NOLA Finale

On our last day in New Orleans we didn't have any plans. We started off the day with mimosas then did some more exploring.

I loved everything about the French Quarter, except the smell, and can't wait to return!

Our last stop was at Central Grocery where we got some muffuletta sandwich's to take back with us for dinner. They did travel really well and it was nice to end our trip back in Colorado with a taste of The Big Easy!

NOLA Part 3

On our second day in The Big Easy we did a walking history/voodoo tour. Here I am at St. Louis Street and Bourbon Street. It was pretty amazing how different Bourbon St. was just hours after our arrival! It was super crowded the night before, but as you can see, it's dead in the daylight!

The French Quarter definitely operates on its own clock. Most things didn't open to the public till after 10 a.m. Not quite what I'm used to but it was nice having the street pretty much to ourselves while we made our way to The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum.




We were told that Gerry, our tour guide would be late, but he was 20-25 minutes late for our 10:30 a.m. start time. Well, he made up for it later...what was supposed to be a 2 1/2 to 3 hour tour went well past 4 hours.

My only regret of the trip is that we didn't snap a photo of Gerry. He was quite the character: entertaining, told really bad jokes which he always ended with "that was a joke", and he was very knowledgeable. He said his family had been in the area for 300+ years.

We walked from his museum through the French Quarter to this very old cemetery. It's at the corner of Conti St. and Basin St. The graves inside dated back to the 1800's.

We'd never seen anything like this before. In Colorado, everyone is buried underground and all you see is tombstones, not actual tombs. It was pretty interesting.

We were luck that it only sprinkled a little bit while we were in the cemetery, but doesn't that cloud look ominous?!

This tomb is the main reason why I think Gerry took us to this cemetery. It's supposed to be where the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is buried. Gerry explained that the xxx's on the tomb are people's markings. He said that when Marie was alive a good majority of people were illiterate and they would make their marking as a way signing their names. Gerry said people still do this today to let her know who has visited.

While I didn't my mark, I did leave an offering. Why not, it can't hurt...right?!?!

Gerry did tell us that this is Nicolas Cage's vaulted tomb. Who knows...

After the 4 hour walking tour, I was starving so we had a late lunch, walked around the city more, took a ride on the street car.

As soon as we stepped foot on the streetcar it started to rain and it really came down. I was definitel happy that we were not walking around it! After our ride, the downpour was just a sprinkle so we walked back to our hotel and made it just in time for my favorite part of the day, cocktail hour!

NOLA part 2

Once we got checked in, we hit the streets to explore. We walked all around Bourbon St., up to the French Market, over to Canal Street and then back to Bourbon St.

The smells at the French Market were phenomenal and made me hungry. Well, to be honest I think I walked off the plane salivating and my appetite for Cajun/New Orleans/Creole/ food as well as Fried Chicken was never really satisfied because I am still dreaming of the food in NOLA and nothing I have at home seems to do the trick.

At the French Market, we got some Gator Jerky for my Dad. He likes weird stuff!

Along the way, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde and had coffee and beignets. I thought they were delish, my sister said the real thing in Paris is better but I don't have anything to compare Cafe Du Monde to, so I LOVED them!

To my sister's point, there was A LOT of powdered sugar on these babies and when when the wind would blow, so would the sugar. Before we left our table, we had to dust ourselves off.

Like I said we walked all over the French Quarter and beyond on the day we arrived. Here's a pic if Canal St. My sister said it sort of reminded her of Miami.

And here's a shot of Bourbon St. at night. The day we arrived was the last day of the French Quarter Festival and the streets were packed. It was like a mini-Mardi Gras, so I was happy! The other days we were there, Bourbon St. was not nearly as busy which was nice, but it was also fun to see it busy.

Later in the evening we went to dinner at Desire Oyster Bar. It's connected to our hotel, and it was pretty good! I got a soft-shell crab po' boy and it was delish! However, I did choose to not have the bread with the second half and almost all of my fries were left behind. It was just SO much food!  We also had BBQ shrimp for a starter and those were really good! My sister got the jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice trio which was really, really flavorful and one of the best things I tasted while there!

During dinner we heard some music outside, which there was a lot of, but this music was moving. So, I went outside to see what it was and it was a wedding processional walking right up Bourbon St. following a band. The people behind the couple were waving streamers and dancing. It seemed so fun, I really wanted to jump in the party but dinner hadn't arrived yet.

Number 20 aka Visit The Big Easy

While I wasn't able to cross of Number 20 - Go to Mardi Gras before I was 30, I did make it to The Big Easy before I hit 30 and a half!

I was lucky enough to have my sister on this trip. Here's a pic of our travel outfits. Totally unplanned, but totally typical of us. Since we go shopping together a lot, we have several of the same things (even when we don't go shopping together we end up with very similar items, weird!) and often wear them at the same time. I was already dressed and packed when she got to my house and we walked out looking like the bobbsey twins.

Here's our hotel, the Royal Sonesta. It was located at 300 Bourbon St., right in the heart of the action!

And our room. Isn't it spectacular? One thing that made it so special was the floor it's on. It's located on the R Club floor which is the very top floor and only accessible with your room key. Another nice thing about the R Club is cocktail hour every day from 5 -7. I will miss cocktail hour very much!

Here's the main entrance to our hotel, the fresh flowers were everywhere and so pretty! To the right of this photo is a Jazz Club called Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse. We went to a show there Monday night and it was pretty great.

Since I've been wanting to visit New Orleans for, pretty much like ever, I have several photos and stories that I'll be sharing in the days to come. It's entirely too much for one post. Also this way, I get to sort of relive the trip.

My Favorite Melody

Wishing everyone a Happy Friday and weekend! I know mine is gonna rock!

Number 10 - Go to Church

I am crossing things off this list, slowly but surely! This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, I attended Church. It's the first time I've been to Church in Denver and I liked it so much I'm going back next Sunday.

I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to get up the nerve to go. Maybe it's because the last house of worship I attended scared me a little. It was a Baptist congregation in Joplin. Enough said? Well, it turns out my values didn't match with other's in attendance, but I did a story about the Preacher's wife and she was simply too sweet to say no to, so I attended their church for about three Sundays before vowing never to return.

Mountview Boulevard Presbyterian is quite different. For starters, it's not located in the Bible belt of America and the values are much more in line with my own. It's also in the neighborhood that I'm moving into. I haven't signed any contracts yet, but within the year I will be moving and it's a nice feeling to know my Church will be down the road.

My Favorite Melody

I LOVE this song. Every time I hear it, I start to move!