Warning: This post contains lots and lots of trip pictures that may or may not be interesting to anyone outside of my own little family.As I mentioned before, Daniel and I went to New Orleans last week. My mom flew in on Wednesday to stay with the kids, which was exciting - it's been almost a year since we saw her. I had lots of things to get done before we left, but of course I spent most of my time just sitting around chatting with my mom and having fun watching the kids all crowd around her trying to show her every project/picture/lego creation they've made in the last year. Wednesday night we all drove into Austin to eat at Maudie's, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Then we stayed up way too late getting packed, and instead of getting a good night's rest, I spent most of the night worrying about all of the things that I had forgotten to tell my mom about
(What if she doesn't know that when Lizzy asks for "boats" in the morning, she really wants "Honey Bunches of Oats"?, and oh, no - I forgot to tell her that when she takes the kids to Taco Bell, Oliver doesn't like onions or red sauce on his burrito, and Lizzy doesn't like onions but she does like red sauce!). You know, really important things like that. I think I actually woke Daniel up after tossing and turning about the Taco Bell issue, but instead of being proud of me for remembering such a crucial thing, he laughed. I guess some people just don't understand the preparation and effort it takes to leave behind four kids.
We all got up super early and headed to the airport, and after a short flight, Daniel and I were in New Orleans by 8:30 Thursday morning. We stayed at the JW Marriott on Canal Street, which was a perfect location. It was right next to the French Quarter, and right down the street from the Mississippi River. There were so many fun places within walking distance, so we did a lot of walking around and exploring the city. The food there is amazing. We soon realized that we'd have to be there for a lot longer than a weekend to experience all of the different kinds of food and restaurants. We did stop at Cafe du Monde for beignets, which I have personally seen mentioned on the food channel, so I know we did something right. One of our favorite places was a little restaurant called "Louisiana Pizza Kitchen" - they had great gourmet pizza, but also authentic dishes like gumbo and red beans with rice that we tried.
This first slideshow has lots of pictures of miscellaneous New Orleans stuff that we saw/did as we walked around the city. There are also a few pictures at the end of the slideshow from after we got back - the kids with Grandma Orva, etc.:
12 comments:
Wow, Joanne. I love the pictures, and all the explaining you did about them. It seems like a really neat city to visit. Thanks for sharing with us!
Wow! Great trip! I never thought about visiting New Orleans, I'll have to add it to my wish list! And I'm glad the kids survived the "Honey Bunches of Oats" and "Taco Bell" possible ordeals!
You did a great job with your pictures. It really looks like so much fun. Did you guys just walk everywhere?
I love your pictures. I had a little chuckle when you mentioned Daniel's grizzly spotting talents (having benefited from them first-hand). I'm sure he was an asset to your swamp tour! Sounds like it was a great trip. I can empathize with you about preparing to leave kids behind. There is so much to pass along. Thank goodness for Grandmas!
Joanne your trip looks like it was so much fun! I'm so happy you guys got to do a couples only trip! I've been wanting to do one for awhile but I think we'll have to wait till baby #2 is here and done nursing. So yeah, it might be awhile!
I love that you were fretting over all the little details before you left! The first time we left Teya for a weekend I typed up two pages of instructions for my mom, and Teya couldn't even talk yet!
Anyways, loved all the pictures! Especially the swamp tour, those were awesome. Also it was sad to see the houses that are still ruined and abandoned after 3 years! My favorite though is that you went to such awesome restaurants! I kind of judge a vacation by how good the food was, so it looks like you guys had a pretty awesome vacation!
Liza - we walked everywhere except for during the 3 tours we did (swamp, plantation, and city tour). For those, they came and picked us up at our hotel, drove us to the tour, and then dropped us back off. I'm really glad we did the tours - they let us see a lot more of New Orleans that we wouldn't have been able to experience if we had just stayed around our hotel.
Becca - I laughed when I read your comment, because the first time I left Tristan overnight, I typed up 4 pages of instructions, and everyone in my family made so much fun of me. This trip I only typed up about 3 1/2 pages, but I figure that is justified because now there are four kids. It takes a mother to understand.
How much fun! I wanna go on a trip without kids!
Looks like a blast Joanne! That's so great that you were able to do it. It looks really intersting, we'll have to see if we can visit out there sometime!
I really wish I could be a little sneaky when I spell a word wrong. Anyway my original comment just said that I loved looking at the pictures and reading all the interesting notes you had on them. Looking at your post felt like a little adventure. I'm just wondering (not wandering) how you picked up all those beads! I would just never predict that you of all people...(j/k)
Well, Gretch, I don't know - New Orleans just brings out a little wildness in everyone, I guess. Ha ha.
Actually, pretty much every little shop on every street sells those beads for about a quarter. We bought ours for the kids at the Mardi Gras warehouse in Algiers.
Joanne,
These pictures are all so fun to see! I volunteered at Red Cross (when we lived in Plano) after Katrina, but never really saw the area in the rebuild stage. You gave awesome details and the pictures are great! And it's so neat to hear how much you loved being there! More people should view your blog ... great advertising for a great city! :-) Thanks for sharing.
Ohh... and "Grandma"??? Looks more like "aunt" to me!! I'm taking up yoga!!
~~ this is a new account for me, says Lisa Demoney, but it's Lisa and Terry Mott.
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