After a grueling 5-day bus-confined adventure, with 30 strangers participating in the 10th annual Startup Bus competition, I finally had a moment to savor some relaxation. The final stop for all 8 eight buses, from all over the United States, was in one of my favorite cities—New Orleans!

Back in 2012, my husband and I honeymooned in New Orleans, figuring, at that point we had done the beach vacation thing several times, and had gone to Europe together as well, so ‘try something different’. In 2017, I attended my first Essence Fest—covering the festivities in New Orleans for the social media team at Barneys New York. Thus, making this my third visit to this magnificent city. Solange was truly on to something when she decided to make this city her home.

An absolute MUST when visiting New Orleans is to experience the broiled oysters from Acme Oyster House near Bourbon Street in the French Quarter—there are a couple in the city, but we like the one near Bourbon; there is a server behind the bar that’s worked there for over 17 years (can’t recall his name because I’m an awful person; blame the shots, not my heart). After Startup Bus, we added an additional day to our trip, staying at the JW Marriott. Our hotel over-looked the French Quarter and was just a few feet from Bourbon Street—we ate at Acme three times in two days. The broiled oysters are that good.

Bourbon Street