It's been a while.....

I know. I'm a bad blogger. I should be more "up" on the news...Many things have happened...and because I've been a bad girl, I can't easily remember everything...bare with me. Where did I leave you last? We left St. Joseph State Park with the lilting waves gently washing the shoreline to lull us to sleep at night, and moved to Topsail Hill State Park where waves were replaced by a loud chorus of frogs to "sing us to sleep"...I assume that was their intention...or maybe they were all just love sick and looking to mate..but MAN they were PERSISTENT! Moving into our RV park in NOLA, however, took the sound bite cake. The cicadas were so numerous and so loud that it almost HURT our EARS to be outside. Let's put it this way, it frightened the HELL out of the cat. He was low to the ground doing the army crawl every time we took him out to stretch his legs. It took him the whole time to get used to it. The day we left, I think he understood it wasn't an unsafe sound. Oh, well.


We arrived in NOLA as our last of the "planned" vacation reservations. This was good, as we were enjoying the sights, sounds and flavors of NOLA and wanted more time than originally planned for. We ended up adding 3 days to the trip. The funniest thing that happened was a dinner out. Vincent needed to use the restroom before dinner. Upon asking where they were, the waiter pointed out where to go and off he wandered. Now, the funny part is this...he came back from the trip visibly shaken and said it was like a bathroom nightmare...the kind where you have to go and all you see ahead of you is a long hallway that leads nowhere and there are doors everywhere, but not one of them is a restroom. So you wander, and try every door, hoping to find the ONE that works. He made his way through a labyrinth hallway that spit him out into the mall the restaurant was located in. Once out into the mall, he found the food court bathrooms and returned to me through the main door of the restaurant. I thought it odd that he went to the restroom through one door and returned through another. I asked if there was a wormhole that transported him to a different part of the mall and he told me the tale. He said: "I'm serious, Cheri. When we're done, I'm going to walk you through this hallway! It was surreal!". So, we ate dinner and as we were leaving, out the main entrance, he said; "OH! WAIT! You HAVE to share this experience with me...." So into the rabbit hole we went. As soon as you open the doorway to this "nightmare hallway" there is another door that says "MEN" on it. I said, "Didn't you go in here?" and all he could say was "Where the hell did that come from?" Then proceeded to walk me through the nightmare hallway...and in all honesty, it would have been exactly that if that had BEEN the way to the bathroom...but it was not. This of course had us both laughing hysterically. I mean, the SNORTING variety of hysterical laughter. The kind that makes you have to stop and take a breath. We came upon the man that originally pointed Vincent in the "right direction" once he was lost, and told him the story and HE went into hysterics. Of course, we left pretty quickly after that, but that was a memory for a lifetime.


OK, back to NOLA stuff... before we went, there was a page in our tour book that listed the 10 cocktails you HAVE to have when you're in town. I figured not being a drinker, I should go for it. What could it hurt? I did whittle the list down to 6; one was just too childish and the rest were ones I know I wouldn't like the flavor of. The one thing I was REALLY craving from NOLA was beignet. Before any other NOLA food or drink passed my lips, it had to begin with a beignet. A beignet is a french "doughnut" but it is really more like a little funnel cake or fried dough. It comes in a dish filled to the brim with powdered sugar. It is pure, unadulterated Heaven. Cafe Du Monde is the place to be for beignet. It was our very first destination in the city. I was NOT disappointed. I bought two boxes of mix so I can enjoy them at home. I can't wait to make them.


We walked around the French Quarter, ducking into shops here and there, and got very sweaty. That is when the first cocktail presented itself. We found ourselves walking toward and into a Pat O'Brien's... dueling pianos and hurricane cocktails. The room was as cold as a freezer and the table tops were coated in copper. The glass stayed frozen the whole time. I ordered one...as did Vincent...and let me say this about that. It was a sweet, innocuous drink. It went in real easy and I didn't "feel" anything...at first. Still being thirsty and interested, I had a mint julep. Then in an instant, it hit me...and I stopped drinking. I was a very giddy girl afterwards. Everyone was my friend and the city was so beautiful! OK, maybe it was the hurricane, but boy, was I ever happy! To burn it off a bit, we walked about, popping into shops and locating things we knew we wanted to do the next day. We accidentally happened upon Bourbon Street; and that meant another cocktail. I know what you're thinking. "Take it easy, girl! You're a lightweight! You don't drink that much in a year!" I know...but it was NOLA and we were hot again, and it was, after all, Bourbon Street. I will say this about Bourbon Street...if you're into "Frat Boy Mentality" it's your place. To Vincent and I it smelled and was annoying. I went into a place that was famous for the Sazerac. It was one of the older, mature bars that was cool, quiet and friendly. This is the first American cocktail, and the oldest cocktail of the US. It was delicious. Really delicious. I think I might have to ask people to make this for me in Florida and see if they CAN. We then made our way back to the RV before dark.


