New Orleans

Kit has been pestering me to get blogging already about our visit to New Orleans...so, baby, here it is!

Disclaimer--This post is LONG

Kit was called out to help in an oil spill (quite large, actually) on the Mississippi River in New Orleans, LA. He was gone for a total of 3 weeks, with a series of night-duty watching an oil spot on the river and making sure it didn't get larger, then day-duty watching the spot on the river and finally doing what he loves to do-overseeing clean up efforts in the swamps off the river. He missed us, but enjoyed the stay and the opportunity to visit the city. We missed him tons, so last weekend the boys and I decided to head west to visit. With it being only 2.5 hours away, the drive seemed a breeze and we got there Friday evening. We brought our belongings up to the hotel room then headed out for dinner-FABULOUS barbecue at Voodoo Barbecue. Yummy! I love me some barbecue. Seriously, their pulled pork was yummmm...just thinking about it makes my mouth water. We then went walking around and enjoyed the evening.

Kit was able to take Saturday off, so we grabbed some breakfast then headed off to take a tour. We walked through the French Quarter and learned some cool things I wouldn't have known without a tour...how to recognize Creole cottages, slave quarters and of course the beautiful french work. We then headed for a cemetery and learned about entombing and were able to visit the tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, and Edward Degas 's grandparent's tomb. We visited one of the beautiful cathedrals and just enjoyed the 2 hour tour, or at least Kit and I did. The boys protested most efficiently. Of course, the latter part of the day was for our boys when we visited the amazing Insectorium. We got caught in a rainstorm between lunch and the Insectorium. Not much fun, but quite the experience. We were soaked even though we huddled under the eaves of the shops while Kit dashed to the car to rescue us-always the hero! We cleaned up at the hotel and headed back out. The Insectorium was so much fun! They had awesome exhibits where the kids could look at, touch and learn about all sorts of bugs. Kit and I even got to taste some. Gavin was all talk about eating some until he saw the bugs, but seriously, the crickets I ate tasted like a spicy crispy piece of bacon. Not too bad...if you don't think about what you're eating. Kit tried a number of dishes, french-fried mill-worms, Cajun crickets, mill-worm marmalade, and a crispy piece of mill-worm quesadilla. I stuck to the crickets, since they didn't look so...crickety. It really was a wonderful experience and I would suggest it to anyone traveling there to visit.

On Sunday Kit had to go back to work (at 4:30 am...uggh) so the boys and I decided to go exploring on our own. I swear I walked a zillion miles. It wasn't easy pushing my two boys in our giant double-stroller and wearing Gunner in his sling, but it sure was fun! We garnered many smiles and a few comments. Together we explored the River Walk, the French Quarter, the Warehouse district, etc. The boys were really good and we were out and about from 9 until Kit got off work at 4. I absolutely loved walking the housing areas of the French Quarter. They were so quaint and beautiful with their hanging gardens and iron work. It was such an interesting walk, seeing the beauty and the filthiness of the city. Not just in the physical sense, but also in the moral sense. Once Kit got off work, we rode a street-car (one of my boys' favorite memories now) back to Voodoo Barbecue for dinner (my choice) then caught one back to the hotel. It really was so much fun, I loved it! We were all set to go home, much to my and the boys' sadness, when our car wouldn't start. Not something great to find out at 8 o'clock on a Sunday evening. Hmmm...our battery was dead and wouldn't jump. So the boys and I headed back into the hotel (gosh, weren't we sad ;)! ) and off to bed. Kit went into work the next morning, but they allowed him to take time off to come back and fix our car. He took care of business (thanks honey!) while the boys and I went to the French Market-bought sunglasses for me and tasted Pralines (I wasn't too impressed). We then met up for lunch at the River Walk. After enjoying our stolen day, the boys and I headed home to get ready for school the next day.

It really was a fun trip-almost a mini-vacation. I can't wait to go again, but maybe next time Kit and I can go alone...we'll have to see!

I know...and I'm sorry for this LONG post. As you can see, though, we had a lot of fun and made great memories! Anyone wanting to come visit us, we'll pop on over there for an experience!