N'awlins Y'all 2015 (New Orleans)

 



Sunday, Mar 22 - Heath and Brock

Who is ready for......


 a ROAD TRIP!!!!!


These guys are!





The day finally arrived. Sunday morning we were loading up to go.

The day before (Saturday), The Big Chief, aka Heath, woke up all excited until he saw that Dad-B (that is what the boys call their dad) wasn't home. He asked his Mom (Joni) where Dad-B was and when told that Dad-B was at work, Chief responded, "we were 'pose to go to No Olens today." How does a three year old know about New Orleans?

Well, Dad-B is not at work now! We are heading to New Orleans, (LA), to scratch off an entry on Julia's bucket list. Shorten the list just isn't working, sorry.

 

Want to know the BEST PART?? I'm all tickly thinking about it.

I got to go and Norm had to stay home!! WoooWhooo!!! Boom-shaka-laka!

Hi Norm! (Have fun at work! Hahahaha) The seating arrangements left a LOT to be desired though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good-bye Illinois. Until we meet again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road trips - with boys under 6 and a pregnant woman? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, rest stops and restaurants.

 

 

 

  

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the high-up on our trip. (You know if something sounds like a poke at vertically challenged folks, I won't use it. So, you will not hear me say low-down. Not happening.)

This was the hotel we stayed at, in Mississippi, on the way down. I love spelling Mississippi. Its so rhythmic.

 

I know, it should not be a two day road trip. First, I wasn't driving. Jason is just as mean as Norm and wouldn't let me drive. Also, I don't think Jules trusts my driving.

In reality, like I said, we did have two boys aged 3 & 5, their Mom who is expecting baby number 3 later this year, KC, Kyle, Jason, me and of course The Goddess of New Orleans herself, Jules.  Even though Bubba is a full sized Suburban it was still pretty crowded. So two days worked and nobody got injured.

 

 

 

 Brock, Heath and I were all ready to head down for breakfast, but we had to wait for everybody else. Someone mentioned ants in the pants and for the rest of the day I was all itchy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Every time Brock, Heath or I would ask, "Are we there yet?" all the grown ups would say, "Five more mimits." Brock calls minutes, mimits.

 

Guess what, they finally got it right! Five more mimits!

 

 

  

  

 We made it!!  N'awlins Y'all! That is local lingo. I was brushing up on my way here.

Park the car when you arrive. For the most part you won't need it until you leave.


This is how you get around in N'awlins.

Jules' mastered the schedule quick and the boys loved the trolley and getting to ride it everyday.


 

One must understand that when you go to N'awlins there are certain things that are not just for fun, they are a requirement!

A visit to the infamous Café du Monde is a requirement!

Got to try the beignets.

Fancy donuts. What else would Jason want? Wowser they were delicious!

I wonder if they would deliver to DeKalb? I know a guy that could just pick up the package and bring it home with him after work. Hahahahahaha....  Working instead of vacationing in N'awlins. Something wrong with that guy.

Seriously, I don't understand why someone who gets paid to sit on their couch would want a job? Me, I am all for sitting and lounging! Besides, its character building. Norm says I am a character.

 

 

 

Brock loved the beignets.

 

 

 

 

Back to N'awlins. I had a hard time understanding some of the folks here. It might be that they don't understand me. I think what we each consider "English" is a considerably different version from the others.

 

 

 

 

No matter, the food is fantastic!! Everybody understands food. Although I didn't find any eel sandwiches. One would think that if I can find eel sandwiches in Vegas I should be able to find them here in N'awlins. Right?

 

 

Samitch, what is that? I asked for an eel sandwich and the lady kept asking me about samitch. I don't understand how if Sam has an itch it has anything to do with my getting something to eat. I ended up having some gumbo and Jules had a shrimp po'boy. Apparently if you are vertically challenged and have no money they name a sandwich after you. Politically correct is not a priority in these parts.

 

I wonder if I can get a Travis next time?

