Hello Friends!

I know, I know, I suck at blogging. I feel like every post begins that way lately. I will try to do better, I promise.

I guess the biggest update I have is my recent vacation. The boyfriend and I traveled to New Orleans last weekend, met his mom and her boyfriend. I'd never been to New Orleans and I've gotta say it was awesome and a place I will not soon forget. My mom came down and stayed with the baby girl while we went for the weekend. Let's see if I can recap most of the trip....

The food...
The food was soooo good. We ate at Jacque-Imo's the first night. I had porkchop stuffed with beef and shrimp sausage. It was absolutely delicious. I had some kind of corn on the side along with mashed sweet potatoes. It was definitely some... "excitement" in my mouth. Ha. Zach had fried rabbit, which I tried (always take a no-thank you bite, at least!) And it was actually really yummy, and his mom's bf, Eric, had grouper. Now I don't particularly like fish like that but it was also delicious. We had Escargot and Alligator Cheesecake as appetizers. I wasn't a fan of the cheesecake, flavor was interesting but I just couldn't handle the squishy texture. The escargot was fantastic though, YUM. Not only was the food delightful, the ambiance of the whole restaurant was so cool - definitely an awesome place for our first stop in New Orleans. There was phenomenal artwork everywhere, they used candles of saints to light the tables, and you walked through the kitchen to get to the dining area. I can't sum up in words how awesome this restaurant was!

We called it an early night and headed to the hotel after checking out some sweet old houses through the streets of New Orleans. The architecture and the history there are beautifully haunting. I couldn't stop clicking my camera because everything looked so... old and majestic.

Then we made it to the hotel and I am not even going to go into the hotel - it was gross, worst part of the trip. Let's just say do not stay at the Sun Suites in New Orleans. We made it through one night and early the next morning we checked into the Holiday Inn on West Bank that was neat because it was made like a tower. I think it was a sign because driving over the Mississippi on the bridge I saw that hotel and thought it would be neat to stay there, so it definitely wasn't a trip ruiner!

The next two nights were spent on Bourbon street. At one point I got Zach up on the piano at Howl at the Moon, the dueling piano bar, and they sang happy birthday to him. It was hilarious. We watched his mom's bf sing with his band RockBox at Fat Cats. They were SO good, and we had such a blast. We drank some neat Nawlin's concoctions like the Hand Grenade and the Hurricane, and Cherry Bombs that were actually Cherries soaked in Everclear (WOAH) and explored the street.

On Saturday night we took a ghost, voodoo, and vampire tour. It ended up being more of historical tour but I didn't mind it because it was really interesting, and seemed a lot more legit. I learned a lot and I'm really into history so I loved it. We also saw people saying the rapture was coming that night... apparently they didn't make it either (HA). I had a blast taking photos of the neat buildings in the french quarter and trying to capture orbs and ghosties.

On Sunday we were going to go check out the graveyards and some stuff we missed but Zach thought we were leaving a lot later than we actually were. Oops! We had to rush to the airport but we got to pass the graveyards on the way and they are really neat (definitely something I'm going to take more time with my next trip down). We almost missed our flight but finally got it all straightened out and after 2 layovers (yuck) ended up back home.... without our luggage (Zach warned me before the trip that he was really bad luck to travel with and I'll tell you what - he was not kidding!) Luckily our luggage came the next day so no harm done.

So that was a rap up of my trip. I had such a blast and I recommend everyone go check out New Orleans, I think it's got a little bit for everyone and the history is just extraordinary. I know there are a ton more tours I'm already looking forward to taking my next trip down!

19 comments

  1. Sounds like you had a great trip!! Oh man I have had Cherry Bombs too, intense!!

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  2. how fun!! I have always wanted to go to New Orleans!! so glad you had a blast and enjoyed yourself...love the rapture joke!

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  3. I know there's nothing quite as fabulous as advice from a complete stranger who knows nothing about you ... BUT (there's always a but...)

    Maybe it's time to move on. Maybe it's time for change. Maybe instead of coming back and saying "sorry I was gone for so long" maybe it's someone out there telling you "let go...make the change". You owe us nothing. You owe yourself EVERYTHING.

    Semper Fi chicklet.... Semper Fi

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  4. I haven't commented on here much, but I am an avid reader of your blog. So glad to see you happy again! And SO glad you loved NOLA!! It's an AMAZING place! I went a few times last summer. Cool thing about Jacque-Imo's is that he is a former US Coast Guard!! I'm going back again in August and can't wait!

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  5. Rachel, I'm so glad you had a great trip! It makes me so glad to hear how happy you are!

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  6. I was wondering where you were! I haven't seen you post here or twitter! I'm glad y'all had a great time. You tried a ton of food I would never ever even think about consuming! Lol

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  7. Oh it sounds like you had such a great time!!

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  8. Glad to hear you had a good time! Sounds like it was a blast.

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  9. your trip sounds awesome... I'm glad you had such a great time!

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  10. Sounds like a fantastic trip! I'd love to explore New Orleans more thoroughly someday. We've technically been there, but an ultra-brief stop for dinner hardly counts; couldn't stay longer 'cause we were in the middle of a drive from Texas to Virginia.

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  11. Sounds like fun times! I've been wanting to go to NOLA ever since Princess and the Frog came out. :) I'm such a geek. :)

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  12. Our neighbor from Louisiana (and Ryan's best friend) always talk about hand grenades... I need to try me one of those!

    Glad you had a nice trip!

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  13. I love it there. I go every year for mardi gras since I was in 10th grade, so 8 years. I can't get enough of it. next time you go eat at bubba gumps. it is themed after the movie forest gump and they have some great food :) Glad yall had a great time..

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  14. Glad you had a good trip. How's your princess doing? Getting bigger and bigger every day I'm sure.

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  15. First up... Blogger isn't letting me use my google id... soo... it's Hillary. lol

    We stayed at the holiday inn on Loyola Ave when we went. It had a giant clarinet painted on the side, its AMAZING! I hope you were able to see it. I just googled a picture to make sure it was holiday inn and the painting looks aged... but I was there like 13 years ago. Here is a link... It's pretty cool

    http://www.ashley-spencer.com/ArtIsEverywhere/2008/04/new-orleans-murals/

    Umm... Yeah... YAY for vacation with the hottie boyfriend!!!! :-)

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  16. Sounds like you had a blast! You definitely make me want to plan a trip there. =]

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  17. I'm so glad that you enjoyed your weekend in New Orleans! I'm from South Louisiana, and NOLA has a special place in my heart.
    I had to chuckle at your eating at Jacque-Imo's. My husbands brother is friends with the Chef and he's (brother-in-law) been trying to get us to eat there for years! But, we never have time, because there's so many other things to do...My husband says that come hell or high water, we're gonna make the time to do it soon.
    We love to take the tours. We once made a quick getaway on a Voodoo tour though. Our guide was obviously on some major drug, and when they broke out the albino python during a ceremony, we decided it was time to leave!
    Have a great week,
    Janet

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  18. Rachel,

    I just wanted to let you know that your blog is an inspiration. Thank you for letting us look in on it a little & see how you're doing. I'm glad you're happy. I know that things will never be perfect, & you'll always love your husband & miss him terribly, but it's great seeing you're moving forward & finding happiness in so many things. I mentioned your blog to my mom who recently became a widow (not for the same reasons as you, my step-dad passed away at 44 in October from a random illness), & I'm hoping she reads it & maybe even starts her own. I hope you & your loved ones have a great 4th of July coming up.

    -Amy

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