Leaving New Orleans, back to the Tundra

Nish left bright and early this morning, at 5:30! It was so much fun catching up with her and experiencing the city of New Orleans together! Thank you dear for suggesting such a fun trip!

My flight is not until 3, but due to the parades and the number of people coming into the city for Fat Tuesday the hotel recommended that I allow some extra time to get to the airport.

So, after packing up my bags and choosing just the best beads and throws to carry home, I checked out of my room around 11.

The lobby had a donation box set up for all of your extra beads. The sign said the donations are going to Save an Angel Animal Rescue. I wasn't sure how they would be using the beads, so I looked it up online and I learned they would sell the beads to raise money.

The bin was pretty full when I dropped off our big stack of beads. So I hope they'll be able to make some good money for their organization.

The driver of the shuttle that took me to the airport explained that it was a good thing that we left when we did. We did hit some traffic but nothing like what we'd see in about another hour.

I would have loved a little more time in the city, but I'd hate to miss my flight due to traffic.

Now I can just use my time to finish reading Gone Girl so I can finally watch the movie when I get back. :)

Until next time, dear friends! For now I'll be waiting out the rest of the gross and cold winter in Minnesota.

Bacchus Sunday!

Today is our last full day in New Orleans.

We spent much of the afternoon and evenings catching the parades and eating yummy food.

We had lunch at The Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street.  We ordered a half dozen raw oysters and our own red fish meals. I had never had oysters before (mostly because they look gross) but Nish walked me through it and they weren't all that bad.

We also walked around the French Market for a bit. They had a big mask sale going on with some live music. It was pretty cool to see the detailed work that goes into some of these masks.

We had a little time to relax in the hotel room and warm up before making it out for the Bacchus parade.

This was the big parade to be at.  The crowds along St. Charles were massive.

I really enjoyed this parade because the Krewe's theme was Children's Stories that Live Forever.  They had cool floats like Harry Potter, Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web and Pinocchio.

Also they had a few big celebrities: John C. Reilly and Craig Robinson.

SO that was pretty cool!

After the parade seemed to get further and further between floats and bands we moved on to go find some food. We ended up at the 801 Royal for some more good food.

The place had fun vibe, small but a bit fancier looking but they were also blasting some good music too.

Just started sprinkling on us as we walked back to the hotel. Now ready to crash.

It's Carnival baby!

So this post is coming to you a little late because my phone died last night.

After getting up and ready for the day we decided to make our way to Mid-City for lunch and the Endymion parade.

We must have left at the perfect time because we got a chance to see all of the floats go past us on their route to the start of the parade. It was pretty cool to see them like that and we knew this parade was going to be a good one because the floats were so ornate and usually they had multiple floats together to become one giant float.

We had to take the bus again because the streetcars weren't running. But we made it there with no problems.

We ate lunch at Parkway Bakery and Tavern because they're supposed to have some of the best Po'Boys in the city. It's been around since 1911 and they were really good. There was a long line again but one of the ladies working there said to go in and just order take out at the bar. So that's what I did and it was much faster.

Plus we got to eat outside. It was a beautiful day and so nice to feel the sunshine.

We then left to try and find a spot along the parade route. And this proved to be difficult because people had their sections roped and tarped off. We eventually made it to a spot that had this huge area but not many people in it so Nish just sat down in the corner for a bit and we thought we'd stay there until someone kicked us out.

Eventually someone did come up to us but he invited us in to meet other people. The group turned out to be a fraternity from UNO so they kept asking us if we were Greek and all these other questions. 
I only lied once the whole night. You see I said I was visiting here from MN, my friend is Australian, we met in Antarctica, no we didn't know anyone at the party, I was in a sorority but I graduated already and no, we're not a chapter, we're a book! Ha!

The only lie was on my age. One of the guys asked how old I was and I asked him how old he thought I was and he said 22 so I said yes! I don't think the college boys really wanted to know they were hanging out with someone about a decade older than that!!

It turned out to be a fun group, they even had a pet pig. The girls there were friendly and welcoming. The guys let Nish and I stand on their coolers to see the parade. And when it was over they tried to help us get a cab. Which proved to be impossible.  The parade was heading in the direction of where we needed to go so we couldn't really get anywhere.

We sat and waited it out in the lobby of the dorm while I tried calling every cab in the city. No one could either get to us or would be able to get us in there.

It took almost 2 hours, in the meantime every one fell asleep in the lobby chairs while I continued to call cabs and talk to the poor kid stuck working the desk at the dorm.

We eventually got a cab and he brought us as close as he could. We still had to walk a few blocks to the hotel but we did make it.

New Orleans: sunshine, good food and drinks!

This morning we woke up feeling pretty good for being out late last night.

My body felt rested other than a bit of a sore shoulder/neck from where my tote bag holding all of our parade goodies was resting. I'll definitely need a good massage after I get home!

