Travis' Trails: Renewed & Refreshed; New Orleans does that to you! (PART 3)

Day 4

We had an early start today. Who wakes up at 7 am when you are on vacation? Anybody? Well, Jules and Norm did. They apparently were out to squeeze every once of time out of this trip. I just needed a bucket of coffee. Its a good thing Norm carried me.

Look familiar? You guessed it, my favorite place. Well, favorite at the moment. I think it's impossible to really have an all time favorite place to eat in NOLA. You can eat breakfast, lunch or even an early dinner here. Oh ok, for those that don't know (both of you) its Johnny's Po-Boys.

Some may think what is so special. BUTTER!! Lots and lots of butter. So much butter that you won't need suntan lotion for a year! We were the first people in the door when they opened at 8 am. FOR THIS!! Yum!

After breakfast it was time to go back and check out of the Olivier House Hotel. What a wonderful location. When we come back to Nawlins we will be staying here. At least I will. I don't know about Norm and Jules.

What a difference a day makes. This is the Hotel Villa Convento.

Yep, that is the bathroom sink. Right across from the bed. Why?

Because there isn't any room for it in the bathroom. There was barely enough room for me!

Well, it is possible that I was a little spoiled with the honeymoon suite. I already miss the lake.

It was a nice little room. With an emphasis on little. I really liked the brick wall though.

However, we weren't in Nawlins for the rooms.

Balconies! This is why we were here.

Well, not really, but they did weigh heavily on whether or not a hotel got a thumbs up or down.

We liked this balcony too.

In the lobby was a piano player.
The tune he was playing was one I didn't recognize.

I asked if he knew "When the Saints came marching in"?

Ha, we rocked it! Norm wouldn't give me any dollars though, even though I was singing along. He said he didn't see a bucket.

Cheapskate...

We were just walking around when we saw this cool looking garden. The sign said it was closed. What that meant was Norm and Jules couldn't go in. Ha! Who says being vertically challenged is all bad?

There was a shop that made rag rugs. Since Jules likes them we had to go inside and check it out. They had a watch lion at the door.

Do you see the evil look it was giving Norm? He kept Norm in his sights at all times.

The watch lion made Norm uncomfortable so we scooted out of there PDQ. It was funny that Norm kept looking back over his shoulder for a couple of blocks. That watch lion really made him nervous. I've got to get one of those.

We opted for Antoine's Restaurant for lunch. Yes, Antoine's. New Orleans oldest single family owned restaurant.

Oysters... (yum!)

Fillet Mignon...

Not quite medium well as requested.

This was AFTER it was sent back to the kitchen.

Although Jason would have loved this, Norm, not so much.

Since the grand babies call Norm "G" instead of grandpa or granddad this is a must have picture.

Love those babies!!

You know, if Norm has his name I wonder who I need to talk to in order to get a Travis sign. Seems only fair.

We might have done a little too much shopping. We are going to need another suitcase to haul all of the booty back to Illinois. We still have to get the Muffulettas, shoe soles, King cakes and pralines.

Jackson Square, with the St. Louis Cathedral.

Only this time the gates were open.

Big difference from the last time Norm and Jules were here (2016).

I still think this picture belonged in a horror movie.

It looked a bit spooky.

Norm was getting tired of carrying me and not two minutes after he told me I had to walk, of course, a second line!

Which is really cool...

...but can be a little unnerving when you are vertically challenged.

Remember that pirate bar for the ghost walk?

They're hiring.

We decided to sample the fare the day before the ghost walk. We figured there is nothing wrong with trying a place a couple of times.

I don't think the pirate behind me was very skilled with a sword. He had a hook for a hand and a stick for a leg

Then again, maybe he was just a rotten alligator hunter so he changed jobs and became a pirate. He just scowled at me when I asked.

This is Emily. She tended the bar. She said she knew we were going to be at the bar that night.

I immediately thought, uh oh, be careful, she is a voodoo queen.

Nope. Her mom worked at the Café du Monde souvenir shop and warned her to watch out for crazy people with a troll. A troll? Really? Emily said she would tell Mom I was a gnome, not a troll. Thanks Emily.

After the pirate bar we strolled around sort of aimlessly just talking. It was really enjoyable. We found ourselves at O'Brien's a short time later. I was hoping to get back there.

It was an excellent evening.

Then our waitress suggested something different after our first hurricane.

A lemon raspberry drop.

I think I know where OMG was first uttered.

These are TASTY little buggers.

This was when the train came off the rails. We each had a couple of hurricanes, a couple of lemon raspberry drops, some sort of car (I thought it was a Cadillac, Jules thought it was a Chevy) and, well, you get the idea. I like to think that Jules even snuggled with me a little for this picture.

After O'Brien's we went for a walk, cause that's what you do.

I don't know why.

Can anyone truly understand intoxicated people?

No, no beignets, not after all that we had at O'Brien's.

This was just the photo op because of the lights silly.