 

 

  

 

 

 

Bucket list entry - Go to New Orleans - CHECK

I really like Jules' bucket list. She has a lot of cool things she wants to do.

Our first day was fairly short since we arrived late in the afternoon. Chief however was all excited when he heard what was planned for tomorrow.

I am ready for the new day. Let's roll.

After I was instructed that my outfit might have been a bit much for early daytime, I opted to change before we left the hotel.

Waiting for the trolley is a great time to talk about the day ahead.

And we're off like a herd of turtles.

Today the big plan was to visit an aquarium. From what I understand about aquariums; someone who likes to go fishing catches a lot of stuff. Instead of having dinner, or letting it go, they put it in big bowls so we can go look at what they caught. Normally I would just say they were a show off.

This is one happy stingray. I think he really likes being in this big bowl. I didn't have ANY idea that the bowls would be this big though.

These are lionfish. They don't roar or make any noise for that matter. However, from what the sign said these guys are just as dangerous as lions that roar. They won't eat you, but they can kill you. They were not my favorite. I think they are just mean.

A photo-bombing penguin.

I like aquariums.

I would hate to meet the guy who owned these teeth. KC, Jules and Joni looked good though.






Not only were there a lot of big fish bowls but they had an indoor rainy forest. With trees and birds and bugs and everything. It didn't rain though, so I didn't understand why they called it a rain forest. Besides, how does it rain inside?




There were tree house paths to walk on. How cool is that?

I felt safe standing by the edge for this picture because Norm wasn't here. If he would have been here he probably would have tried to push me. He has an odd sense of humor that way.

There was a part that was all closed in because they had a whole herd of little birds whizzing all around with no leashes or anything.


Jules said they were parakeets.

The little birds were real friendly too.


Even if you didn't have any food to give them.


But if you did, they liked you a lot more.

Generally, if something has a steering wheel Heath, aka The Big Chief, is all about it.

 

He usually is a bit of a fast and crazy driver, no matter what it is.

He was laughing up a storm because his crazy driving was going to make Amma fall overboard and knocked his brother down.

The person that put the window this high wasn't thinking about vertically challenged people getting to look through it.


Brock however made sure his little brother could see.


Awesome big brothers do that.

I'm not sure its all that legal, defacing coins and all, but it was still cool.



Where else have you seen a contraption that will turn your penny into a cool souvenir for 51 cents?

You can't beat that!

I felt so much safer riding in Jules' purse rather than in the stroller.

We did a little shopping,  



                                            sightseeing,

more sightseeing












 



and a little napping.

Jules loved this bike. The fact that it was advertising for some pralines was just a perk.

Before we got pralines though....

Did I mention the food?

We studied hard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We flunked. 

 

Hey, its vacation.

 

 

 

No, really we had a fantastic meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

N'awlins is not an inexpensive place to dine, so be prepared. 

 

After a $50 on-line discount. The quality of the food made it worth every penny, discount or not.

 

It was a good thing Norm was at home working, so we could enjoy everything without having to wash dishes.

 

 

 

 

 

This is Avalon. She was our server. Not only did she have to put up with this crazy bunch of tourists, she seemed to enjoy it. Thanks Avalon for a great meal and memory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped on the way out to talk with reporters....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and to have our pictures taken....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by the paparazzi.

 

 

Everybody knew how to work it!

 

 

Maybe we could get a reality TV show too.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't understand how the paparazzi always find me. (Do you think it has anything to do with my reps calling them to say where I'll be dining? Nah, I didn't think so either.)

 

 

 

 

 

Because N'awlins is a different place at night, yes, crazy tree hugger types come out of the woodwork,

 

 

we opted to take the boys back to the hotel early.

 

N'awlins at night is very much a place for adults, not kids.

 

Some things you can never un-see.

 

 

 

 

 

The boys thought going back to the hotel was an excellent idea.

 

 

 

The pool had this light that made the water glow a very intense blue.

