to the 4th floor

Tim loves to travel. I tell ya, the man daydreams about it constantly and can sit for hours looking at maps. Fortunantely, since we have been married, we have managed to "travel" as much as we can. We have done at least one big trip every year of our marriage. Hopefully as the years go by, the less poor we become, the more elaborate trips we can take, right? In the meantime, our small trips have been wonderful.
We have always talked about visiting New Orleans for awhile now. It is only a short drive away from ATL, and with the girls staying at my parents', and Tim's birthday weekend this past weekend, it was the perfect time to go!

December 31:
On the way down to New Orleans we stopped and saw the 16th Street Baptist Church, and the University of Alabama.
Being at the church made me reflect back and think that not too long ago things were WAY different than they are now. Very sad that those type of things happened so openly.


On the other hand, Bama has a beautiful campus! And the fun thing is, down the main college street there is a whole row of fraternity/sorority houses. I don't know much about frats or sororities, but check this house out.

Pretty amazing building, huh?

We then spent New Year's Eve on Bourbon St. in New Orleans! How crazy were we? I would bet thousands that we were the only sober people in that whole street.



(via iphone)

We first had dinner at Bourbon House where I ate alligator for an appetizer and a fried oyster salad for dinner. I'm getting more and more daring. Watch out!

(via iphone: Alligator. Yes, it tastes like chicken.)

(via iphone)

January 1:
For breakfast we ate at the famous Cafe du Monde for their famous beignets.

ABSOLUTELY. DELICIOUS.

We then walked and shopped around the French Quarter. This was my favorite part because we got to really feel what New Orleans was all about. The arcitecture, the music, the people. Soo fun. Jazz bands, local artists, street tap dancers. There is so much character there and the atmosphere is very unique. SO fun.




For lunch we ate at Mother's and had
their famous Po' Boy sandwich and gumbo!




After a wonderful warm lunch we took the Trolley to the Garden District and saw a lot of the original Southern Mansions. Beautiful homes with so much character. Even the sidewalks where uneven and cracked and I loved it. I loved the homes.




January 2: Tim's birthday!
For breakfast we ate at Camellia Grill. The people of New Orleans are really friendly and colorful in general and having the day be "game day" made the restaurant atmosphere so much better. Everyone was extra energetic.
New Orleans was completely covered in Fleur-de-lis, gold and black Saints gear, iron, mardi gras masks, beads, and even the people were completely decked out! Pretty cool to see.
Right next to the French Quarter is the French Market. Just a fun flea market type area. After that we went on a steamboat ride down the Mississippi River to tour a famous plantation.




Finally, for Tim's brirthday dinner we waited hours to eat at Port of Call. Tim uses "Yelp" to find good places to eat and this place had amazing ratings. It was good.

January 3:
On the drive back home we stopped and saw the University of Auburn. It was neat to see the college that was going to be playing in the National Championship game. Tim and I want to go to an SEC football game sometime in our life. Now THAT is football.

Well, that is about it. We literally ate our way through New Orleans. There are several things we didn't get to see that we wanted to, so we will just have to visit again! Until next time...