It’s no secret that there are a ton of fun activities to enjoy in New Orleans with kids. Whether you are visiting New Orleans for a few days or you live in the area full-time, New Orleans Mom loves to provide families with fun ideas for keeping kids busy and cool throughout summer (hello, New Orleans splash pads!). Sometimes it’s fun to hop in the car and take a day trip from New Orleans, and we can’t recommend this sunflower farm enough! Other favorite day trips from New Orleans include Mississippi area beaches, White Sands Beach, Fontainebleau State Park and this awesome indoor water park. Happy adventures!
Worth the Road Trip From New Orleans :: Sunflower and Blueberry Picking 
If you are looking for a family-friendly road trip from New Orleans, we have just the suggestion for you! Vitamin D, fresh air and new surroundings are good for everyone, so a few years ago during the height of the pandemic we took a quick, kid-friendly road trip “field trip” from New Orleans to Mississippi! This is now a family favorite and something we do year after year. We also recently visited Bachman’s Blueberry Farm in Bush and highly recommend that destination as well. Bachman’s Blueberry Farm is currently open for the ’24 season, make sure to check their Facebook page for hours and updates.
We packed water, sunscreen and lots of snacks (you may want to throw technology in the car). We then took just over an hour drive East to Mississippi to go sunflower picking and it was an absolutely great day! I have 3 young children (ages 7, 4 and 2), and all 3 were engaged and happy during the adventure. On our drive in to Mississippi we got to see all types of animals from horses to cows and even baby goats (so cute!). The drive from Metairie is just over an hour to the sunflower farm, which was our first stop, and we hit the road by 8:30am which put us to the farm around 9:45am.
Sunflower Picking in Mississippi
First, we stopped by Coastal Ridge Farm to pick sunflowers. We bought our tickets online ahead of time (strongly recommend) and came prepared with our bucket and scissors. Right now you should definitely plan to bring your own garden shears, gloves if you want them and BIG 
buckets for transport home. Tickets were $18 online (pricing subject to change), and every adult needs a ticket. Or you can use cash and purchase tickets at the gate for $15. Each ticket gets you 1 bucket, and each bucket can be filled with 10-15 stems of gorgeous sunflowers. My kids were in complete awe of flowers that were not only taller than them, but also taller than their mom. There are multiple fields of sunflowers, and there is plenty of room to spread out comfortably and basically not interact with other guests. Coastal Ridge Farm is now open for the ’24 season! Call or check the Coastal Ridge Farm Website or Facebook page for weekly updates and availabilities.
I let my kids take turns picking out which flowers they wanted to cut down and then helped them cut. We even snagged some red sunflowers, which I honestly didn’t know were a thing until our visit. We appreciated the employees wearing masks and after we handed in our tickets, we were given free roam to explore the large sunflower fields. We even stopped by the small Bachelor’s Button field and the kids got to have their pick of the colorful blossoms. After about an hour, we decided we had finished exploring. Special note :: there are bees, ants and all sorts of natural insects. We strongly recommend you wear boots / rain boots, bring repellant and – for allergy kids – ensure you have the right supplies on hand for possible bites / stings.
Blueberry Picking in Bush
Next, we headed back to Louisiana to visit Bachman’s Blueberry Farm in Bush for blueberry picking. There are Rows and rows of blueberry bushes are lush with fruit and ready for picking (usually Mid-May to Mid-July depending on the previous winter). Make sure to check the Bachman Facebook page for weekly updates and availabilities.
All in all it was a really great day and one of those happy memories that I hope my kids remember from this crazy time. If you leave New Orleans around 8:30am and take your time, you can expect to be back in the city by early to mid-afternoon. If you take this adventure, let us know – we’d love to hear what you think!
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What a wonderful sharing. Thank you so much.
Were there many bugs in the blueberry fields too? Have a niece who panics with bugs, so thanks for that warning about the sunflowers…
When is the best time of year to come?
For this specific outing, May / early June at latest.