Priority Profile: Valentine's Day in New Orleans

We asked our friends & talented photographers Melissa & Joey about their Valentine’s Day plans in sunny New Orleans. Check out some of their photos of their adventure & their favorite places to ride below:

“When we ride our bikes, we are more inclined to take our time, engage with each other and stop at random places along the way. Also, when you bike ride through New Orleans, you never go home with a boring story. You are likely to come across a ridiculously awesome wall mural that you need to brake for, a strange industrial art gallery. The city is inadvertently weird & we love experiencing it on bikes.”

“New Orleans bike culture has really taken off and there are so many bike paths around the city to utilize. There is a new park that runs along the river in the Marigny/Bywater, Crescent Park, that gives you a great view of our modest skyline. When you leave the park, there are lots of restaurants, like Paladar 511 & Press St. Station.”

We started our day off at Paladar 511, on the edge of the Marigny neighborhood. It's a converted warehouse that beyond beautiful and filled with Marvin Gaye like tunes. Lot's of happy, industrial, yet warm vibes. The food might be some of the best in the city, and that says a lot!

Next place is Press St. Station. They had live jazz music playing and white lights strung when we stopped by. The best part of this place is it supports the New Orleans Creative Center of Arts, which is a tuition free high school program. The food is super fresh, with the farm (Press St. Gardens) being a block away.

 After that, we headed to the site of Exhibit BE (mural of the young girl).  The artist became recognized when he filled an unoccupied (Katrina flooded) apartment complex with giant graffiti portraits of civil rights era heroes. He now has an art gallery in the Marigny, which is housed behind the colorful murals we shot in front of. The picture of Joey in the industrial art gallery was at Dr. Bob's. He is known for the paintings all over the city that say "be nice or leave". We have a small one hanging in our kitchen. We feel it will come in handy when our toddler becomes a teenager.

The last place we stopped was Rouler, located in the CBD. It is a coffee/pastry/wine shop that is geared towards cycllists. Instead of new playing on TV's, they show cycling events.