Today was the day. It was the day we ate at Commander's Palace, and the day we toured the bayou. Ahhh! 

Before I get too excited, let me break it down for you.

We love alligators. Sounds weird? Because it is. It's so weird. 

When Kevin and I took a trip to Orlando, Florida, we spent an hour and a half in a mini-golf establishment feeding the alligators they had in their pool.

We didn't even golf! We just threw beef pellets at them from afar until they closed. It was so fucking fun.

So, naturally, we took our mutual interest to account when planning our next destination. 

New Orleans was the perfect place because of their famous swamps and wildlife. It also helped since Kevin toured the swamps of NOLA when he was a tiny little boy. He got me excited. ^.^

Rewind though!!! To make our swamp tour pick-up at 1 pm, we had to get an early brunch. This one was Kevin's pick. 

We ate at Atchafalaya, which, let me tell you, is PERFECT foreshadowing since the name is taken from the Atchafalaya River— the one we were going to pass later that day. 

There was live music at the front, and beautiful decorations inside. They also have a Bloody Mary bar with like 20 hot sauce choices! But, we're boring people so we stuck to black coffee and orange juice. 

Our love for gumbo solidified at Acme Oyster the night before, and we wanted more...

I got the Eggs Lousianne after seeing photos of it on Yelp. It looked just as good— if not better—when it arrived in front of me. 

Kevin got the Low Country Benedict topped with alligator sausage! 

After lunch we raced back to meet our hotel pick up. 

We decided to choose Cajun Encounters for our swamp tour. There are a lot of options out there, but this company was the most recommended and seemed the most efficient/safe. 

All the guests were picked up at their hotel in a tour bus. Our hour-ish drive was paired with entertaining commentary by the driver on the history of New Orleans. 

Once there, we hopped on a boat and explored the bayou. 

Sadly, most of the alligators were in hibernation since winter is on its way. All we got to see in terms of gators was a tiny baby one sleeping on a rock. 

If you want to go for the gators, head over in March! I'm already planning our next trip...

We were not disappointed though! 

Our attention was taken up by the cutest raccoons and giant wild pigs.

By the time we were on the way back to New Orleans the sun was beginning to set. 

We drove along the Mississippi river and watched the sun go down. 

After dropping us off at our hotel, we freshened up and got ready for a dining experience of a lifetime!