The Big Easy

My husband had a conference to go to in New Orleans and since he had been down there several times before, I tagged on prior to his conference.  It was totally what I hadn't imagined.  Good in a lot of ways, disappointing in different ways. 

We flew in on the Saturday night prior to Halloween.  Now understandably usually adults have their Halloween parties prior to the actual Halloween so they are home for their children.  So when we flew in, I initially stayed at the Airport thinking we would miss the mayhem in the French Quarter.  NO, at 4:30 a.m. a bunch of partying animals came back to the hotel, still wanting to party.  NOT GOOD, and my husband slept through the whole thing, unbelievable.   

The next day we headed downtown to another hotel and fortunately for us I got reservations right across the street from Decatur Street which is where we got picked up for all of our tours.  PERFECT.  It was close to everything in the French Quarter.

Sunday Gary and I took off for the French Quarter past the Mississippi first. 

I knew the place I wanted us to take a picture for our Christmas Card, "Jackson Square.  Well the background was great, the specific people weren't so great. 

We walked through the first U.S. Catholic Cathedral which is in the back of this picture.  We had to go to church on Sunday.

We happen to run into a restaurant that I looked up on the web as being gluten free.  It was Muriels.  I thought it was the restaurant that Emeril owns, NOT, but the ratings on my app were so good we went in.  I had duck hash with Hollandasie poached eggs.  Brandy Milk (one of their specialities) was my drink of choice and I swear to you it was like having dessert for brunch).  I have never been too inclined to take food pictures, but that food was so good, I almost bored you with them.  Definitely if you are ever in the French Quarter go to Muriels, they are on the right hand corner from the cathedral in  Jackson Square.  During the brunch a three man band came in and played us Jazz. 

Gary got in contact with his friends Sam and Marion (that maybe spelled wrong).  He has been a long time friend of Gary's and Marion has just been known amongst the group as one of the sweetest wives.  She was great. 

We met at the Cafe Du Monde - "Beignets" all around.  The Beignets were so great I could have eaten the whole plate.  The hot chocolate was amazing. That was on my bucket list, it was great.

Our friends carted us around and showed us different things in and out of the French Quarter.  We went down St. Charles street where all the huge mansions are, I had to borrow these pictures, because we were going slightly to fast for me to take photos.  The iron work was fantastic.  Our friends said this entire area had been flooded during Katrina.  It was amazing how they looked of not being touched.  A lot of work.   

We ended up at a Lebanonese restaurant.  The food was so good.  I think Gary wanted to live there. 

Then we drove back to the hotel on Magazine street which is an older area which they are trying to revitalize.  It was like a huge shopping mall, with eclectic shops.  I loved it. 

The Day of the Dead

Yes I have said it many times before I love cemetaries.  I know that sounds sick.  So of course I had to take the cemetary tour in New Orleans.  Our tour guide conveyed so much history and it was really quite entertaining, but I have a memory as small as a mouse, so I won't repeat it. 

Here is Gary in Pirates Alley, don't ask.

Here is Faulkner Book Store.  I took this picture because I have a good friend named Faulkner, but this is where the Noble Prize winner William Falkner (on his first book the printer had a mistype of his name, "Faulkner" which he kept for all of his books) wrote his first book. 

Here is Nicholas Cage's crypt in the New Orleans cemetary around the corner of the VooDoo Queen, Marie Lavaeu.

 

We had to rush away from the tour to get onto our swamp tour.  Somebody told us to take the swamp tour that it would be great.  I can't say it was great, but it was pretty informative.  It would have been great if we had seen more alligators, but we only saw one.  I guess, can you believe it, they hibernate when it gets cold.  They have to keep their body temperature stable. 

During Hurricane Isacc this house wasn't just flooded up to the house, but 8' into the house. 

Here are some of the swamp people homes.  You can rent a piece of property from either the state or the federal government for $99 per month for 99 years.  What a great deal unless you don't want to see your neighbor coming out toothless and nude to his spa. 

Gary then took me to Pat O'Briens for dinner.  The food and drinks were exceptionally good. 

Of course we had to walk Bourbon Street where we met up with Nick Nolte, no I didn't invade his privacy to take a picture, you're going to have to just take my word, and no he wasn't drunk at least at the time.

