A Tale of [family madness in] Two Cities - Final Thoughts & PTR Link!

[brookelizabeth]

I'm just catching up on our NOLA posts. You are such a wonderful photographer Brook!! Seriously, wow. I felt like I was right there with you.

Oh, thank you! I love taking pictures of all sorts of things in attempts to capture the feeling of wherever I am. And I love to share it all too!

Awww, I love how Henry was so speechless at the fire station! I would love to know what what racing through his mind right then!

Yum, those beignets looks so good! Were they warm? Mmmmm...

Love this pic!

The garden district is so pretty! I just showed Tom some of your pics and asked him if we could visit someday. He's not interested... I'll have to plan a trip with my mom and/or sister!

The beignets weren't really warm, but not cold either. Just above room temperature if I remember correctly.

I love that pic of Henry too. He's so excited and his blue gray eyes just pop out! I love him in brown!

Not interested?!!? Why?! It really is a fun City, lots to see and do! If we ever go back I would want to go during the spring or fall when it's warmer so we can get more into it all.

I know, the Saints thing - pretty sad, eh? We just laughed and laughed at each other when we realized the Saints were a football team and they were about to go into the Super bowl. No wonder we saw those logos everywhere and everyone was wearing black and gold!

It would be so awesome to go into all those houses and see how they are decorated and soak up the history they hold. What a cool city!

Such cute pictures of Henry and the beignets!

I love the fact that I can see your pictures at school!
I need everyone to go and put their pictures in the same place you put yours so that I can see them all!

On second thought, for the good of the education of my students -
maybe not. I should probably teach while I am here, huh?

I would LOVE to go into those houses!!! I would love to learn the history of them, who lived there years ago when they built it. What did they do? Why did they live there? I just get so excited about that kind of urban history!

Henry had such a good time eating there. He thought it was hilarious that he was allowed to make a mess and throw the sugar on the floor!

about the pictures! I use SmugMug and I really, really like it! It's a paid service, but you can put as many pictures as you want out there, and it's fast, and you don't have bandwidth limitations like Photobucket. It is NEVER down either. Plus...all the teachers on the boards can see my pics!

Love the self portrait. Since I'm the picture taker in our family, I will have to remember to do that on our next trip.

Also love the powder noses, and love the look on Henry's face when you had some on your nose. There is nothing us moms won't do for our little ones. No matter how silly we look.

Can't wait for the rest of your report, so that you can start that pre-trip report. Since we are going to Disney in November, I can use your pre-trip and trip report to help make the wait seem less.

Mirrors and shadows - those are the 2 places you'll find me most often! I am getting better at remembering to give Joe the camera sometimes to get a picture of me. And we *might* have a little pocket point and shoot on this next trip, so he'll probably use that. I cannot even imagine how many pictures we'll have if we do buy one!

That is very true about being a Mom! The other day we were riding the train and singing songs - and he wanted me to dance. So I did! Right there in front of about 30 other New Yorkers!

Aren't PTRs and TRs a great way to tide you over to the next trip? So many great ideas are found in them too!!

This picture is FANTASTIC!!!

What a great thing to treasure from your trip. Another great installment, I love all the old houses, they are simply beautiful.

Thank you! It's one of my favorites as well!

Hi Brook! All caught up, again

Your NYE in WDW sounds lovely! I can't even believe the amount of people!!!!! WOW!!!!!! That's just complete insanity!!! I'd have an anxiety attack! The poly beach dis meet sounds like so much fun!!!!! I can't wait to meet more dis friends in Oct and Dec! I would have been bummed too not being able to spend that time with my hubby and little one! But it's not like you didn't try! Henry looked so cute with the present!

Your trip to New Orleans sounds so great! I can't even believe the fake $20 and your experience on the plane though! YIKES! I'm glad Joe got the cell phone back! I'll admit, I love SW, but DS7 got really sick on the plane while landing one time and the flight attendant was not nice to me! I really want to smack her! Those Beignets and Lait look soooooo divine! YUM! And more YUM!!! WOW!

The crowds were something else...but it all flowed pretty well. Disney did a great job controlling it all!

