New Orleans

On Friday, Tristan and I went with the Teenage Republican Club to New Orleans.

It was our first time in the city.

First, we went with the entire group to the old Government Building, which is now a museum. 

It is called The Cabildo.  The Cabildo was the seat of colonial government in New Orleans.
It is in Jackson Square near St. Louis Cathedral. 

There was so much interesting stuff in the building, but we were not allowed to take pictures.

I did get these two pictures in the courtyard.  This used to be the jail.  

Now they use it as a kitchen for catering.

After the tour, we were on our own to eat lunch and tour the city before we were to meet up again 

at the IMAX theater and Aquarium.  We decided to go to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company for lunch.

As we made our way through the streets, we noticed how beautiful the buildings were and how crazy the people were.  We were there during a music festival and it was fun to hear all the different bands that were in the streets playing. 

We passed these bicycles that were all decorated in interesting things,

dragons, alligators, and even a woman.  I'm not sure if they rented them out 

or if they belonged to a bike crew visiting.  

I wish we had time to stop and look at all the artwork that was for sale in the streets.

Most of it looked amazing!

We made it over to Bubba Gump's.  Tristan had crab legs and I had shrimp and grits.

It was all so good.  We were stuffed after lunch!

We made it to the River Walk early for the movie so we walked along and watched the ships.

There were several stages set up around the city for various music groups.

The music was awesome.  I could have listened to it all day!

Waiting in line for the IMAX theater.

~ Gavin, Tristan, Phillip, and Brett ~

We saw a movie about Polar Bears in the Artic.

Mrs. DeFelice laughed about how the Republican Club paid to see a very liberal movie!

Apparently we were supposed to see another movie that ended up being cancelled.

So, polar bears and global warming it was.

~ Gavin, Morganne, and Tristan ~

~ Mrs. DeFelice ~

~ Me and Vicki Hilliard, Gavin's Mom ~

At the Aquarium.  We did not stay long here.

Gavin and his Mom are from New Orleans and knew the city very well.

They wanted to show us more of the most popular places so we hurried through.

I got a few pictures of the penguins for the little boys and the kids wanted to know 

what it felt like to be in a hurricane.  As if they don't know!

~ St. Louis Cathedral ~

All the horses and buggies that were on the street.

One place Gavin swore we could not miss was the World Famous Cafe Du Monde.

They are a cafe that sells only beignets and drinks.

It was a huge, open-air cafe that was standing room only.

Luckily we found some tables that were being evacuated and we snagged them fast!

We sat at the dirty table and waited for the servers to find us.

We all ordered beignets and coffee, hot chocolate, or milk.

Everyone was so excited when the goodies came.

Tristan got powdered sugar all over the place!

They were good, but not as exciting as I was expecting.

Seemed to be a lot of hype over a square-shaped donut piled in powdered sugar.

I only ate one of mine.  Tristan finished the rest for me.

For me, the most interesting part of Cafe De Monde was this man who sat right outside the cafe by our table and played the saxophone the whole time we were there. I loved listening to him.

We tipped him when we left.

After Cafe Du Monde, we headed over to the French Market.

It was a fun place, too!

Tristan and Gavin decided they were hungry again and wanted something alligator.

I was still stuffed from my shrimp and grits, but the boys ordered.

Gavin got a Swamp Dog and Tristan settled for the Gator-on-a-Stick.

I had a bite of it.  It was not too bad.  

It was nicely spiced and had good flavor.  Tristan loved it!

As we headed back to the bus, we stopped a few places for souvenirs.

We saw this monument for Joan of Arc.

I also saw this awesome painting down an alley way and stopped to take a picture.

A lady was sitting on the fountain and I felt weird standing there forever trying to get the picture just right, so I moved feeling dissatisfied with my quick shot.  It was not until I got home that I noticed 

that the lady was part of the artwork!  Hahaha!!

We had a great time in New Orleans.

We had the perfect tour guides for our first time there and really enjoyed seeing parts of the city.  

I loved the music.  I loved the art.  I loved the architecture.  I loved the food.  I loved being with Tristan.

I can not wait to go back.