New Orleans: Cemetery & French Quarter

On Monday, we spent our last day seeing all of the last minute things to see. Amy & I were scheduled to meet up with our team on Monday evening. We toured the French Quarter, the French Market, got Beignets, & walked through an old cemetery!



Jackson Square







The street plaques reminded me of Old San Juan, PR.



We hit up the famous, Cafe DuMonde for beignets aka friend doughnuts!







We went to the French Market - A big outdoor market with a ton of vendors selling stuff from sunglasses to tshirts to alligator heads!











The Mississippi River

We then went to the oldest cemetery in NOLA.





Above ground graves are made so that families can be stacked on top of each other.

This is the tomb of Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau. If you knock on her grave & ask her for a favor, she will grant it!

New Orleans: Plantation Visit

On Sunday, we drove out to visit a Plantation. We toured one and drove by a few more. I love doing historic stuff on trips so this was awesome!







A sign outside showed the slaves that had worked on the field & how much they cost

Gorgeous old oak trees


One of the bedrooms

Mattresses back then were stuffed with moss & horse hair! They had to use a rolling pin to roll out their mattress lumps every morning!

Expected scary photo in the house




In the gift shop, there were scary dolls like this one!

After the Plantation, we took a drive through the Lower 9th Ward. I will save that for another post. We had dinner & then went to bed a reasonable time, considering the crazy night we had beforehand!

The waitress lit the plate on fire and then twisted the sushi roll through it to heat up the oil!

After dinner, we went to Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar. It is the oldest bar in the country! It is lit by candle light. Very fun!

New Orleans: Party All Night

Last Saturday, I flew down to NOLA. I stopped in Minneapolis and then flew down to NOLA. Weird. Anyway, I got there around 5pm. Greta & Amy picked me up and we immediately went to the drive thru Daiquiri stop. These are all over New Orleans & are very fun to stop by!




We went back to the hotel to relax and then we met up with two of their friends, Rachel & Tom, for dinner. We went to this awesome restaurant, Bayona.




After dinner, we hit the town. The French Quarter & Bourbon Street are rockin'. It is crazy. The streets are shut down & everyone is just walking around, in & out of bars. The bars are all open and you can carry your beers around outside.

Now, everyone knows that I go to bed early. I can't stay out late. Well, guess what. We stayed out ALL night. I don't know how we did it. We had Hurricane's around 2 am or something and we swear there is caffeine or something in them. After the Hurricane's, we were good to go.





Things going down hill at this point!

We bar hopped all night. I also rode a mechanical bull and sang karaoke. Both were completely hilarious. So funny that we took video! hahaha






The night ended at IHOP around 7am. Amy & I had a lovely breakfast of chicken tenders, onion rings, and french toast. We got back to the hotel and went to sleep for a few hours. We couldn't waste the whole day sleeping!

Back

Im back in SF. So much to tell you about the trip. An amazing, rewarding, unforgettable time. Met some awesome people & was so sad to come home. Definitely going to be an adjustment to going from drywalling a house back to work. Tons of pics will come soon.

Oh and also, Evie got stiches. She got cut at camp and they stitched her leg. Its on her shin area & she is fine. That dog has been stapled, stitched, scraped, drained....

Off to New Orleans!

I leave bright & early for New Orleans tomorrow!! I will get there around 4pm. We are going to be staying in the French Quarter for the weekend. I can't wait to explore NOLA before we get to work.

We will meet up with our group on Monday evening for dinner. Then, we start work on Tuesday. I heard it is very hot down there. I am so excited though! It will probably be quite the changing from experiencing the touristy areas and then moving into the area to rebuild. I hope to meet some great people on the trip with Dickinson.

Amy & I keep joking that this will be like Troop Beverly Hills. We are going to be in bunk beds and making meals. We are probably going to bring our fondue pot like Phyllis Neffler. haha

I will let you know how the trip went & post photos when I am back in a week!











"New Orleans, What a Thrill!"

Thursday

I was so upset last night. It was supposed to be my last tennis and it RAINED. It was this sideway mist that made everything just damp enough so that you a)would skid on the court and b)couldn't really see when you were walking. I did find a potential partner in the area though so looks like I can keep playing.

Last night, I felt like I had a toddler at home. Evie was bored. We weren't outside that long because of the rain. I had to keep playing different games with her, wrestle with her, give her a bone, pet her, and also try her training. I am trying to teach her two tricks 1)hi-five and 2)Bang! She did hi-five for me once. Bang is...I point my finger at her like a gun and say Bang & then she lays on her side like she's dead. She doesn't like it but she will get it. You just have to do it like every day until they get it. That is how she learned Paw. One day she just finally handed me her paw. haha. Wont it be so funny if she really does 'Bang!'. hah

I am off work tomorrow. I have to pack and get ready for New Orleans. I am flying down on Saturday morning and get there late afternoon. I am meeting up with Amy & her friend Greta for a fun weekend. Then, we meet up with our work group on Monday. I've never been to New Orleans & I think it will be fun!!

Vote For Evie

I put Evie into the running for the cutest pet in SF!! Will you vote for her? You can vote once per day until 5/27. Then, we see if she made the Top 10. There are over 100 pets so hopefully we make it!

Vote HERE.

Thanks!!

Wednesday

Maks & Erin made it through to the Finals!! I really want them to win the whole thing. We'll see.
Last night, Erik was home & had NO hockey game. However, hockey play offs are on. We had to switch back & forth between the game and DWTS. Thank goodness for DVRs!!

We had a yummy dinner last night - Halibut, Brussel Sprouts mixed with Leeks, and mashed potatoes. Erik made the potatoes. So good. I love leeks.

Tonight is my last tennis lesson :-( It was fun and I will try to sign up for more. I don't know if they are having a summer session so I might have to wait until the fall.

Only 3 more days and then I'll be in New Orleans!!

Monday

It is still raining here in SF, in May. This is uncharacteristic!! Normally, our rain is over by March/April. So, I rode my bike to work yesterday and did not think twice about rain. Then, it was raining when I got out of work! I started to ride home but I just could not see. The rain was hitting me in the face. So, I got on the bus instead.

Then, I rode my bike in the rain to get up to Haight St. Betsy is doing a Triathalon w/ Team In Training so I went up to the bar where she held a fundraiser. I figured that if I was going to get there in the rain, the bike would allow me to get thru it faster! It was a good time. $2.50 beers can't be beat. I do love drinking for a good cause!

I also caught DWTS Semi-Finals on the DVR. I really want Erin & Maks to win the whole thing but I'm sure Nicole or Evan will. Maks is hot.

Bay To Breakers

Today was the annual SF Tradition, Bay To Breakers. The race starts at 8am with the elite runners coming through. Then, real runners come through for about an hour. Then, the crazies come through. The costumes, floats, drunks, and more! This time, we sat in the park with some drinks & food to watch. It was COLD out. Last year, it was sunny & warm. This time, we were bundled up in sweatshirts.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, every day commercial people haha



This girl was the Icleand Volcano. She was shaking baby powder everywhere to act as volcanic ash.



OK this girl had a cape on. Then, she whipped it off and had no top on. She also had hairy arm pits. And, she hula hooped.



Me, Ryan, Amy, & Betsy

Funny


Our friend brought this flamingo/beer funnel thing. The body held the beer. It was pretty funny.

Everyone gave it a whirl



Evie watched the craziness from the window.

After the show, we saw all of the drunks puking in the park. They were also crowding our fave burrito spot while we tried to get lunch. Needless to day, we got the food to go and came home to nap!