That is awful about your DS getting sick on the plane! And horrible to hear of the flight attendant in such a situation. I've had one like that on Northwest. I turned on my light to get some water because I was really not feeling well, she walked by and turned it off and kept going. I called after her and she stopped, turned around and GLARED at me. It was so strange!

Love all your updates and pictures--so many great memories to share with Henry when he is older.

Kathy

It is really fun to look back at the pictures now with him even. When he sees himself as a baby he gets a bit confused. Maybe someday I'll use some of these vacation pictures and do a big album for him.

 

[ClaireW]

Enjoyed the update as always

And I've definitely got 'head to POFQ for beignets' in my Sept trip planning notes I've never tried them before.

One question for you though - beignets or corn dog nuggets?....

 

[brookelizabeth]

The next day was our last full day in New Orleans. The next morning we would fly out and back to reality.

So, we slept as long as humanly possible, readied ourselves and went down for the continental breakfast. I had the same thing I had the previous mornings:

I love thee.

Seriously, that danish was SO good.

After our first breakfast we discussed what we would do that day and then headed out into the City.

Ya...at the time I had NO clue what those decorations were for.

We were walking along and I noticed a plaque on the sidewalk, so I had to stop and read it because I was certain it did NOT say what I THOUGHT it had said...

"Street and Sidewalk Improvements" right next to a giant patch of uneven and broken sidewalk. Okay, it was from 1984, but I think the City is due a refurb....! I just found this completely and utterly ironic and hilarious!

As we were walking I noticed a restaurant, Cafe Beignet, that Tracy (TyRy) had mentioned to me...and she had given me a link for COUPONS! I loved the beignets so much yesterday, I wanted them again!

So we stopped. And had a second breakfast!

Open Daily. Perhaps we can squeeze in another trip tomorrow before the airport...

It was very cute in there.

Joe's choice. Bor-ing!

Henry's choice. He loves him some yogurt.

MY choice! Woot!

These beignets were equally as delicious, bigger and cheaper (even without the coupon). It was a very good 2nd breakfast, thank you TyRy for the tip!

In Minnesota people think ketchup is too spicy, so we found it funny that hot sauce was on every table.

And look what Henry spotted:

Henry was done eating and wanted to be outside, but Joe wasn't done - so we played a bit.

Don't worry, the main door was still open, this is just through a second one - he wasn't out there alone!

And speaking of the door being open...it was COLD! yet many, many of the stores had their doors wide open. Kinda strange. I had not brought a real jacket with me on vacation, only a fleece jacket. I wore regular clothes, the fleece jacket and my windbreaker every day!

After gorging ourselves we headed back down to the French Market area - where Cafe du Monde was. Would we have a THIRD breakfast?

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Supreme Court of LA

Nope! We were headed here:

As we walked past this statue a couple asked us to take their picture - and they either saw my DVC windbreaker, or we mentioned something - but turns out they were just in WDW as well!

St. Louis Cathedral

Impressive.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

This doesn't do it justice.

Henry started to get very restless and noisy, so we made a quick exit!

Back outside we started to wander...which, in cold weather, always results in shopping!

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

I regret not buying this sign. I REALLY like it. But I had no way to bring it home and our funds were minimal.

Wandering around the deserted French Market...

The backside of Cafe du Monde. It was kinda neat to watch them work!

Powdered sugar leaking through the door frames.

And covering much of the windows!

The machine that cuts the dough for the little beauties.

We climbed some stairs and found this view:

I see someone has eating beignets here!

A couple nice gals asked if we wanted a family pic after we took theirs

And they had a ramp down, so Henry and Joe had some fun!!

We stopped back in the little mall we were at earlier to use the restroom...while I waited for Joe I browsed a tourist shop...

And they sold underwear. Not in packages, but just rolled up, taped and put on a shelf. It was....odd.

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

After the restroom breaks were completed we opted to go back to the hotel. We were tired, despite taking naps everyday, and COLD. And it was vacation, we could do nothing if we wanted, right?!

We talked about doing this, since we randomly ran across it on our walk back to the hotel, but for one reason or another decided against it. I think I just wasn't feeling it. I was so stinkin' tired our entire time in New Orleans. Being "on" the entire time in Disney, helping the family and all, I was just done! Plus the cold I was battling and the cold weather didn't help any of that.

Back at the hotel, a view from upstairs

I have no memory or recollection of what we did back at the hotel, I'm guessing we slept, surfed the web, relaxed and watched more Marching Network.

Eventually we were hungry and dinner was needed. I had found a place online called Johnny's Po-Boys (not realized this is where Poppa and Grammy had breakfast the day before!) and it sounded great-a place where many of the locals go. On our walk there, Joe threw out the option of going to see a movie. This sounded like a GREAT idea. We decided we'd go see "Princess and the Frog" while IN New Orleans! I was PUMPED!

Joe used his phone and called Google 411 to find the closest theater to the restaurant. It asks for your City, "New Orleans" he said. It didn't recognize it. He repeated it about 4 times and then finally said "Nawlins!" and boom! that worked! Turns out there was a movie theater very close to the French Market area, so it would work out perfectly.

We found Johnny's without a problem.

Red beans and rice. This was mine and RIDICULOUSLY good!!!!! I couldn't stop talking about how good it was. Since then I have bought the Zataran's mix fairly often and made it at home. YUMMMMMMM!

My sandwich...I had a very hard time deciding what to get from their huge menu, so I asked the cashier what her favorites were and this one sounded good...I think it was something like "The Johnny" - roast beef, and ham maybe? I can't remember! It was awesome though!

Joe got a New Orleans classic, the muffeletta. He wasn't a fan. He doesn't like oil and vinegar on sandwiches and didn't realize this had it on there. He ate it, but wouldn't order it again.

I have very, very fond memories of this restaurant. I loved my sandwich and the red beans and rice. I couldn't stop eating! So, so gooooooood!

This picture was next, so this must have been for sale inside the restaurant?

After we ate we made our way to the mall where the movie theater was.

Attempting to keep Henry warm.

All the mall

We went to the area where the theater was SUPPOSED to be.

That's right...supposed to be.

It was under renovation.

The next closest one was way out of the City. You had to take a cab pretty much.

So....we just hung out in the mall! It was warm in there, we had no desire to walk back out in the cold quite yet!

I entertained Henry by putting the luggage claim stickers all over him...!

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Goofing around...notice Joe's layers? Sweater, jacket, hoodie!

Up and down in the glass elevator

So happy with his "stickers"!

Oh look! Another ramp!

We will be the first to admit this was not the most exciting night on our trip! But we had fun. We did nothing. And it felt good. We enjoyed being WARM and Henry enjoyed running around the open areas in the mall.

Back outside on Canal Street

We went into a CVS to find "a dessert type item". Joe also wanted to see if they had a cheap hat.

Trying on some fantastic pink earmuffs.

He he.

Toy Story hat and mittens. I ALMOST bought them.

We ended up buying nothing at CVS. Joe decided against a hat considering we were leaving in the morning...and they didn't have much of a selection for desserts. So, we went across the street to Walgreens and found some treats!

Heading back to the hotel...

We passed this bookstore a few times and I always wanted to go inside or even just browse through the books, but it was too chilly to stop!

Since we couldn't watch a movie in the theater we opted to watch a movie in the hotel room courtesy of Netflix online.

Joe found a great arrangement of how to make it comfortable to watch on the laptop!

I know you like my socks so much that...

After our rousing entertainment of "Super Why" Henry wanted Joe to draw him cars. Only JOE. My cars were not good enough apparently.

Cars were drawn on every single surface of paper in that hotel room!

He was entertained by the cap coming off the pen!

MY BED.

And this ends the pictures.

The next morning we just woke up, packed up - had 2 breakfasts AGAIN, yes - same places, continental and Cafe Beignet. Then headed for the airport.

We flew SWA home and it was much easier since we had a clue how things worked; however, they had everyone line up and then we stood there for a good 30 minutes before they let us on the plane. EVERYONE was complaining. It was not easy being sandwiched into a little area with a 2 year old! No one had a clue why we couldn't board, or why they had us stand there...but eventually we boarded and things went smoothly home.

One more update - final thoughts on the entire trip. Stay tuned!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Hehehe, I love your socks!!

Look at that beignet powder all over NO. Too funny!

 

[onelilspark]

I seriously think something is wrong with me. I saw all the sugar on the ground and thought, "I wonder if they have a problem with ants." *sigh*

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I like downtime days so I think your last day was pretty great. It's hard to get going when it's so cold. And I know it had to be cold there, since you know "Minnesota cold". Can't wait to read your final thoughts.

 

[glennbo123]

Dang, I see you put up another "mega post" and I have to go. Oh well, something to read later. But what I saw, I liked -- funky socks and pink ear muffs with mittens attached!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I am sure you are right!! We can reformat your hard drive. Or install RAM into your motherboard. But football?!?! CLUELESS! I do understand baseball pretty well, but Joe doesn't. He can't see the ball due to his vision problems, so he has never bothered to understand the game!

And I have no clue how to do anything with my computer other than turn it on!

I can totally understand why Joe has no interest in learning about baseball - it's no fun if you can't see what is going on!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Wow, we didn't go inside the Cathedral while we were there and now I regret that - so pretty!

And they sold underwear. Not in packages, but just rolled up, taped and put on a shelf. It was....odd.

Only in New Orleans!

Joe found a great arrangement of how to make it comfortable to watch on the laptop!

Genius!

It sounds like your last day was just what you needed, a slow down, take it easy kind of day after going so hard earlier in your trip

 

[jenjolt]

Another great NOLA update!! I thought about stopping in Cafe Beignet but never did, now I wish I had!!

LOL...too funny Brook, on a day it rained I went to a theater outside of New Orleans and saw two Disney films (they were only $5 admission during the week) I saw Prince of Persia and TS3 LOL!! Just cracks me up how similar our trips kind of were LOL!!

Love the socks btw!!!!

 

[MEK]

The Marching Network? OK, that is funny. I am in a band and I had no idea that channel existed.

I am really enjoying your trip to New Orleans. its such a cool place. I especially love all of the pictures of Henry. He is just so darn cute! He looks like he was having a blast with all that powdered sugar.

Saint Louis Cathedral is beautiful. Just gorgeous.

Biegnets - I want them now and can't wait to try them when I spend the first night of my trip at the FQ.

Bummer that the movie theatre was closed, but it looks like you guys still had a great evening. Really nice trip - loved it.

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, it was even better reading through it more slowly! I can't believe you had two breakfasts, two days in a row! Bummer that the theater was being renovated, and so funny that 411 only recognizes the "Nawlins" pronunciation!

 

[MHTeacher]

Underwear just rolled up and taped for sale? That's just plain weird!

BTW-love the socks!

 

[praisehisname]

One question for you though - beignets or corn dog nuggets?....

Oh no, what will she choose?!

In Minnesota people think ketchup is too spicy, so we found it funny that hot sauce was on every table.

My cousin's wife grew up in New Orleans. At their wedding, the favors were little tiny bottles of hot sauce! Too cute!

I love that you had two breakfasts, and did the same the next day!

I absolutely love this picture! The whole church is so incredibly beautiful!

Powdered sugar leaking through the door frames.

And covering much of the windows!

I wonder if they have a bug problem?

He repeated it about 4 times and then finally said "Nawlins!" and boom! that worked!

Joe found a great arrangement of how to make it comfortable to watch on the laptop!

Genius!

 

[All7OfUs]

Here they dont' even roll them up and tape them. THey just lay them out, so you can find just the size, color, pair you want.

 

[trinaweena]

Seeing your pictures and hearing about how cold it is reminds me of the time we went to Cape Cod in february. Granted it was for a funeral but it was miserable! I've never ever been so cold it was just awful! Worst part, the next year we had to go to another funeral. My grandparents died 1 year apart from eachother and they both grew up at Cape Cod (came over from Portugal). I just remember being miserable!

Glad you found ways to keep warm though, and Henry is too adorable!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Great last day in New Orleans! Love the picture of all that powdered sugar around the window frames of Cafe du Monde! That sign is pretty cool! I would have wanted it, too.

Awesome socks, Brook!

That sign next to the giant crack in the sidewalk is irony at its best!