The Big Easy

Brad and I took a trip to New Orleans at the end of August. This was the first weekend away, just the two of us, just because we wanted to, in a LONG time. Brad's parents kept the boys for us so we knew they were in good hands.

We stayed on Canal Street. Our room wasn't that great but we got a great deal on priceline and had a wonderful view of Canal Street and of the Mississippi.



We slept in Saturday morning and then walked here for breakfast.



The line to sit down was quite long so we stood in the takeout line. After 20 minutes (I think) and lots of sweating, we finally had our beignets and drinks. As we walked out we realized there was also an indoor dining area with no waiting. Ugh. I guess we'll know next time!



We sat on a bench and enjoyed this view:



I was in an aircast from a foot injury a few weeks prior so we decided to hitch a ride on one of these to tour the French Quarter:
It was wonderful! If we go back, I really want to do this again. Our driver was a retired history teacher and he knew so much interesting information! I am not very observant, apparently. I thought they were horse drawn carriages. Umm...no. They are pulled by mules! Once I really looked at the animal I realized! Here is our driver and his mule.

He was nice enough to offer to take a picture of us, too!

Jackson square is full of vendors and people. I took a picture of a guy taking a picture of us! Ha!

The red building in the middle is where Ellen DeGeneres went to elementary school, as well as some other stars I can't remember the names of!

The Clover Grill was in a scene of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I had never seen that movie but we decided to watch it after we got home. Interesting! Anyway we had dinner there Saturday night because we ran out of time to eat somewhere fancier. It was decent but I doubt we would return. The staff and other diners were...shall we say... colorful?

I thought this sign was funny.

Our driver pointed out a few hangouts of local celebrities and he drove us right by Brad and Angelina's house. This is looking through there door into their courtyard. I don't even really like them but I was hoping we would see them coming or going! (we didn't)

This is a statue of Joan of Arc. I am fuzzy on the details but she had a lot to do with New Orlean's history and the fleur de lis.

After our tour ended we went on foot for a bit. Here is another view of St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square.

And I can't remember what this building was called but it is right next to the cathedral. Clearly I am not cut out to be a tour guide!

After having some lunch (shrimp poboy and gumbo!), we walked back to the hotel. I caught this on the way back. My maiden name is Gibbs so anytime I see that name I think it is neat.

We cooled off and lounged in the room for awhile and then went to the pool for about 20 minutes. The pool was about the size of my living room and it was very crowded so we left. We went to the Imax and saw "Hurricane on the Bayou" which was a great film about the swamps and marshes and hurrican Katrina.

After that we changed clothes again and got dinner. We had to walk on Bourbon street for a few blocks and it had changed a LOT from 11:00 that morning. Definitely not our type of fun! After dinner was the real reason we were in New Orleans - to see Brian Regan!

If you are ever near one of his performances you defnitely need to go. We laughed our tails off! He was soooooo funny and so clean! I don't really appreciate foul language so it was nice to be at a family friendly event. Lots of people had their children with them!

After the show we walked back through the Quarter and got some dessert which was a total disaster but we had fun. We slept in the next morning, got Starbucks for breakfast and headed home! It was great to see our boys. It was the first time I had been away from Reed for more than 1 night and I really missed him. Of course I missed Will too!