And so to the Big Easy again I went...
Well, to backtrack slightly, I left work Thursday night at midnight and drove an hour to Vicksburg to see Loni and Morgan at Loni's parent's home. I got there a little after 1am and Morgan was already passed out, so Loni and I hit the casinos for a while! We went to Ameristar first and I burned through 2 rolls of nickels in short order, the machines were not hitting for me and I couldn't find my video poker machines...slots just don't interest me as much as poker games. Loni of course cleaned the house and made back what she poured in, so we left to hit Isle of Capri around 3am or so, Another hour and some free cokes later, we left with me still penny and nickel-less and Loni with a tiny profit margin. We headed back and promptly passed out on the pull out couch. I had to head back home to get to work and deposit my paycheck, so I left aaround noon and did all that. I had already packed for the weekend before I left for Vicksburg so I could leave for New Orleans from work Friday.
So, I left work early Friday around 7:30 and hit the road, getting into New Orleans around midnight or so. I managed to find my way to the LaQuinta in Slidell without major mishap and they were both still up, so we talked a bit and I snuggled with Loni some til she passed out right after we ordered Pirates of the Caribbean from On Demand. Ok..ok..I loved the movie!!! Everyone was right..it was great! So, passed out around 4 am or so. Was gonna sleep in the bed with Morgan, but she was adjacent to the igloo cold AC and hotels short sheet beds...my ass was an icecube, so hopped beds and snuggled in with Loni to sleep til the next day! :)
So we get up anround 10am saturday and start getting ready for a day in the Vieux Carre. A thirty minute drive to the Quarters and after a slight bit of driving errors to find MY parking place around Washington Park, we disembark the truck and head a few streets over to what I have and will continue to say is the best restaurant in all of New Orleans, The Praline Connection. Always sooo good, it did not disappoint. I had my fried softshell crawfish with fried pickels appetizer and a bowl of jambalaya. From there we hit the Market and did a little shopping and then down to Cafe DuMonde for coffe and beignets. A quick walk up to the Riverwalk and we stopped to watch some hilarious street performers doing breakdancing and working the crowd like no one I have seen this side of a renn faire in ages. From there, we hit the Pedestrian Mall in Jackson Square and made a few purchases and promised ourselves to get a tarot or psychic reading later that night.
Next stop...St Peters for Patty O's for hurricanes for the ladies and then the Haunted History tour of New Orleans which was awesome!! Paul was the tour guide and was very entertaining and informative. He also suggested a wonderful restaurant for dinner after words. We went to Pere Antoine's for steak dinner that was so good. Perfect food and service! Also for white chocolate truffle ice cream for dessert that rocked:)
So back to St Peters and Rev. Zombies shop for Past Life readings for me and Morgan and a tarot reading for Loni. We were all satisfied with the readings. Turns out she saw 6 past lives for me, 3 for Morgan, who is admittedly tightly shielded and Loni had a very interesting tarot reading, very much what she needed to have validated. Then off to Bourbon for a little Shuffling..got Loni her first Handgrenade and meandered back to the car to head to the hotel to rest for the night with the option of changing and coming back.
Loni was fairly well toasted so we stayed in that night and all crashed not too long after getting back. Next day Morgan woke up with a bad chest cold, so Loni and I went out to breakfast next door at Cracker Barrel and brought Morgan some food back to eat. Loni and I then went out to see the Aquarium of the Americas along the river in New Orleans. It was pretty cool, a little over priced for admission, but we had a blast. We then got hungry and decided to check out Harrah's for some food, but the buffet was like $20 a person so that idea when down and we just played some nickels on the slots and video poker. Again, I lost my money and Loni came out mostly even. Driving home, Morgan called to check on us and when we got back to the hotel, we went out to a nice chinese place for dinner, then came back to the hotel where Morgan promptly went back to sleep on cold meds and Loni and I stayed up as she played online for a while, then we crashed around 1am.
Got up next day and got everyone packed up and I left around 8am and got home at noon yesterday after an awesome weekend and took a nap for a bit before work...and that's where we pick up again...
All told, a wonderful with with Loni and Morgan when they stayed here for a few days and then in New Orleans and I go see them in Orlando a week from today for Thanksgiving!
So, I left work early Friday around 7:30 and hit the road, getting into New Orleans around midnight or so. I managed to find my way to the LaQuinta in Slidell without major mishap and they were both still up, so we talked a bit and I snuggled with Loni some til she passed out right after we ordered Pirates of the Caribbean from On Demand. Ok..ok..I loved the movie!!! Everyone was right..it was great! So, passed out around 4 am or so. Was gonna sleep in the bed with Morgan, but she was adjacent to the igloo cold AC and hotels short sheet beds...my ass was an icecube, so hopped beds and snuggled in with Loni to sleep til the next day! :)
So we get up anround 10am saturday and start getting ready for a day in the Vieux Carre. A thirty minute drive to the Quarters and after a slight bit of driving errors to find MY parking place around Washington Park, we disembark the truck and head a few streets over to what I have and will continue to say is the best restaurant in all of New Orleans, The Praline Connection. Always sooo good, it did not disappoint. I had my fried softshell crawfish with fried pickels appetizer and a bowl of jambalaya. From there we hit the Market and did a little shopping and then down to Cafe DuMonde for coffe and beignets. A quick walk up to the Riverwalk and we stopped to watch some hilarious street performers doing breakdancing and working the crowd like no one I have seen this side of a renn faire in ages. From there, we hit the Pedestrian Mall in Jackson Square and made a few purchases and promised ourselves to get a tarot or psychic reading later that night.
Next stop...St Peters for Patty O's for hurricanes for the ladies and then the Haunted History tour of New Orleans which was awesome!! Paul was the tour guide and was very entertaining and informative. He also suggested a wonderful restaurant for dinner after words. We went to Pere Antoine's for steak dinner that was so good. Perfect food and service! Also for white chocolate truffle ice cream for dessert that rocked:)
So back to St Peters and Rev. Zombies shop for Past Life readings for me and Morgan and a tarot reading for Loni. We were all satisfied with the readings. Turns out she saw 6 past lives for me, 3 for Morgan, who is admittedly tightly shielded and Loni had a very interesting tarot reading, very much what she needed to have validated. Then off to Bourbon for a little Shuffling..got Loni her first Handgrenade and meandered back to the car to head to the hotel to rest for the night with the option of changing and coming back.
Loni was fairly well toasted so we stayed in that night and all crashed not too long after getting back. Next day Morgan woke up with a bad chest cold, so Loni and I went out to breakfast next door at Cracker Barrel and brought Morgan some food back to eat. Loni and I then went out to see the Aquarium of the Americas along the river in New Orleans. It was pretty cool, a little over priced for admission, but we had a blast. We then got hungry and decided to check out Harrah's for some food, but the buffet was like $20 a person so that idea when down and we just played some nickels on the slots and video poker. Again, I lost my money and Loni came out mostly even. Driving home, Morgan called to check on us and when we got back to the hotel, we went out to a nice chinese place for dinner, then came back to the hotel where Morgan promptly went back to sleep on cold meds and Loni and I stayed up as she played online for a while, then we crashed around 1am.
Got up next day and got everyone packed up and I left around 8am and got home at noon yesterday after an awesome weekend and took a nap for a bit before work...and that's where we pick up again...
All told, a wonderful with with Loni and Morgan when they stayed here for a few days and then in New Orleans and I go see them in Orlando a week from today for Thanksgiving!