Sunday, May 15, 2011

New Orleans

These last couple of weeks have been a little bit crazy for us. Jeremy had been sick for a little while and actually had to go to the hospital for 3 days with pneumonia last week. We were supposed to leave for New Orleans Saturday morning with Jeremy's family but we weren't sure if the doctors would release him by then. On Friday, Jer took matters into his own hands, he got dressed, shaved, told all the nurses he was being discharged that day, and even walked out into the hallway to greet the doctor. Luckily, the doctor agreed with him that he shouldn't be in the hospital anymore and we were able to go on vacation with Jeremy's family. We are so glad that he is feeling better! We had a great time in New Orleans. The first day we were there, we went to Jazz fest. We saw Jimmy Buffett and the Strokes.

That night, we walked down Bourbon Street to find somewhere to eat. I don't get the fascination with Bourbon street at all. It's crowded and it smells like a lovely mixture of body odor, urine, and garbage. Pretty sure being there for Mardi Gras would be my worst nightmare. The next day we went to the Cafe Du Monde for beignets.

They were delicious and definitely lived up to the hype. Also that day, we visited the aquarium and went on a walking tour of the French Quarter. The French Quarter is such a charming place. It has such a rich history, even long before it was a part of the United States. While we were walking in the French Quarter, I stopped and had my palm read. Here are a couple of the things that I learned about future...I will get married in the next five years, the man I am currently involved with will stop playing so many mind games with me, hehehe.

That night, we went out for a mother's day dinner to the Commander's Palace in the garden district. Jeremy and I agreed that this is one of our favorite restaurants of all time. The Bananas Foster we had for dessert was to die for!

The next day, we took a swamp tour at the Jean Lafitte national preserve. We saw tons of alligators. They just came right up to the boat. I guess they used to feed them marshmallows, but they aren't allowed to anymore. I wonder how long it will take the alligators to figure that out.

That night we went on a ghost tour of the French Quarter. I think that was one of my favorite things that we did on the trip. New Orleans is thought to be one of the most haunted places in the world. This is the old Lalaurie mansion. According to story, the LaLauries conducted horrible experiments there on their slaves. When they fled the country after they were discovered, they buried 30 of their slaves alive under the floorboards.

This is an old Catholic Abbey. There is an old story about vampires coming over in the 1700s from France. Supposedly, vampires still live in the attic of the church, that's why the shutters on the dormer windows are always kept closed.

On the tour, we learned that there is actually a group modern day "vampires" that live in New Orleans called sanguiners. They drink human blood from willing donors. I guess recently, when they were putting up power lines along the Mississippi river, a group of these sanguiners came to protest at a City Council meeting because they were worried that they would get tangled in the power lines during their nighttime flights.....right. On our last day in New Orleans we went on steamboat dinner cruise down the Mississippi river.

We had a wonderful time in New Orleans and a great time seeing Jeremy's family. Thanks for a great vacation!

1 comment:

  1. We're jealous of all of your vacations! Glad you're feeling better Jeremy!

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