Mommy‘s Free: Do we as mothers really need to get away, be it an hour, a day or a weekend? Does it allow you to unwind, put on clothes (I mean real clothes) and party the night away, and after all of it is it worth it? are you able to recoup and transition back to motherhood? Mommy Lyfe: As mothers, we have a lot of lot of responsibility on a daily basis, do should we deserve a weekend to be with our girlfriends? I hardly ever get a chance to get out and be an adult because my “Lyfe” is centered around the soccer life that i love by at some point i need tat one weekend to unwind, get “FAB” and hang with my girls. I live in pretty much rural area and I don’t go out much. I live about an hour from my hometown (New Orleans) and most of my friends have moved out of town, so home is our meeting spot. We don’t have a lot of time to spend together, therefore, we allotted ourselves once a year to spend with each other to just live it up and enjoy it. Our favorite girls retreat is the Essence Festival weekend. If you’ve never heard of it before, I suggest you sit back and get ready because I’m going to try to give you a detailed description of what it’s like to participate at the essence festival.

Events: The ESSENCE Festival is a three day weekend event that is centered around the Fourth of July. Many African-Americans attend this event but everybody’s welcome to attend. The events host entertainment from oldie but goodie to new to the scene singers where they have an opportunity to showcase there talents and get you grooving down memory lane. You can choose all three nights or you can choose one night or two it’s clearly up to you. Travel packages are also available where flights, hotel and events can be combined together. You can also participate in the convention center expo. There are vast amount of speakers, entertainment performances, seminars and panels of men and women discussing their current and future endeavors.

Outer events: If you’re not into going to the convention center or to the performances at essence (Super-dome) that’s cool because they have so many events and parties going on around the city it’s unbelievable (make sure to ask reputable locals). Restaurants: Places to eat I suggest: Morrow’s, Cafe Dauphine, Neyows, We Dats, Tiger Creole Cuisine, Pra- Lees, New Orleans Food and Spirits and there many more but make sure you ask the locals. Now for some places the line will be long but it’s worth it in the end. Transportation: In order to get around the city, it is best that you download some type of app that brings you to locations or get an Uber or Lyft to bring you places safely,so you don’t have to rely on people that may try to take advantage of you as it will save you money, time and convenience.

Famous attraction: People will tell you to make sure visit Bourbon Street as you should, but I want inform you that the locals will not be down there except for those that work down there, however, make sure you get our famous drinks called the “Hurricane”. It will be extremely and I mean extremely crowded with people bars cascading down the strip along with gentlemen’s club and eateries that have you slurring something like “ what happens here stays here “ but by all means do it, do it, do it (with a drink in your hand like a G) jus make sure your picture and video Rolodex is locked for safe keeping.

Parking: So let’s address parking, it can be a nightmare if you’re going into areas that doesn’t provide their own parking, or if it is centrally connected to a neighborhood. Also, be mindful of one-way streets because it can become very dangerous should you go down the wrong way. Beware of certain neighborhoods that you enter into stay close to the vicinity that is centered around events, and don’t stray to areas that are unknown to you. My Bestie likes to find parking on the side streets, but I’m not a fan of walking five blocks to get to an event, so it is convenient to have parking nearby, most parking places are $10 for a couple of hours and if you’re going to the convention center it is as high as $40 dollars, so save your coins throughout the year for parking.

Party Lyfe: Let’s address attire if you can handle wearing the stilettos 👠 and walk the party like a goddess then I say “STRUT IT MAMA” but if you know your body will shut down like a deflated balloon then cute wedges or flats are the way to go. I myself wanted to be fierce for one night, so I risked it all and went for it. I had a blast too. However, daytime events (drink lots of water) and it is best to wear some reliable tennis shoes because you’re going to walk at least 10,000 steps or more in the course of a few hours.

Packing: My girlfriend had a really good idea and that was to pack your clothes in a duffel bag, and your shoes in an carry on that way you can stuff all kinds of clothes in that bag because you never know what the weather would call for each day, and you can sort your shoes in the carry on so you’re prepared for whatever event comes you way.

Mind made up: If you plan on attending please make sure that you make plans six months to a year in advance. If planning yourself is too much stress then make sure you go with the credible travel agency or again make sure that you are doing thorough research in order to maximize your time in New Orleans. Try to go with a travel agency that is local to New Orleans, they’ll have more information to provide to you, and the travel agency is actually located in Nola. You want to have inside scoop,rather than, someone from an outside source. Once you visit, it will be a trip worth returning too numerous times.

I hope this has given you a better idea of the “Lyfe of Essence Fest” if you come, get ready to “live, love, laugh” from beginning to end. Send me a dm/im or email and we can meet take a pic and share a moment. Make sure to like and share my blog and pages, appreciate the love.

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