New Orleans

Jordan had to go to New Orleans for work on Dec. 2-4 so I decided to tag along. He only had meetings for a couple hours in the mornings so I thought it would be fun. We arrived on Sunday at about 3pm so we had plenty of time to see some sights. After we checked into the Intercontinental Hotel on Charles St.(the road that the parade goes down) in the heart of New Orleans (such a nice hotel, probably the nicest I have every stayed in), we started walking. We first headed to Bourbon Street. WOW! The only reason we walked the street is so we can say that we had been there before. If I didn't already believe that I had the holy ghost with me, I would after walking that street. I felt icky. We didn't see anything that we wouldn't see anywhere else, but it just gave you that feeling. And once we turned onto a different street, I felt OK again. It was really weird and cool to have confirmation that the spirit will tell you when you need to stop doing something. Anyway, after that we walked to the Mississippi River and watched all the HUGE ships go by. There were also some big riverboats like the one at Disneyland. We also went to Jackson square. The buildings are all so pretty there. Very french looking, it was the French Quarter. We went to dinner at the buffet at Harrah's Casino and it was SO good. They had the yummiest crab legs that I had ever had. One other thing, the Saints were playing that day and it was so cool. Most of the people were wearing Saints gear. Man, they really love their team. Even the employees at Harrah's and our rental car place were wearing jerseys. I thought that was neat.

The Superdome on the way to the hotel

Bourbon street. I had to take a pic to prove we really were there. I was scared that if I asked someone to take our picture that they would steal our camera.

This building and another exactly like it were on each side of Jackson Square. So pretty.

Jackson Square

Bridge over the Mississippi.

On Monday morning, I slept in while Jordan went to his meeting. He got back at 10am and we headed out to catch the streetcar that ran right in front of our hotel. It is the oldest streetcar system in the nation. It was NOT a very smooth ride and it was LOUD. We rode the car down to the oldest cemetery in New Orleans. The oldest grave we saw the people had died in 1840. AND all their graves are above ground. Kind of like a bunch of Mausoleums. It was neat. Then we walked across the street and ate at a fancy restaurant called Commanders. I'm talking fancy like they pull out your chair for you and they put your napkin on your lap. We don't usually eat at places like that. But it was wonderful. The food was awesome and the service was great. After we ate, we walked back to our hotel. (the streetcar was too slow for us) It was about a 4 mile walk!!! Some of the homes along the street were still boarded up and rebuilding. That was amazing to me that 2 years later they are still trying to get back to normal. And we didn't even get to the 9Th ward area that is still completely devastated. We ran out of time. They are a very resilient people. Anyway, after all the walking we went back to the hotel for a bit to rest our legs and then we went back out walking. We went to Cafe Du Monde at the mall for beniets. YUMMOLA!! Jordan liked them so much that we had to get more from the one in the french quarter. Then he was sick! But they sure were good. We looked around the french market in some shops and bought some souvenirs. We saw some books about the hurricane and what was covered in water. We realized that all the places we walked through would have had water at least to the middle of our shins. CRAZY. We also took a ferry ride across the river to Algiers Point. After the 6 miles of walking that day, we were exhausted so we ate a lite dinner at our hotel and watched a movie in our room.

A tree covered in beads along Charles St. (the parade route)

Above ground graves.

More graves.

Cemetery entrance. Even the walls around it had people in them. Kind of weird.

Streetcar
One of the beautiful homes along Charles St. I think Charles St. is where the Real World house is when they filmed it in NO.


A monument at Lee Circle.

Ferry boat on the river.
OK, so I was talking about how the picture would be beautiful with my hair blowing when he took it. NICE! Thanks Jordan for trying to make me look my best?!

Jackson Square from across the river.

A statue of Louis Armstrong at Algiers Point. This is where Mardi Gras World is. Where they make the floats, we didn't go there.

The city from across the river.

One of the big oil ships. At least we think that's what they are.
Jordan. I am much better at taking pictures where he looks good! :)
Eating his Beniet.
Beniets
We had to take a picture of Madison st.


Jordan went to 2 more meetings in the morning on Tuesday and I slept in again then got our stuff ready to go home. When Jordan was done at noon, we headed to the airport for our 8 hr travel time back home! It was a LONG day. We had such a great time. It was nice to spend time just Jordan and I. But it was fun to get home and see the kids.


Thanks Mom and Dad, Becca and Jenny for watching the kids. Becca especially for spending your days off babysitting. The kids had a great time and I never worried about them once with you. AND I knew their hair would look stylin'!!! :)