Millionaire Road

The next day we got up early to head out to Millionaire Road. It is about one hour from the French Quarter.  I wanted to see the plantations of the 1800s.  I read the web before I left and they all told me to go to Laura's Plantation, and forget Oak Alley, I beg to differ.  Laura's reminded me of something that you would see in the Outback of Australia. It may have been magnificent at one time before they had a fire and had to tear down two large portions of the house, but it was pretty simple.  A lot of history, but simple.

Oak Alley would have been like off from "Gown With The Wind."  It was very majestic with the forefront of these huge oak trees.  The history was just as interesting, but so much more gorgeous. 

After coming back we went back to the hotel for a little nap and then up to go again.  We walked down to the U.S. Mint, but they had closed minutes before.  Maybe next trip.

Then Gary asked what I wanted for our last night here and I didn't want to waste it with bad food for not knowing where to go, so we went back to Muriels.  As we walked in two women asked if they could go upstairs to see the ghost.  Of course my curiosity got the best of me and so Gary and I went upstairs.  As you walk into going up the stairs, monks started singing, the staircase creaks the entire trip upstairs.  The shadows on the walls do not help and then you enter the room where the owner had killed himself.  Of course then you have your husband go into another room, but don't tell you and your totally spooked out.  We couldn't just go up once, we had to go up there after the meal as well.  It made for a good Halloween dinner. 

Of course the meal again was absolutely delicious. 

Thanks to New Orleans hospitality, we had a very nice trip.  We will have to go back.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

FROM NEW ORLEANS

Southern Cal

My daughter and her husband decided that it was time for us to get together and spend sometime at the beach. We planned, planned and planned it, so it would turn out perfect.
Believe me, there is a lot of coast line in California, so deciding on where was the biggest factor, but for some reason Oxnard won out.
Unfortunately for some reason we didn't take any photos from the first day, but after arriving in California we headed to Venus Beach. I learned one thing that beaches can be controversal not only with the tourists but definitely with the residents. Venus Beach is a mish-mash of artists, performers, eclectic shops, and transients. For some reason someone got a bee in their bonnet and tried to ban everything except the shops and the tourists from the beach. Well the artists, performers and transients won that battle. They had been temporary residents of this beach long before most of the permanent residents were there.
Then off to Santa Monica to meet up with one of our friends from our hometown. We had appes at a restaurant on the promonade (a beautiful outside shopping area). Then a walk along the pier and then off to hotel for the night.
The next day we headed for Oxnard. It was an absolute beautiful drive out. We had taken a turn up into the canyons that dropped down into Malibu. Then we realized we were into coastal fog. Now did I tell you we planned this to be perfect, well the fog was sort of in our way.
We rented one of the original beach shacks that had been renovated for just us renters. It was cute and quaint. Beyond a few things lacking in the house, we felt right at home.

Everyone played in the water, we threw a frezbie around hoping the waves wouldn't take it out to the middle of the ocean. We walked along and made sand castles.

Since it was so foggy and we really didn't want to deal with the fog, we set our sites on going out to the Channel Islands. We would have wanted to stay longer and explore more of the islands, but it was going to be a 3 hour tour and believe me between Brian and Gary, we were reminded a lot of times what a 3 hour tour could mean if we don't come back.

Brian and Randi took off for a hike and Gary and I took off for a stroll. The island was sunny and perfect temperature. It beat fog.
The next day off to the local Farmers Market. It was interesting when we saw this sign. We finally realized that this market was in the heart of commercial produce area, so the certified is actually home grown organic fruits and vegetables where the uncertified comes from commercial growers. INTERESTING.

Too much fog we headed into Pasadena. Up to the Griffin Observatory in Hollywood. Then Brian and Gary flew away for business and left Randi and I to play in LA. We went to Forest Lawn to see where the stars ended up. We saw Nate King Cole, George Burns, Louis L'More, Jean Herschel, and several other's burial plots.

Next day we headed for the parks and the mountains. Randi and Brian had frequented this park before. It was an old college or school turned into a private christian school. Part of it had been shut down and so it was fun to pick in the windows.

Then off to the mountains to another observatory, Mt. Wilson. So many people could be bored driving up a mountain, I found it not only fun, but excellerating to go from 400 elavation to 7000 within an hour. It would have been nice if it hadn't been so smoggy, but it still was a nice drive and hike.

The week was a nice week to catch up and just be with my daughter and her husband. The weather might not have been so great, but the visit, the food, and the things we did we wanted we all had needed for a long time.