New Orleans V: A Carriage Ride & Sting

Who knew there would be 5 posts? Certainly not me!! I just couldn't seem to shorten these up anymore =o) Saturday night we went for a carriage ride around the French Quarter. Listening to our driver tell us stories about the history of New Orleans, vampires, and Elvis... It was entertaining to say the least ;o)

Meet our driver... I don't remember his name...  I'll call him Jim (really I have the Office on in the background, so it's a quick name to pop in my head. ha)

Our first stop was a quick turn around to get a better view of Jackson Square. That great statue with the St Louis Cathedral in the background... It's the oldest Cathedral in the US that is still used for services! And it's absolutely beautiful on the inside!

Then we started to drive around... Now. I heard a lot of what 'Jim' said... but the photographer in me was just excited to take some photos of some awesome things around the city... see the next couple photos:

This is a view straight out of the front over the head of 'Bessie' (I don't remember the horses name either!) NOLA is a very lovely town with a beautiful old feel.

This is the garden area where scenes from Double Jeopardy starring Ashley Judd was filmed. It was probably the only movie not starring Elvis that 'Jim' mentioned =o)

A boat that apparently helped saved thousands of lives during Katrina...

After the carriage ride, we went to dinner at a great restaurant that I don't really have photos of... so we'll just say that we had a lovely dinner after which we meandered our way to the Ritz Carlton for drinks (this is what they served water from... we were fancy. haha)

My pomegranate martini that (in this photo) looked like either pac man or a huge smiley face!

While we were hanging out and chatting with each other, Greg leaned over to me telling me to look at the booth next to us... who was there? Sting! This is Aaron's photo from his phone, and hopefully I'll be able to add Patty's photo later... I couldn't find it this morning while I was posting =o) We didn't want to be 'those people'. Like the screaming crazy ladies that rushed him.

New Orleans Part IV: Audubon Park

Have you ever been to Audubon Park in New Orleans? It's a must go to as far as I'm concerned =o) A few of us decided after a lot of walking around in the heat to ride the trolley for a while and we had been told about Audubon Park by John's parents. What a lovely place to spend time! Some huge trees to shoot photos of, which you should learn now, I love to take photos of trees... and draw them and paint them... =o)

But the coolest part of these trees, was the spanish moss hanging from them.

See? Here's a close-up...

I think we all enjoyed the photo taking opportunities they provided ;o)

 There was also a small area within the huge park that boasted the fountain in my wordless Wednesday last week. Here's another shot...

 There were places for sitting...

And some crazy statues...

And bunches and bunches of flowers...

Do yourself a favor and check it out the next time you're in, around, or near New Orleans!

New Orleans Part III: The French Quarter

The French Quarter is a lovely place during the day. A merge of old and new that just seems to work in a way that only New Orleans can make work. The Fleur De Leis is a very common site mixed in with all kinds of old and new. Beads everywhere from Mardi Gras past. Statues in squares surrounded by gardens and fences. Buildings built centuries ago, or maybe just a decade ago. Falling apart brick within a stones throw of glittering steel and massive stone. A gilded street performer who paused at his faux statue presence to startle children and wink at the ladies; artists painting obscurely realistic paintings or trying to catch a client in a charcoal drawing. Musicians, some of whom brought back dreams of Memphis, doing what they do best to earn some money. Small new shops, old seemingly-forever existing restaurants. Cars competing with horses pulling carriages. Cobblestone streets and pavement. Brick sidewalks and cracking concrete. Wooden signs with peeling paint near neon lights screaming out offerings of daiquiris and pizza by the slice. Small almost alleyways set up with tables and chairs. Wrought iron street posts. Pirate alleys next to ancient cathedrals.Tourists chatting with locals listening to all of the possibilities all while asking themselves, "What will we see today?"

New Orleans Part II: Walking About & The Riverwalk

Walking around broken cobblestone roads

My friends and I meandered

Trying to stay cool in all the humidity

While watching trolley's

and jesters

the bignet's were worth it!

New Orleans Part I: The Hotel

After driving through the night, a small hotel in Laurel, MS and lunch in Hattiesburg and a quick stop in Picayune to see John's parents, we drove on out and made it to our hotel! The Hotel Le Cirque on Lee Circle in New Orleans!

Nope... this isn't it =o) Tricked you, didn't I? This is the view from our (mine and Patty's) hotel room. Isn't that building beautiful? And from my little view, I could also see the trolley tracks. Had you noticed them yet? We rode the trolley around for a bit and ended up at Audubon Park. I'll show you more of that later. Here's another view from our window...

That's why the street we were on is called Lee Circle. That's the general right there looking down on the street making sure everything is safe and sound ;0) I found it to be a little bit ironic that this Yankee was hanging out under the watchful eye of the confederate general... but back to the hotel... It was really nice! We didn't spend very much time there and I didn't think to take any photos of the inside, but the hotel staff was extremely friendly! They suggested all kinds of places to go (don't worry dad & mom, we didn't go to the tattoo parlor they told us about) and spent all kinds of time chatting with us about our visits =o) I did get a photo of the outside of our hotel at night. It might have been the coolest part. 

Pardon the blurry, not so great photo, but by 2:30 in the morning, all I had was my cell phone! My camera had already been put up for the evening... So that was our hotel... are you ready for more? Check back tomorrow!

Hattiesburg Mississippi

Have you been to Hattiesburg? Are you from there? Have you ever driven through? I think I want to compile a list of people I know that have been or are from there. Really. I think I can count 7 or 8 off the top of my head... So tell me, blog friends, do you know Hattiesburg?

We stopped there on our way through Mississippi heading towards New Orleans for my birthday weekend... It reminded me a lot of Murfreesboro (where I live now). Both are good sized towns with a lot going on in them. Tons of restaurants with a mix of chain places and local places. Both have college campuses within their borders. I've taken some great pictures of MTSU, but Southern Miss has this tree. It's huge and stunning and it makes you want to climb up it to spend the afternoon reading in it. I wasn't going to make John stop his car, but I did. I had to. I couldn't help myself. I wanted photos to really remember this tree.

I took some that didn't turn out as interesting as I'd hoped, and I took some that remind me of senior yearbook photos, but all in all, I'm glad I have memories of this tree...