New Orleans

I will post pictures when I get them.

We got to New Orleans and parked and went into our hotel room, which was very nice and perfectly located. Then we walked a few blocks in the rain to Pat Os where we started the night with some catfish and shrimp appetizers. We then got a little walking tour of the area, checking out the square and statues and the Levey along the Mississippi River. From there we made our way to a very nice restaurant/pub/brewery where Jason and Lori are having their rehearsal dinner. I actually liked the beer that they made! Matt and I split crab cakes and ribs, and both were very very good.

We went back to the hotel for a little bit, and the rain stopped! Then we explored Burbon Street, which had the perfect amount of people there. I would never go on a holiday when it is packed, it was very nice to be able to walk into a bar and go use their balcony without being crowded. There are quite a few weirdos in New Orleans, and it took some getting used to to walk past a cop in the street with a drink in my hand.

Sunday we got up early and went to McDonalds breakfast drive through on our driving tour of Charles St (i think). Seeing the nicer parts of town, the colleges and expensive houses. We then drove to some swamp area where we had an Airboat tour set up.

It was HOT and HUMID, but we had a great time. Matt had never been on an airboat, or be that close to the gators, so that was fun to watch. Our coonass guide seemed to know what he was doing and to be enjoying himself as well. He reached in the water and grabbed a soft shell crab that was pretty blue. Then we crossed over some bank into fresh water where we met Big Al a 12', 600lb alligator that had a liking for Lori. He climbed into the boat past his front little legs which got Lori the name "scary" from our guide. The guide also reached in and caught a baby alligator from the brush that we all got to hold. It was a cutie, but didn't like being held.

Continuing we "parked" next to bird city where there was nest after nest of eggs and baby birds. They were cute and white and fuzzy and SO many of them. (we were all drenched in sweat by this point...lovely i know). The guide showed us a variety of different flowers. Matt's favorite plant was the big "lilypads" that were completely waterproof. We saw a ton more alligators swimming about and our guide decided to reach into an alligator nest and pull out an egg to show us. He says they gather the eggs and sell them for $25/egg. Not bad.

We had a great time, our hour tour lasted over 1.5 hrs and none of us died from the heat, although we stopped for powerade on the way back.

After returning to Baton Rouge Matt and I wanted to fall asleep forever, but we drove the five+ hours back to Houston. On my turn to drive it POURED so bad it was scary. The jetta, while getting great gas mileage (32mpg), does not have a lot of weight and I thought we were going to blow away or float away with all the water on the road!

Anyway, it was a great weekend, a very good New Orleans experience.