A Deeper Life: New Orleans

No cavities! Whoop whoop! Went to the dentist today--first time in about 3 years--and no cavities! Great start to a great day!

Last week, I met my parents in New Orleans for a quick little getaway. My mom had a meeting there to learn about some office management software...I think...and my dad and I played. Lucky us! Sadly, out of all the pictures we took, there is not a single solitary picture of my dad! I promise you he was there, though.

I got there last Tuesday afternoon, and we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Drago's in our hotel. Just a few appetizers to fill our bellies. Then we headed to the aquarium. None of us had too high of hopes, but this place was fabulous! I mean, some great exhibits! Turtles, sharks, all kinds of fish, jellyfish, otters, and more. Loved it.

Me and my mom being dorks in an alligator mouth:

Everyone stop what you're doing right this instant and look up a weedy sea dragon:

The above picture isn't fabulous, so I took a picture of the poster:

I'm telling you, this little bugger was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! We just marveled at God's creation, because there's no denying he exists after seeing such an amazing creature.

Throughout our time at the aquarium--and the rest of the day--I took a picture with as many creatures as I possibly could.

Me with the Frog Prince:

Keep in mind there there were a couple kids waiting to get their picture taken while me--the 25 year old--was taking mine first. Grow up, Abby.

There was a HUGE room that was just one giant aquarium. It was beautiful, peaceful, relaxing and almost therapeutic. We could have stayed in there much longer.

Check out the shark in the upper left hand corner:

Look at the hump. Is it supposed to look like that? Or is this poor sharky deformed? Someone who knows their marine life, please let me know, because I've thought about this little guy quite a lot.

We even got to see a stingray feeding:

A couple scuba divers jumped in and fed the stingray. They're quite the vicious ones when they're hungry! And I love their little mouths.

After we left the aquarium, we sat outside and enjoyed some frozen beverages. I got me a virgin pina colada. Yes, I realize that I am of drinking age, but the difference between a "real" and a virgin pina colada is extreme. The alcohol totally ruins this sweet, dessert-like beverage. Yum.

Well, hey there, Mr. Crawfish:

I'm sure the people working there thought I was a bit of a freak of nature for taking a picture with that thing. Notice the sign under his claw that says, "KEEP OFF". Oh well.

After we finished our afternoon adult/virgin beverages, we headed to the mall and found a treat of a store. It was called Vintage or Retro something, and it had the coolest stuff in there. Lots of t-shirts, mugs, lunch boxes, magnets, buttons and so on from movies, tv shows, singers, bands, etc.

Now why didn't I get the Goonies t-shirt?

Missed my chance!

Hanging out with the giant alligator in the mall. NBD.:

And Mr. Bear from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory:

Oh hey Dooda! He kind of made a picture! If you look closely, he's creeping in the background!

That night, we ate at a yummy cajun place called Mulate's. We had some fried alligator (yum) and I had seafood stuffed mushrooms for my meal. Delicious!

Wednesday morning, my mama headed to her meeting and my dad and I hit the town. We had a few things in mind that we wanted to do, but we really just wanted to explore.

Stop #1: Cafe Du Monde:

Oh. My. Gosh. This place is everything and more! Totally lives up to it's famous reputation.

I was a little chilly that morning, so I started off my day with a hot chocolate:

Along with a couple beignets, of course:

This powdered sugared dough puffs were beyond divine. Absolutely divine. It tasted just like a more poofy funnel cake. I'll be back to NOLA if not just to get more of those.

After breakfast, we noticed there was a lot of commotion going on in the streets. Lots of camera men and people wearing headsets, dragging cables all of the place. Jamie had just told me the night before to be looking for movie sets, because they film there all the time. And lo and behold, they were filming a movie!

My dad asked one of the guys what they're filming, and he said, "Now You See Me":

I immediately looked it up on www.imbd.com and Morgan Freeman is in it! He's one of my favorites!

We meandered up and down the streets, wandering around Bourbon Street and Canal street and just exploring. We then went to the St. Louis cemetery so my dad could get a picture of some of the gravestones. They're incredible. Because of hurricanes, they have to build their gravestones above ground...or else...they'll float away. But there were some really amazing graves at this cemetery. I recommend going there, because you won't see it anywhere else.

Then we headed to the WWII museum. Believe it or not, I am actually fascinated by WWII.

I told Jamie back when we first got married that I have a desire to be a history buff. That lasted about a week. If that.

They had some truly incredible things in this museum.

Like a plane:

Real uniforms that the men wore back then:

Another plane:

I didn't know whether to smile or to act like I'm shooting in this picture:

I chose smile. It's a good standby.

Here I am again with the museum's poster:

The theme was "Infamy". If you're in New Orleans, you MUST take a couple hours to see the WWII museum. I can't recommend it enough.

I had a laugh when I saw this picture:

You know why? Because Jamie has that Kamikaze bandana. Oh, James.

The museum had this yummy little restaurant in it, and that's where we ate lunch. It was designed to look like a classy 40's diner. Loved everything about it! I love the 30's and 40's. The clothes, the music, the hair, the shoes, the dancing. Love!

Then we did some more meandering around the streets.

Hey! Lafayette Street:

I tried my BEST to see if we could see Morgan Freeman or another actor:

But a lady said that none of the "big names" were filming that day. Darn.

I think this gal in the green wig was actually a guy:

At first, I thought it was a woman, dressed like a Mardi Gras witch, but my dad said it was probably a man. And then we noticed that this he/she was wearing a wrap around her neck...to cover his/her adam's apple. Eww.

This house was all ready for mardi gras:

Loved the New Orleans architecture:

This band was fabulous:

We actually hung out and watched them play for a couple songs. Very very talented. They had some creepy little groupies watching them. There were creepy freakshow people all over the place, and my question was..."Do any of you have a mommy?" Not in New Orleans, I suppose.

More filming:

That night, we ate at Shula's Steakhouse:

That restaurant is one of Marty, Kirby, and Jamie's top favorite restaurants. So I took that picture and sent it to them to brag. Sorry, family. But I had to do it.

This statue was in our hotel and it was too festive not to take a picture with:

Thursday morning, my dad and I explored a little more and went to a Southern Art Museum and the Civil War Museum.

Weirdest piece of art:

I mean, really? That's art?

Oh. An elk leg.

Art indeed. I headed out of NOLA and back to Lafayette after lunch and was more than ready to see my hubby and doggy. Thank you so much, mama and Dooda for such a fun and quick trip! If any of you ever want to go to New Orleans, but are on the fence about it, definitely go! It is full of good eats, great people watching, beautiful architecture, fascinating history and more. I'd go back in a heartbeat :)