Friends and Columbus

Surprise! We spent the afternoon with a Cincinnati friend, Yelena, in New Orleans! We picked her up at the airport, walked the French Market, had tea/coffee, and made sure to take a group photo.  It was comforting to see a familiar face.

We also tried gator jerky and gator sticks.  It tasted very much like gator.  I wonder why? Seriously the sticks were gross but the jerky was good.

Our long time friends, Josh and Brandy Reed, hosted us in Louisiana.  They more than graciously opened their home to our family.  Our kids lived like siblings for almost 2 weeks.  They played, fought, learned, ate, and shared rooms together.   Other than the birthday photo I didn't take a group picture! Too busy playing I guess. 

J&B just bought a new house, which meant their honey do list was large.  James was able to help out.  He is very competent when it comes to Honey do lists:) James and Josh built shelves, replaced toilets, replaced lighting fixtures, and tried to beat Brandy and I in cards.

Brandy and I organized books.  She has tons of books. Her children are very lucky to have such an amazing collection in their own home. We also painted this awesome chandelier white for her daughter's room.  Oh, and we won some card games :)

We took a group field trip to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta.  They were fascinating but the true learning experience of the day was an in depth talk with Yoda.

He revealed the secret to life: Have fun and play with the kids! So that is just what happened!

Thank you Josh, Brandy, I, G, and E! We were so grateful to finally visit you in your new home state!

Mardi Gras New Orleans

James and I woke up at 5:15am to make our way into the city for Mardi Gras.  Neither of us had ever been and honestly I had to look up the history of Mardi Gras on Wiki.  


Safety for Love Dove was a big concern.  Where would we park her and our belongings? Definitely not a parking garage, Love Dove even without the box top and boats is pretty tall.  Depending on the neighborhood, parking on the street is sketchy. I'd like to have my hubcaps when I get back. We left expensive items and boats with a friend out of the city, read a little about the neighborhoods and headed in. We found a free spot close to the riverfront and French Quarter, well lit, and near 2 paid lots with attendants! Score!


Then we strolled along Decatur in the quiet early morning. I picked out a mask and James got a special bead. I wore that mask for 11 hrs straight! Back to the morning, we made our way to Canal St and started people watching. We saw costumes of all types, drag queens, families, and people street preaching. As the parade time got closer more people filed in and wedged themselves as close to the barriers as possible.  

The first parade of the day and the only one we took pictures of was the Krewe of Zulu. We collected beads and things throughout the day.  Nothing too excessive though.

The amount of waste was unbelievable. It lined the streets.  I was expecting beads but there was also just trash.  There were very few, if any, extra trash cans. People threw everything on the ground.  It was rather disturbing. Mardi Gras was Tuesday and by Saturday the trash was gone, except for beads in trees and electrical wires. We saw bulldozers doing clean up on the outskirts of downtown as we were leaving the celebration.

Bourbon Street was crazy come evening.  So many people.  The outfits were more outrageous.  The people drank more. The streets filled with more trash.  There wasn't as much nudity/flashing as I excepted.  It is totally a drunk tourist thing to do.  I saw far more women turn down beads rather than flashing.  I even encouraged a few to stay strong and not flash.  I have no issue with a little nudity. I have issue drunk people giving gifts to other drunk people for doing stupid things.  In the end I was more disgusted by the amount of trash everywhere than the things I saw on Bourbon St.  After all, it is Bourbon St.  By 9pm we wanted out of there.  More people were coming and I think the real craziness was about to begin? 


So we headed to The Original French Market for a late dinner. We had boiled seafood, oysters with goat cheese and a po boy. Delicious and we had a funny waitress.  As we walked back to Love Dove we discovered a few music spots for our next visit.  They had great music and a laid back atmosphere.  I have no names just location which will make the next visit to New Orleans an adventure!