Hello all!  We made it back in one piece!  Well two pieces since there's two of us but... you get the idea. ;)

New Orleans was cray cray.  Bourbon Street was like Vegas with terrible sidewalks.  Very treacherous.  Even if one wasn't drinking it's dangerous.  I have my fair share of bruises from tripping and falling.  Sidebar: for some reason whenever I fall people tend to reach out and grab the fleshy part of my arm between my shoulder and elbow (where a bicep should be) and I bruise like a peach!  I swear I don't get abused. LOL  Anyway, I digress.

Bourbon Street

I was surprised at how many people there were, considering it's the "off season".  Apparently during Mardi Gras it's shoulder to shoulder.  No thanks!  It was quite busy enough for me.

I'd have to say the best part of the trip was the food.

Crayfish

Crayfish for lunch one day, yum!  Spicy little suckers (the way they prepare them anyway).  We had these at Saints and Sinners which just happens  to be the restaurant owned by Channing Tatum...  Unfortunately he wasn't there. *sobs*  We also tried Gumbo, Jambalaya, Seafood Etouffee, oysters, Po Boys, shrimp remoulade, Muffaletta's, etc. while we were in town.  De-lish.  The remoulade sauce is made with German mustard which tastes a lot like horseradish.  I love me some spicy food (hello, I live near the Mexican border...) so if you're into that, I highly suggest a trip to NOLA.

We went on a plantation and a swamp tour one day near the end of our trip and it was a lot of fun.  Sorry about the crappy iPhone pics...

Oak Alley Plantation

I'm on a boat! An air-boat that is.

Isn't the swamp gorgeous?!

Gator alert

I must admit, when the gators started lazily swimming over to the boat I had my reservations. LOL  Until the guide explained just how lazy they are and that if you're bigger than them, they'll leave you be.  About 4 or 5 came up at our first stop, "begging" for food.  It's illegal to feed them though.  Obviously people still do or they wouldn't bother with us at all, according to our guide.

I don't have pictures but we also went on the Lord Chaz tour, which is a "haunted/vampire" tour.  I felt so bad for our guide, there were only 4 of us (on a Tuesday night) which included a teenaged boy with his grandmother.  And  none of us was drinking.  I imagine the tour is better for drunk people.  Being sober, it's just a lot of walking and hearing historical facts along with personal political opinions some alleged ghost stories.  If you're with a large group on a Saturday or something it may be worth it.  Not trying to diss it at all, understand me, but it just wasn't our cup of tea.

Overall I'd say I'd go back but maybe in a few years.  Six days is a long time to visit anywhere.  Luckily we took the day after off of work as well.  We didn't get home until 1am.  It was very nice to just cuddle with our boys and spend a lazy day with them.

Needless to say, this trip wiped us out so we haven't made any progress on our kitchen cabinets.  Hopefully this weekend.  I'll be sure to keep you posted!

I guess that's all, TTFN!

♥Holly♥

P.S. Here are two pics I uploaded from my good camera.

The Manning house!  We are huge Bronco fans so seeing Peyton's parents place is a big thrill. LOL

Anne Rice's digs.  Not too shabby.