We Heart Nola

We made it home late Sunday night.  Here is a wrap-up of our fun trip to NOLA!  I wasn't sure about doing a "babymoon" here since I couldn't drink or eat much seafood but it ended up being the perfect trip for us!

This is the B&B we stayed at in the Garden District.  They were really slow so we got upgraded to one of the rooms on the 2nd floor with a balcony.

This was our room.  The balcony is out those windows.

We enjoyed our morning coffee on the patio.

Saturday morning we headed over to the French Quarter.  Check out the Christmas trees on this building.  I love the architecture in this part of town.  It almost feels like being in Europe on the quiet streets.

We walked through the French Market and found a trip tile for our collection and some trinkets for Louis.

It's not our style to pass up beignets and coffee.  I had to get hot chocolate since I'd already had my one coffee at the B&B.

After walking around a little, we went to Central Grocery where the muffuletta was created.

We took it over to the river to eat.  We split it but look at this huge thing!

Yummy Italian muffuletta!!

This dude provided us some Christmas music with an African & Reggae twist.  After a few songs, we realized he used the same beat each time.  He still earned a tip from us but it was funny after a while.

We stopped by the oldest bar so I could watch Joe drink.  I also took him to Pat O'Brien's so he could get a hurricane.  He had a good time.

A little parade walked by and I got some beads.  I didn't have to do anything for them except look pregnant and huge.  Funny, I did not get any beads on the bachelorette party a few years ago.

We went back for a rest at the B&B and then ate some Cajun food for our last dinner.  I forgot to get the pic before we started eating.  Shrimp creole & etouffee, southern greens, red beans & rice, mashed potatoes and sweet corn.  It was so freakin' good!

The houses in the Garden District are beautiful and we were impressed with the Christmas lights around town too!

Live Oaks wrapped in lights.

Same trees in the daylight.

We got home and Joe had a few beers from the honor bar.  They had great amenities at this place.

Sunday we took the street car to see more of the city.

The B&B had been providing wine & cheese before dinner so we went to the cheese place they recommended.  We took really tasty sandwiches to City Park for a picnic.

It rained later so we went to a movie before heading to the airport.  That's something we don't get to do much since having Louis.  If you think New Orleans is just made up of Bourbon Street I'd change your thinking and give it a try.  We even saw a lot of fun stuff for families and might come back with our kids someday!

New Orleans

We have been eating our way through NOLA!  Hopefully I can include some pictures of sites as well.

Thursday we drove about an hour away and toured a creole plantation.  It was a really good tour and mostly private because it is their slow time.

Laura Plantation

Live Oaks

Wine Cellar

The houses were pre-manufactured by the slaves in the swamp and then taken piece by piece to the site.  They used wooden pegs in place of nails.  This house is about 3000 square feet.

Slave quarters

We had a recommendation to eat nearby at a local restaurant.  It was SO good!  I had the chicken & sausage gumbo and shrimp po boy.  Joe had seafood gumbo, homemade andouille po boy and we shared hush puppies.  Everything was amazing!

We also stopped by Oak Alley Plantation.  We didn't take the tour but saw some of the grounds.  The live oak trees were really pretty!

We checked in at our B&B and were upgraded to a room with a balcony.  They also have local beer on tap which Joe has been enjoying and wine & cheese for an hour each night.

We stopped by the Columns Hotel and Joe got a pre-dinner drink.  Then we had a nice French dinner and came back for an early night since we were tired from traveling.  

Red fish on crepe and coq au vin

Friday morning they cooked us a southern breakfast of eggs and grits.  We headed out to some excellent massages and then to a restaurant I'd been to with my friends called Mothers.  It was just as good as I remembered.  This time we split jambalaya, the original po boy (ham, beef, gravy) and a catfish po boy.

We spent most of the day on Magazine Street.  This street has really cute shops and lots of antiques.

We made it back to our B&B to rest before the wine & cheese and then went to an amazing place for dinner.  I forgot to take pictures of our entrees but it was SO SO good.  I had mushroom bisque, artichoke ravioli with lump crab and Joe had poached oysters and leg of lamb.  I don't like lamb but had a bit of his which was so tender he barely needed a butter knife.  It was excellent!  We didn't want dessert but got creme brulee since we knew it had to be delicious.

We ended the night at The Spotted Cat on Frenchman Street.  The music was awesome and all of these locals were doing some serious swing dancing which was fun to watch.  The singer was playing a washboard with cans and a bell attached.  We might make one of these for Louis when we get home!

Local Art on Frenchman

That brings us to today!  I have to say it was hard to really enjoy yesterday with the horrible news out of Connecticut.  Just like everyone else, we are really shocked and saddened by the news and thinking of the families.  It seems a little wrong to have a blast on a vacation when so many people are devastated.

We fly home on Sunday so we've got some more neighborhoods to visit and food to try.  

The Holidays

I'm sure most of you have been busy with the holidays and we have too.  We've been managing to take Louis to do some fun things and had family pictures taken.

Louis finally got his first haircut.  The poor guy takes after me in the hair department since Joe had long curls by 18 months.

He was happy with the cut and struck a pose on his own.

His gymnastics class is finished so we will be going to open gyms around town.  He loved learning to tumble and climb and I'm a little sad it's over.

We went to a different pumpkin patch this year.  It was expensive but had some fun things like a pony ride and lots of farm animals to feed.

He was very excited for Halloween and said "Trick or Treat" at each house.  He was even more excited to eat candy and turned into a monster before bed that night.  I ended up letting him have one piece of candy a day but Joe and I ate most of it.

It was a little trickier to get him excited for Thanksgiving so we made some paper props.

He also was a big help baking and made some pumpkin bread.

After hanging out with Joe's family on Thanksgiving we walked to the Plaza for his first lighting ceremony.  It was a little windy but nice and warm.  The fireworks and cookie treat were a hit with Louis.

My dad came for the weekend and went with us to cut down a Christmas tree.

Louis picked out this baby tree and really did not want to leave it.

 We convinced him that this tree was a little better.

We had fun decorating it a few days later.

Today we went to Crown Center to see Santa.  Last year we had a crying picture so I have been talking to Louis for weeks about sitting on Santa's lap.  I could tell he wasn't sure until I told him that Santa is nice.  So today I think he was pumping himself up by repeating "he's nice" when we brought up the visit.

We ate at Fritz's first and of course he loved the trains.

He ran through the Crayola stuff twice before making it to the big guy's lap.  

And I'm happy to say our little talks worked!  He told Santa right away that he wants candy (ugh) and smiled for the picture.  We took our own but they asked if they could take one since he was so cute!

Louis had seen an ice skating commercial so I told him Joe could take him.  He loved all the outdoor stuff under the Mayor's tree as we made our way to the rink.

He LOVED the skating.  Joe said he was screaming at him the whole time because he wanted to do it alone.   He had a blast.  Joe's back was killing him by the end but it was really fun.  There was a 3 or 4 year-old out there doing turns alone.  Super cute!

We finished the day up by watching the trains here and at Union Station.  I totally recommend this tradition if you live in KC.  There is so much fun stuff to see.

And the best part is it took about a minute in the car to pass out.

Joe and I are headed to New Orleans for an adult trip before the new baby arrives.  I'm really excited to have some time away without PBS Kids!