NOLA and it’s Seductions

New Orleans: March 8-10

Right in the heart of Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street

Like the crazy neighbor down the street, a New Orleans Mardi Gras is good to see every once in a great while but stick around too long and it gets offensive. We did have an amazing stay near the French Quarter two weeks ago. Bourbon street was crazy; Cajun cuisine was fantastic; and New Orleans was an experience of a lifetime. Did you know that the police actually clear out Bourbon Street at midnight? Or that the immense amount of trash (our shoes were disgusting after Fat Tuesday) generated by the Mardi Gras partygoers is cleaned up by 10 am the following day? I’m having a hard time writing a post about New Orleans so I’ll just link to this article and let some pictures speak for me. Carrie says I need to mention delicious beignets and the plethora of free beads (without having to do anything for them). Here’s a taste of the night and here’s a taste of the day.

an ambitious 'bead giver'

we stayed very close together

the Bourbon St. jungle

the cops being jovial until the midnight flush

Memorables:

- the cops just rolling with it until midnight

- fantastic art

- secret courtyard galleries

- bright, bold colors

- the streets filled with cajun aromas

- the jazz, street performers, music everywhere

- beignets!

- nectar snowballs

- strangers giving us their beads randomly during Mardi Gras

the statue man that jake often copies now spontaneously

we'd like a gate like this some day:)

tasty beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde

very aesthetically pleasing city

this privately owned boat saved 400 people during Katrina

a little gallery courtyard

a little jazz cafe

a truly romantic city

Three days and 1200 miles

With tearful goodbyes we left Lancaster last Wednesday morning. In three days we saw old friends in Harrisonburg, VA; met new relatives in Asheville, NC; saw the beautiful South in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA; and finally pulled into warm and sunny Orlando to reunite with Carrie’s immediate family, who we will be hanging out with until late next week. Three days of new people and new places felt like a week, maybe two; time is slowing down. The last year of our lives flew by, the routine of weekly work schedules, stresses and weekend fun all blurred together into a year that felt like a month. Now that our daily lives are being broken into places and people rather than routine and schedule, time has taken on a new meaning. This past Sunday I woke up in a tent next to a South Carolinian lake, ate lunch at a formal front-porch restaurant, walked along a Georgian waterway, and finally slept on a flowered Floridian bedspread. Living the dream baby.

Some friends in Virginia.

Family in Asheville we had never met before - great time.

A light show. Our first night camping.

We’re loving the South so far and we’ve barely even gotten into it. We spent a cold night in Santee State Park, SC where, like prehistoric man trying to make fire with two rocks, I was able to bring our camp stove to life. We ate a can of soup (one is not enough for two people) and apple slices with Nutella. While peanut butter is the cheap traveler’s best friend, Nutella is his sexy midnight lover that makes his best friend look like jarred dog crap.

Where Carrie found her phone after losing it.

We spent a sunny morning walking around historic Charleston where women always wear dresses except when they’re changing into other dresses. Charleston has a waterfront park mostly full of old cannons recovered from the civil war, although there is the occasional patch of beautiful greenery.

Nice trees on a nice day.

There were also a lot of dilapidated old houses. And by dilapidated, I mean beautiful.

Savannah was lackluster after a day spent in Charleston (although similarly beautiful architecture). We may have to return though to give it more of a chance. Two hours in a city doesn’t seem fair.

What a treat to spend the final hours of Sunday attending* the Daytona 500. Congratulations to twenty year-old Trevor Bayne. The noise, the smells and the excitement still linger three days later. We spent today kayaking around the mangroves of Cocoa Beach and plan to head north tomorrow to watch, in person, the launch of the Discovery shuttle. Stay posted.

 

Kayaking in the mangroves of Florida.

*By attending I mean we drove within 50 miles of the speedway 4 hours after the race ended. Still exciting.

Car crazy

We made it to Florida! Only getting a little stir crazy:) the journey has been awesome so far. Once we have a computer we will get some more posts up. For now you can follow our trek on Facebook- just click here and like us. Cheers!