New Orleans here we come!

Well, this weekend finds us visiting a new town that neither of us have been to before! :) The Big Easy...New Orleans!

We didn't decide to come until about Wednesday this past week...Pete is fending for himself at home (we left him two litterboxes and a salad bowl full of food) and Grace is staying at the Tail Waggers Pet Resort. The first time she has been boarded in the 4 years that I've had her. It's been very traumatic, but the place looks nice and clean. She has her OSU blankie and a couple of toys, but the other dogs didn't seem very nice, maybe just b/c she was the newbie.

So we left yesterday at about 7:45ish and got here around 2...I'm learning that whatever Warren estimates at how long the trip will be ("Oh yeah, it's closer than Dallas! We'll be there in four hours!") that I probably need to add about 2+ hours to his estimation. ha

We drove straight through, only having McDonald's for breakfast and then some snacks in the car, so that by the time we got here we were both REALLY hungry. So we decide to go to Mother's Restaurant. The place is listed in the book 1,000 Places to Visit Before you Die, so of course we must go...nevermind that the guide says be prepared for a wait. We waited an hour (!!!!!) to order the Famous Ferdi Special and Debris Po'boy's with a side of fries which we proceeded to eat in about 20 min! lol

Then we went to the hotel to check in...it's a smaller, boutique hotel like right in the French Quarter. It says that to park we have to valet...which we thought would be fine because we're right here in the French Quarter, we'll walk everywhere and just park the car the one time. Well, they have parking for like 10 cars (83 hotel rooms)...so we had to take the car over to another hotel and leave it there!!! Then carry our stuff back 3 blocks to our hotel!! Wouldn't you think they would have their own parking lot somewhere?!?

After all that, we got checked in and took a short nap then got ready to go watch the parade hosted by the Krewe du Vieux. We shopped around some on Decatur Street while waiting for it to come our way...when the police jumped out and started putting up the barricades we decided to grab a good spot on the corner...It was bawdy and satirical and we about froze our a$$es off waiting for it to start! But it was fun! We caught beads they were throwing and other trinket-y stuff. Definitely a parade intended for adults as there were body parts being used in creative floats!! (like below...the Extended Tour of Booty float...heehee) They were all raunchy, yet pretty creative. Definitely a carnivale atmosphere!

Then we went to eat at Acme Oyster House where we had 1/2 doz. raw on the half shell, then a dozen cooked w/ garlic butter & parmesan on the half shell, and a plate of red beans and rice w/ sausage that we shared. MMMMM!!! SOO yummie!! Oh yeah, and we waited OUTSIDE (again!!!) for at least 30 min. What's the deal with all the places he's picking?! Such wait time! & outside! Brrr!

After that we were right next to Bourbon street so we went and checked that out...very interesting. Lots of bars and nudie clubs and sex shops...lol, classic Bourbon street. And plenty of policemen on foot patrol, I liked that, it made you feel safer. We explored and wound our way back to the hotel to sleep.