A Dinner Jazz Cruise Fit For a Birthday Queen
And then one day, she wanted to live out all the things she had imagined herself doing. So, she did!
I am fresh off of an EXTRAordinary birthday trip to New Orleans to celebrate my 40th Birthday. For an extended weekend, my friends and I embraced and lived the title of “Queen” as we took New Orleans by storm! Keeping with my theme of Favored, Fabulous & Free, including a night out aboard a historic paddle wheel steamboat was one of the first activities on the weekend itinerary.
After doing a little research, I learned that the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen is the #1 attraction in New Orleans. Considering that they offer variety in the types of cruises that they offer, my only decision was to determine which themed cruise my sister-friends and I would be on. My excitement peaked after reading about the Creole Queen’s nightly, 2.5 hours Dinner Jazz Cruise! From what I could tell, this experience had all the components for a magical evening: cruising the Mississippi River at night, enjoying an authentic creole meal, and of course Jazz MUSIC! After all, embracing the history of New Orleans was at the top of my to-do-list and the Creole Queen Paddle boat promised to provide an experience that did just that.
Poof! That vision was interrupted by the flashing lights of fireworks in the distance. For many years, I’ve been saying that I want fireworks on my birthday and my dream was unfolding right there on the Mississippi River. Thanks to the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen’s location on the harbor, we were able to capture priceless pictures outside on the deck with the colorful fireworks as our backdrop. After that impromptu photo shoot, it was time to enjoy our meal.
The variety of their buffet menu provided all of us with an opportunity to indulge in delicious authentic creole cuisine while catering to gluten and vegan dietary restrictions. The meal and ambiance in our dining room was rivaled only by the absolutely perfect sound of jazz music playing through the speakers. I quickly asked one of the attentive servers, “Where is the live Jazz?” His response brought immediate happiness to my soul. “Upstairs!”, he beamed. Turns out, that perfect music heard over the speakers was coming from the live jazz band on the top deck of the vessel.
In what seemed like an instant, this birthday queen and her friends dashed up the stairs to take in the music first-hand. What we encountered was nothing short of EXTRAordinary! The night sky was dreamy, the view of New Orleans was captivating, and the six-piece jazz band sounded absolutely incredible. The only thing left for this birthday queen to do was dance the night away with my sister-friends/fellow queens. We danced and cut loose together, separately, and with many other friendly guests who were infected by every toot, blow, and drum-tap that so effortlessly came from the Young Fellaz Brass Band We danced until the boat docked and the final note was played. A built-in birthday party on the Mississippi- a night I will never forget!
Take me back to NOLA, and plop me right aboard the Creole Queen Paddle Boat!