The Muse Journal: Southern Nights
Chloe Santiago Photographed in the saint’s Lobby
It's something about the South that seduces me like an old flame — warm, familiar, and impossible to resist. There's a delicious charm to it, hinting at endless, playful possibilities to explore together. Perhaps it’s the Southern Hospitality… Doors are held just a second longer, strangers smile as though they’ve known you for eternity, and the men? Deliciously handsome, attentive, and evermore charming! Even the simplest interactions are completed with swagger and intention. As my Southern Belle Tour commenced, I found myself instantly wrapped in a familiar warmth that feels both nostalgic and quite seductive.
I simply adore a Southern Gentleman!
My auberge, The Saint felt like stepping into a memoir suspended somewhere between heaven and hellish temptation. Fittingly, I found myself assigned the Archangel Raphael hotel suite. Each room was named after a Saint or Angel. Raphael’s core essence revolves around protecting travelers, medicinal healing, and a guide in matchmaking.
Coincidence? I think not! For a woman constantly moving between cities, healing sex drives, mending hearts, and gently instilling confidence in all who partake in my experiences, it felt strangely aligned. A quiet, knowing wink from the universe, perhaps…
The accommodations? Exquisitely ethereal!
Chloe Pictured In The Archangel Raphael inspired suite at The Saint Hotel
White flowing curtains danced softly about the suite, creating an almost dreamlike softness.The bathroom felt cinematic with its white marbled surroundings and gorgeous claw foot tub. There was something deeply feminine and tranquil about the space, but isn’t this what I represent? How I make others feel? At peace in my feminine presence? I felt at home in the romantic setting to say the least.
Chloe Santiago Photographed Enjoying The Powder Room at The Saint Hotel
But downstairs?
That was another story entirely. The hotel bar felt like a glimpse into something scrumptiously forbidden. Bathed in crimson light and adorned in Victorian furnishings, that were oh so inspiring to my own aesthetic. The kind of place fit for sexy vampires and seductresses. It’s obvious why this hotel is rumored to be the meeting place for swinger clubs and erotic encounters. You can tell it holds a lot of delicious secrets! The cocktails are dangerously smooth and every stranger suddenly seems more intriguing under the glow of red velvet light.
Heaven above.
A touch of hell below.
And somehow, it felt perfectly fitting for New Orleans.
The Saint Hotel
Chloe Santiago Basking in the Saint Hotel’s Lobby before an Evening Out
New Orleans is not a city that you gloss over the details of cuisine encountered. She feeds you generously, and before long, convinces you to linger just a little longer than intended.
My evenings quickly became a delicious ritual. The first night called for something warm, comforting, and unmistakably Southern. Tucked inside the dim intimacy of Marrow’s, a sexy dining concept headed by restauranteur Larry Marrow, dinner unfolded slowly. Rich gumbo packed with delicious crab and spicy sausage, grilled oysters kissed by butter & flames, and warm cornbread that melted directly into my mouth.
A Sunday evening meal enjoying soft conversation with a mannerable Louisianan gentleman is my idea of a warm welcome to the “Big Easy”. And if there was one thing I learned quickly during my Southern Belle escape,
it’s this:
The South does not rush pleasure.
By the second day, I found myself waterfront at Drago’s, indulging in what may have been some of the best grilled oysters I’ve had to date. Smoky, buttery, indulgent — the kind of meal that briefly silences conversation because the experience alone deserves your full attention. Truthfully, I began to understand why Southern cuisine feels so nostalgic. Every meal seemed prepared with care. And yes — gumbo and cornbread somehow found their way into nearly every dining experience. I regret absolutely nothing.
But perhaps my favorite discovery of the journey was the quiet charm of Vaucresson Sausage Café.
That famous Southern hospitality met me before I even sat down. Greeted, and taken care of by Julie Vaucresson herself, she lead me in the right direction in selecting lunch from their colorful menu. I ordered the Green’ Plate which featured spicy Cajun collared greens accompanied by fried to perfection catfish, cornbread and bowl of warm sweet potatoes. And of course I couldn’t pass up on the Filé Gumbo. It had to be the best cup of gumbo I had in my life!
Sometimes luxury is found in grand things. And sometimes, it looks like a small cafe, on a quaint corner in the 7th ward. A perfectly cooked plate of food, inviting hospitality, and the feeling that for a moment — you are exactly where you’re meant to be.
New Orleans, after all, seems to understand pleasure,
exceptionally well.
Chloe’s POV enjoying Lunch at the Vaucresson’s Creole Cafe
