Fun in Naw'lins

Wendell and I had a fun, fun time in NOLA they call it (initials for new orleans, LA). it was a short trip and a LONG drive but so worth it. We did our usual...eat, eat, eat! We love to eat...i should weigh about 200lbs by now! We ate at fancy restaurants and holes in the wall and had lots of louisianian food like gumbo and spicy seafood and also some things we had heard about on Food Network...like this sandwich called a Muffelatta and these french doughnuts called beignets. Wendell's favorite was the muffelatta....we just kind of happened upon the place that was supposedly the "home of the original muffelatta" and boy was it good....it looked a little like a cuban but with better meat and cheese and then it had this olive and vegetable topping that I can't even explain. It was all chopped up and had been marinated in something heavenly and just MADE the sandwich. I don't even like olives and this thing was good! Here's Wendell enjoying his...

Then there's the beignets...I had researched this one and knew the place to go was Cafe du Monde. The only thing is I guess every New Orleans visitor knows to go to Cafe du Monde and the place was PACKED. I am just glad that we got there on Friday when there were fewer people than on Saturday because Saturday was insane! But these things were good and had a mountain of powdered sugar on top. I told Wendell that ANYTHING would taste good with that much powdered sugar on it!!!

We did a ton of walking. We didn't use our car once! The whole French Quarter is just neat with all these french inspired buildings with the wrought iron balconies covered with flowers and lots of neat little shops. Here's Jefferson Square (i think that was what it was called) with a pretty cathedral that we toured.

There were LOTS of musicians and other artisans. The copper guy was a real man standing like a statue. We saw him both days once as a baseball player and once as a carpenter. The jazz band was playing at one of the cafes where we had lunch. They were so good...even did some classic rock...jazz style!

We even walked down the infamous Bourbon Street. Not my favorite with all the nudie bars but we had to say we at least went. That place got pretty crazy at night. But the most fun was the Mardi Gras parades. The official Mardi Gras celebration isn't until February 24th but they have lots of parades and celebrations leading up to it. I think there were about 10 parades in the 2 days we were there! And they were definitely family friendly....no flashing boobs! I had read online that you should bring a garbage bag to take home all the "throws" you get and boy was that the truth. Of course they throw beads but they also throw fake flowers, stuffed animals, cups, medallions, coins...etc. It's crazy. I think by the end of the night one night I had on about 5 lbs of beads!! There were lots of kids around and they were having a blast and got so excited every time they caught something. There were also lots of high school bands in the parades with cool beats and dancing...the drum majors are awesome to watch. All in all it was a good time. i would love to go back one day.

e