 

Brock had a great time swimming from the shallow end to the ladder. Up and out, walk back to the shallow end and do it again. I got dizzy watching him.






 

Early the next day the boys got themselves ready to go. Brock checked himself out in the mirror and put on his stamp of approval. It was going to be a laid back slow sort of day. At least that is what was planned.










It doesn't seem fair that Brock gets to wear his shades but I couldn't. 


Maybe it was the beads...

Yep, had to be my beads.

 

 

 

We went golfing, like the rich and famous would do.

Jules met this guy that was giving out hugs to everyone.

Crème brûlée during lunch was out of this world.

Not quite as far as Jupiter maybe, but definitely Mars.

We went to the park and wandered about seeing all sorts of cool stuff.

In the evening we went back to the hotel. Instead of swimming it was a game of Scrabble.

Have you ever played Scrabble with a 5 year old and a 3 year old?

I lost.  Spelling was not their strong point.

Having the coffee company from Seattle in our hotel was cool. A quick bite for breakfast and off to the Children's Museum.

They had really cool train sets and they even let you play with them. Not like regular museums that only let you look.

I guess here they don't mind fingerprints on the trains.

I drove the fire truck because I know Norm gets all worked up about Smoke Eaters.

We did puzzles too. Heath was showing me how because I kept putting the pieces on wrong.

This is a giant bubble that I was in.  It didn't close all the way up or I would have been flying. I think the ride would have been fun, even the falling part after the bubble popped.

But bouncing is not my strong point so flying was out.

Ahoy mate.

Why is it that some folks have to stare? I was just practicing for being Captain Merrill Stubing of the Love Boat so when the TV show comes back I'll be ready. Maybe I'll be Merrill Goliath instead of Stub-ing though.



Have you ever been asked to leave a Children's Museum? Nevermind, I'd rather not talk about it.

After lunch we went to the Oak Alley Plantation.

Just walking up to the place (this is the side yard) you can hear Rhett, "Frankly my dear I don't give a whooey" or something like that.

I'm sure Scarlett just laughed at him anyway.

It is a beautiful place though.

The plantation even had a blacksmith. I got the coolest of cool souvenir. A home-made NAIL!

Well, not home home-made. The blacksmith made it for me.
 


Isn't it cool? Well, it is now. When Mr. Blacksmith first makes them they are real hot.

This is why they burned down all the old buildings. It was faster digging old nails out of the ashes and reusing them rather than making new ones.

 Plus you got to have a cook-out.

Balcony view

The sidewalk in the front yard was pretty awesome. Its a good thing it doesn't snow here. Could you imagine having to shovel this? The trees lining the walk is where the name Oak Alley comes from. 


Some of the trees are over 300 years old.


You could see riverboats cruising at the end of the walk. Just across the street from the end of the walk is the Mississippi River.

At least it wasn't two sisters fighting in court. I think that would be daytime TV show topic.

KC and Joni and their new purses.

I told you Jules is The Goddess of New Orleans. They even named a street after her.

I wanted to swipe the sign and bring it home.

Jason said he wouldn't help me get it down but would help NOPD get the guy who stole it put in jail. Sheesh.

You could walk down the street with a tasty beverage, like Kyle...

Or you could get something called a snowball. You KNOW they don't actually get snow and these tasty treats don't look or taste anything like a real snowball.

I'm pretty sure a N'awlins snowball fight would be cost prohibitive too.


But, I'm sure it would look like a 1960s felt black-light poster. Technicolor man! Far Out.

I don't know where the paparazzi went but Jules found the red carpet and was strutting her stuff.

I kept hollering "work it" since Norm wasn't around to whomp me.

All good things must come to an end. As did our N'awlins vacation.

We didn't want to tell the boys that we were heading home so we just said we were continuing the road trip.

When they saw this....

They knew they had been snookered.


I loved N'awlins and vacation.



I wonder where Jules' bucket list is going to take us next? I know camping season is getting ready to start.

Talk to you soon!

Travis