Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Crescent City

Earlier this week, I drove to my beautiful hometown of Gulfport, MS and had a wonderful but short and busy visit. Gulfport is only about an hour from New Orleans, where Brittney and I are having our wedding. My mom and I made a day of it and drove over the the Crescent City to go to the appointments I had with a few vendors. We first had a consultation with Haydel's Bakery, a very reputed bakery in the city, and, let me tell you, I was not disappointed! We sampled a variety of cakes with flavored icing, irish creme, hands down, being my favorite. We discussed cake ideas and it turns out, naked cakes are not easy to do, the main issues being hardening and falling apart. So, I decided to go with a cake similar to the second cake in my last post, three layers with simple textured icing. We also discussed grooms cakes and it is really going to be an awesome looking cake. Unfortunately, I can't show you because I want it to be a surprise for Brittney. (It has to do with a famous british kid with a wand.) We didn't make any final decisions because I wanted to visit another bakery later in the day. 


If you celebrated Mardi Gras as a kid, you will remember taking apart beads to make these bead dogs. I made hundreds of them as a kid. Well, Haydel's has these giant bead dogs sitting out front! Visit their website here. They deliver nationally! Go get some of their wonderful treats.

We had a bit of time in between appointments, so my mom and I decided to scope out the venue. When we got there, a small wedding was taking place at the bandstand so I couldn't get as close a look as I wanted. But we were creepers and looked from afar anyway.



The ledge over the water is where I hope we will be standing for the ceremony if seating and all works out. It's pretty much perfect. A lot smaller in person but I'm still in love with it. 


The Clubhouse is just a few steps away and it is adorable.


This is the back patio facing the golf course.


This is the front entrance to the clubhouse.

After we left Audubon Park, we made our way across town to Destiny's flower shop, Poppy and Mint. She just moved into a new location so it was a bit hard to find. Destiny is so sweet and such a lively spirit. I was sold as soon as I met her. We talked over the proposal she sent me, tweaked a few details, and had some good conversation. It was a great visit. 

The meeting at the florist went so quickly, we had some more time to kill. Mom and I decided to go the Cafe Du Monde that was right across the street from the next bakery. It has been so long since I have had beignets and they were delicious.

             

Delicious, but messy. You can't eat them without making a mess, and if you do, what's the point?
I knew how much Brittney loves beignets as well so I brought her home some coffee and beignet mix!


We made our way over to our last stop, Gambino's Bakery. I had pretty much made up my mind about the irish creme cake, but I gave theirs a go. It was good, but I was set on Haydel's. I must say, Gambino's is famous for their king cakes. They are to die for. If you have never had a king cake, I encourage you to try one. There are many flavors to choose from and they are always delicious. Gambino's ships nationwide as well. I plan on ordering one come Mardi Gras season, but you don't have to wait until then. Go to their website here and order one while they aren't in demand. 

Thanks for reading!
Burgundy



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