It was a lot of walking and Vincent's back was bugging him, and my dogs were barking, so we stayed home the next day and rested.


The day after rest went back into the city for a spirit tour. Our tour-guide, a woman named Annette, was a lovely woman. She was definitely "alive with the city" and enjoyed talking about the buildings, the people and the history. We made a leisurely walk toward our ultimate destination, the cemeteries. I was excited to see the cemetery and look at the above ground "oven tombs". As soon as we stepped inside the gates, the skies opened up, and it poured and hailed. We didn't get an opportunity to tour it. Had to leave. bummer. We were wet, wet, wet. We dried off with paper towels in the restrooms as best we could and let the NOLA heat do the rest, once it stopped raining, of course. At this point, we were hungry and in need of some nourishment. We went to The Gumbo Shop where I had the best crawfish ettouffee I've ever had. Wow. Lunch ate up some time, but we had some time to kill, so we went to the Audubon Aquarium and bought tickets to see the aquarium, zoo, insectarium and IMAX film. We should have known we were biting off more than we could do...but alas, bite we did. We entered the aquarium at 4...and it closed at 5. Needless to say, it was rushed and not as good as it should have been; but that's life. Back out into the heat we strolled. Saw two amazing "mimes" that stood perfectly still, and looked like a statue. We heard authentic NOLA jazz in the streets, single trumpet players, whole bands, it was all excellent and really got you walking with a spring in your step and a song on your lips. We had to stay in the city because we had dinner reservations that night. We changed into our new clothes and found a bar to sit in. I needed to knock a few more off my list, after all. I ordered a Pimm's Cup, a Ramos Gin Fizz and a Frozen Irish Coffee. The Pimm's cup was like a lemonade and salad all in one glorious drink. The Ramos Gin Fizz was "eh". Tasted like a watered down creamsicle. The frozen Irish coffee was as awesome as that sounds. After that, we walked down the street where our restaurant was. It didn't open until 7; and we had about 20 minutes to kill, so in and out of shops was once again our option. This time, we encountered this kid who said: "You're free to walk on this street but please don't look directly into the camera".... Huh? What? What camera? Who ARE you? So the kid explains further that there is a Hollywood film being shot here, something called "Fire With Fire" starring Bruce Willis, Curtis (50 cent) Jackson, Josh Duhamel (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118036364?refCatId=13). So, we walked down the street...right through the shot...they said we could. Of course, once was not enough. We did it about three of four times, and then it was time to go to dinner. We touted ourselves "Movie Stars". We ate dinner at the Palm Court Cafe...where they play jazz every night and serve authentic, delightful, NOLA fare. I told the waitress we were celebrating our 11th anniversary with them, and the band played a song JUST FOR US and we were the only ones allowed to dance...and we did. The owner of the restaurant gave us a hug and congratulated us...see, I told you...Movie Stars!


The next day was to be our last going through the city. We visited the cemeteries, and went to the zoo. Of course, not having learned from our previous day's mistake, we got to the zoo at 4. We were informed that they "put the animals away at 4:30" (even though the zoo actually closes at 5!) If the aquarium was rushed in an hour, you can imagine what the zoo was like in 30 minutes. OH, WELL! We might learn from this one day..but I wouldn't hold my breath. We had no time to make it to the insectarium or the IMAX theater, so we found two lovely ladies and gave them our tickets. They were skeptical and cautious at first, but I told them... "No, REALLY...they're yours! They are FREE! Enjoy!" When they realized there were no strings attached, they were happy. New Orleans is a wonderful accumulation of tastes, sounds, and people who are filled with colorful, warm, wonderful souls. We were sad to see that the destruction of Hurricane Katrina still had it's grip on some of the people there...buildings with the X markings that tell how many people were living there, how many they found dead, etc. We saw concrete slabs where houses once stood, and we were angry that this still exists. It moved Vincent quite a bit. When I asked him if he liked New Orleans, he said "No. It's too sad to see that." I understood that, but I also feel good about the resilience of a city that refuses to stay down. They are making efforts to go on, and keep that spirit that they are famous for. We bid NOLA a fond farewell, and made out way to Natchitoches.... Which I will happily tell you about tomorrow, after a good night's sleep and more poking around town. Until then, enjoy your day, and have an adventure all your own.