(At least that's what we remember.)

There was a lot of laughing...

...and giggling.

A smidge of stumbling and leaning on each other.

Then more shopping.

We even made it back to our balcony.

Late night shopping has its perks.

Mang-O-Rita and California rolls...

...and mini muffulettas. Although depending on where you buy them it might be spelled muffaletta or muffuletta.

All I know is they are tasty!

Day 5

Wake up at the butt-crack of dawn again? I think not! We got around to getting out of the room and wandered a bit while deciding where to eat, brunch. Wow, last night was fun!

One common thread that we encountered throughout this trip, other than food, tasty beverages and fun, was construction.
This is Bourbon Street during the day. At each hotel there was construction. Clearly going to Nawlins a couple weeks BEFORE Mardi Gras means construction, so its all finished for the party.

Slight inconvenience here and there, but nothing too bad.

Whilst wandering we came upon the Court of the Two Sisters. One must always touch the Charm Gate, or be an ogre. Although I have met a couple of charming ogres. Norm comes to mind...

Since we're here.

A well balanced brunch never hurt anybody. See, orange juice!

We did have some rambling eggs too. I only made three trips to the buffet before dessert. I was watching my waist.

Dessert!

Ok, ok. My first run at the dessert table.

The food is ..... amazing.....

I thought, how utterly tranquil this was. A great photo op.

Then Norm bounced a nickel off my head and said he missed the well.

I don't buy it. I think he is reverting.

A girl and her pink houses. Jules' color choice for her house is completely normal in New Orleans. Back home? The jury is still out, but we like it just the same!

Wait till the jury realizes we locked the door behind them. hahahaha.

Just around the corner was the Olivier House honeymoon suite balcony.

I miss it already.

(Yes, that is Illinois' state flower at the bottom of the picture. They grow all over our roads starting in March and don't go away until November.)

Feeling a little melancholy.

Then I thought, what a weird word. Who would think to mix a fruit and a dog? Why not just say, bummed?

I think I need a tasty beverage!

Nope, not exactly what I had in mind. But Jules said we had to check it out. It really is pretty inside!

This is the bakery across from our hotel. It is called the Croissant D'or Patisserie. I think we are getting our King cakes from here when we leave.

This crazy gal was wolf whistling at me. She kept asking me if I had any beads. I'm not sure what she meant about beads, but Norm just said "let's go" and off we went.

How cool is having your fence look like a bunch of corn?

Ok, maybe for folks not from Illinois its not so cool. But, I was seriously impressed!

It's the Cornstalk Fence hotel.

We had to stop in at an antique shop. Especially since Norm is an antique.

We had a nice chat with the shop's proprietor, Bambi.

There were a whole lot of really nifty things, but I couldn't get Norm to bust open that wallet again. I need to get him back to O'Brien's for a little while.

This so reminded me of dancing on the Lawrence Welk Show.

Whoops, that might have made me sound a little antique, like Norm. He said he was too young to DANCE on the show, but he watched it on TV. Have I mentioned he's a jerk?

Ahhhh, finally. I was beginning to wonder if were going to die of thirst.

If you have never had a praline from Southern Candymakers then you probably should add it to your bucket list!

After a quick stop at the hotel to unload all the booty we bought it was back out for some fun.

This is Garrett. He served the best hot dogs in the area!

One must be properly prepared to make it through the ghost tour. Not only did Garrett serve dinner for the night, he also provided the dining table!

Chillin' as we await the arrival of our guide for the evening....

Drum roll please...

Ta Daaa.

May I introduce Natalie, our one and only Ghost Hostess. Well, Natalie wasn't a ghost, she just knew where they all hung out at.

Some of our fellow ghost tour participants.

Something tells me I am going to like ghost tours.

This sign says it all. Jules is OUR idea factory. Chances are if the family is doing something fun, its because Jules thought to do it. Now Norm? If he had an idea I'm sure it would be a rotten one, or we would need bail money.

We may not have seen an actual ghost.

However, there were a couple of hard to describe folks that we saw.

This individual still gives me the heebie-geebies. I told Norm that it wouldn't stop looking at me. Norm said be quiet or he was going to turn the car around.

Since we were walking its a good thing Jules didn't hear him. Jules would have told Norm he couldn't have any more tasty beverages.

If you look close at this photo you can see little orbs all around. Those are suppose to be ghosts. I don't know about you, but I never thought a ghost looked like that.

After the ghost tour we headed back to the room to take a break.

Do you know what happens when you "take a break" late in the evening after tasty beverages?

Tomorrow happens! I fell asleep.

Day 6

It was time to start getting ready to head home which meant getting the muffulettas.

I tried to negotiate an extension to stay another day or two. Norm said if I didn't hurry he was going to put me IN a suitcase!

Seeing this on the sidewalk I told Norm it was an omen and that we should stay another day or two. He told me some guy wrote that out of desperation.

Exactly! We NEED to stay longer!