in 1932 and based in the rooms of an old house, Mandina’s delivers the goods. Although the menu was filled with Southern staples and all of it looked delicious, I finally settled on the fried shrimp and French fries, and my boyfriend opted for a cup of gumbo and a good, old-fashioned shrimp po’ boy. But the true star of the lunch was dessert. Part of its holiday special menu, Mandina’s bread pudding was a treat for our taste buds; equal parts cinnamon and spice and warm, gooey sweet bread, I can’t recommend it enough!

After lunch, we headed back to Le Pavillon, riding the city’s famous Street Car system (whatever you do, do NOT call them trolleys), hopping on the Canal line to St. Charles Ave. A quick change of clothes was all we had time for at the hotel, and then it was on our way to Preservation Hall. Performing that night were four members of the Preservation Hall House Jazz Band, and let me tell you, there was nothing quite like it! Standing in such a historic space and feeling the floors sway with the bass as the band riffs over classic jazz and ragtime staples took the music to new levels. The band themselves were having a great time playing together, and their joy spread to the audience as well. If you decide to book, don’t bother paying extra for the seating area unless you really need it — everyone ends up standing and dancing anyway!

We decided the night was off to a great start and headed to another New Orleans classic institution for a drink — the one and only Pat O’Brien’s, home of the Hurricane. Now, neither of us are big on drinking liquor, so we were quite content with one Hurricane each. Thankfully, New Orleans offers cups to go; so after we settled the bill, we took our Hurricanes and strolled around the French Quarter at night, quite a different scene than during the day! The evening was quite warm, and we had dressed to impress for Preservation Hall, so we returned once more to the hotel for another quick change of clothes and popped right back out onto the streets, as it was still barely 8 p.m. at this point.

We had one-track minds when we set out walking our now-familiar path back to the French Quarter — it was time to finally try some beignets from Café du Monde. Walking with purpose, we still managed to get distracted by the colorful rows of impeccable macarons lighting the windows of Sucré on Magazine Street. It was the perfect sweet appetizer for the beignets, if you will. And luckily, we did grab those macarons, for we happen to be perhaps the only two people in the world completely underwhelmed by Café du Monde. Maybe we hadn’t had the proper number of Hurricanes prior, but we have had better beignets at our local coffee house. We walked through Bourbon Street but decided that was not our scene — it felt overwhelming and like more of a spring break scene.

By this time, we were ready to find some real food and eat dinner, and as it was a Friday, we had a lot more options open, even though it was later at night. Intrigued by a restaurant we passed with our tour guide bordering Jackson Square Park, we decided to give Muriel’s Jackson Square a shot (ironically, no relation to our tour guide, though she highly recommended it), and we are so glad we did! My boyfriend ordered the Crispy Onion Salmon, a generous cut of Faroe Island Salmon with a sweet onion panko crust and a wild mushroom cream sauce, and I chose the Shrimp and Grits. For what is really a pretty simple meal, Muriel’s elevated it to a true fine-dining experience. The shrimp was so fresh and slow-cooked to perfection, while the grits were creamy and cheesy with a pleasant firmness to the bite. I can’t lie, I might never be able to order shrimp and grits again after Muriel’s — nothing will ever live up to it!

Finally, exhausted, from Muriel’s we walked back to home base, taking our time and burning off the exquisite meal. What a day!

When you’re vacationing, do you prefer action-packed days or total relaxation?

— Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager