New Orleans!

In June, Joe and most of the other attorneys in his office planned to attend the annual AILA conference.  It was in New Orleans this year and I thought it would be fun to tag along.  Thankfully, Marsha was out of school and was able to come watch the kids so I could go.  We were so grateful!  It was a really fun trip.  It made me remember how much I love traveling with Joe.  He's a pretty great travel buddy. :)

We were on separate flights over but I was lucky enough to get a whole row to myself so it was an easy flight.  We got in and took a shuttle to our hotel and ventured out to find food.  We were hungry! We found a restaurant with the traditional New Orleans food and ordered it all: etoufee, gumbo, jambalaya, and even some fried alligator. Here we are trying it out:

It was good! That restaurant wasn't the greatest but I still really liked the etouffee.

It was hot! Can you tell how sweaty we are?

The next morning, Joe's conference started early and I headed out to explore on my own.  I walked quite a way to the World War II museum and stopped for some grits for breakfast.  It was my first time having them and they weren't bad!

A pretty shop on the way:

The museum was amazing! I was glad I went. I watched a really powerful movie first and then walked through the different parts of the museum.  I didn't get to see everything but still saw a lot.  I couldn't help but think of our grandparents and others who experienced it.

Where my Grandpa Allen served (mostly after the war had ended, I believe):

Loved this quote:

Then I met Joe on his lunch break at a restaurant that had been recommended called the Ruby Slipper Cafe.  It was SO good!  We got stuffed french toast and eggs benedict two different ways.  It was all incredible!

After that, I explored some more down Royal Street and by the river.

So many beautiful and interesting views!

There was a band playing just out of view in this picture that was so good!  I loved the music everywhere.

I thought Joe would appreciate this statue dedicated to immigrants.  The next night we went to a fundraising dinner and the man who made it spoke.  

We went to an Emeril restaurant with Joe's coworker, Erin, that night.

We went to Preservation Hall that night and had an amazing time!  It was so worth it.  The energy in that tiny, hot room was incredible. There's nothing like live jazz music.

Of course, we had to get some beignets at Cafe du Monde after that:

It was hard not to inhale all that sugar! 

We did some more exploring that I didn't get pictures of including Bourbon Street (not worth it--we had to shower and change our clothes just to get rid of the smoke smell, and we just passed through!), a ghost tour (also not worth it), and one of the most fun things we did--Pat O'Brien's piano bar.  Joe's friend from high school performs there and it was so fun!  She got us past the long line, gave Joe a shout out and we loved just singing along with a huge group of strangers (most of them drunk :) to a bunch of random songs.  We only got video of that.
We did go for a walk to the river together one night:

The next day, we'd planned on flying to Atlanta so see Joe's cousins but in the end, we decided to drive and I was so glad we did! It's not often that Joe and I road trip alone and it was a lot of fun. Plus, we got to see a lot more of the South that way. We drove through
Mississippi:

We drove through Alabama and then took a slight detour just so we could drive through the corner of Florida:

We stopped at a Piggly Wiggly there and bought some Bluebell ice cream, because why not?

Finally in Georgia:

We drove through some crazy downpours and then as fast as they came, they were gone.

We drove to Peachtree City to stay Saturday and Sunday night with Nate and Mandi.  They were so good to us! They fed us delicious food and took us on fun golf cart tours of where they live (they can drive to school and Target in a golf cart! There were miles of paths). We went to church with them on Sunday and then took a ride out to this lake:

We were so grateful to them and loved getting to know their awesome kids better.

We left pretty early Monday to head to the airport and fly back home to Marsha and the kids.  We sure missed our kids but it was a great trip!