We did some walking around Bourbon Street and Jackson Square before grabbing a table at Cafe du Monde for some coffee and their famous beignets.

They were about as delicious as we expected! 

We then caught the bus (the street cars weren't running due to people already camping out on the parade route) to bring us into Uptown where we planned to grab a drink at Commander's. However due it being such a busy weekend, we may have well been invisible.  After 10 minutes with no drink we walked over to Magazine Street and did a little shopping. 

We shared some gumbo and shrimp and grits with some tasty drinks at Ignatius and then strolled across the street to the Rum House for happy hour and some dessert.

After making our way back to the hotel we took some time to relax a little before the parades started rolling.

Tonight's parades were Hermes, D'Etat and Morpheus.  We accumulated another large stack of beads and other little trinkets. I was a little bummed we didn't get one of the hula hoops, although I'm not sure how I would have brought it home.

After the parades finished we were brave souls and made our way to Bourbon Street to check out the craziness.  It was INSANE! So many people! People throwing beads from the balconies and so many beads on the ground that you could easily slip if you stepped on one just right.

We basically walked down the street and back up it and decided then to call it a night.

Lastly, I just need to say that last night at the Muses parade two people were shot and killed just a half a block from where we were when it happened. It's terribly sad and disheartening to learn that these young people lost their lives to violence at a time that should be fun and enjoyable for everyone. The police had a phenomenal response time to the incident and luckily, other than seeing a bunch of commotion, we didn't learn about the shooting until this morning. 

I'm sorry to end this on a sober and sad thought but I feel it deserved attention.

Here are a few pics from our adventures today!

New Orleans for Mardi Gras!

This morning I boarded a plane in cold and gray Minnesota and landed this afternoon in sunny and lush New Orleans, just in time for all things Mardi Gras!

My friend Paula (from my Antarctica trip) set me up with her favorite cab driver. He brought me to my hotel and schooled me the whole ride in on what I needed to do to be safe.  Great guy!

I had a few hours before Nish arrived so I roamed the streets to get my bearings.

I found my way to Canal Street and walked down to the Riverwalk. I also ventured into the French Quarter and into Jackson Square. There's just so much to see, I'm feeling like my senses are on overload.

There were some really eccentric street performers. Musicians, magic, tarot card readers and more.  I (as a total band geek) love all of the music. It just puts you in a good mood. Well that and maybe the fact that it's sunny out and I was wearing a tshirt.

Paula also set me up with her friends Carrie and Rob who were hosting a party for tonight's parades. They live just a block off the route so it was a great location.

I was the first to arrive but it wasn't long before others showed up. They took me into their group and brought me over to my first parade: Babylon.  One of the ladies in the group explained that this Krewe has about 20 floats with bands and such mixed in and they follow a satirical theme. The floats were nicely done and decorated beautifully.

After Babylon was the Chaos parade but we made our way back to the party for some food and warmth.  They had Popeyes and homemade Gumbo (which was fantastic) and King Cakes.

Nish made it just before the Muses parade started. This parade was on a whole new level! It was so much fun. We were catching all sorts of things but didn't get any of their famous shoes. People were going nuts for them!

We left near the end of the parade due to strong winds that threw a ton of sand at us and we were getting cold.

We met some really nice people and had a great night! Lots of pics today so I'm not posting any of those I already posted on Instagram/Facebook (except the one of Nish and I) because it's late.

Should be another fun filled day tomorrow.

Goodnight!!

Last day in Jamaica

This is our last day in Jamaica and I think the whole resort is still sleeping after the partying that went on last night!

Luckily we couldn't hear anything from our room and we were both awake and ready for breakfast when they opened the doors for the buffet at 7 am.

I was a bit bummed that it was rainy outside but it gave us time to pack up our bags and relax while the rain moved through.

Unfortunately that only gave us a short amount of time to actually lay by the pool.
We were checked out of our room at noon and then had time to still sit outside and eat at the buffet while we were waiting for our transport. 

While we were sitting outside, a marching band came through the resort pool area doing a big show around the pool deck so that was kind of fun to see. 

Our transfer came at 2:30 and we had enough time to get to the airport and through to our gate with just the right amount of time.

We had another exit row seat and, again, we were the only ones seated there. So it was nice to stretch out a little bit.

I enjoyed that I was able to finish 2 books and journal throughout our trip. I find it very relaxing and luckily Bryan is completely content on his own while I do that.

Our neighbor picked us up at the airport when we landed and gave us a big slice of cheesecake.  Morgan, who was watching the dogs, did a nice job and had sent us many pictures while we were gone.

It's sad to be back in the cold and snow, but coming home is always nice too.

Now it's time to sleep in my own bed and cuddle my dogs until they hate it.

Til next trip...