Week 2 at Big Break ended and I celebrated by going to a walk-in clinic to get antibiotics to treat a recurring ear infection. :/ It was actually an easy process and I'm so thankful for the relief! It was Friday, and the first day we had rain our entire time in Florida. Not bad! It was a day of rest before heading out on our next adventure: New Orleans!
Since we travel a lot for our job, I like to tack little adventures onto trips that take us to parts of the country we wouldn't normally go to. Last year we went to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, and the year prior we stopped for dinner & walked down Broadway St. in Nashville. This year, we wanted to do something a little more exciting. And what could be more exciting than New Orleans? Seriously-I didn't know how much fun it would be.
The only plan we made was a minibus tour I found through a Groupon deal. It started the minute we pulled into town and lasted three hours. It gave us a great overview of the city's districts and what's still happening to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We learned that a few stars had homes in both the French Quarter and the Garden District, so we got to snap a few shots of those. We visited City Park, which is twice the size of Central Park in NYC. The rest was spontaneous and totally unplanned. We went to the French Market, and were fortunate to be there during the Roadfood Festival that comes once a year. Shrimp Creole, baked Alaskan with chocolate sauce (which I didn't realize was a dessert), Jambalya, Red Beans & Rice, Crawfish-We tried it all! I couldn't resist buying a cheap Mardi Gras mask from the market.
After dinner at Pat O'Brien's and a walk down Bourban Street we walked to our hotel just outside the French Quarter. It was a treat in and of itself. Having booked it over the phone without seeing it or being able to know if it would be close enough to the Quarter, I was a little nervous. But it was just the right distance away-in fact we are glad we didn't stay in the Quarter in the midst of the craziness. The hotel, the Holiday Inn Superdome, was modernly decorated, very clean & comfortable, and had an awesome rooftop pool. We couldn't have found anything better for the price.
It was a perfect vacation. We tried a lot of great food (Biegnets at Cafe Du Monde, boiled crab and seafood pizza at Deanie's, daiquiris at one of the many daiquiri shops), walked really fun streets in the Garden District & French Quarter, took hundreds of pictures on our new camera, slept in at a hotel we were in no hurry to get out of, and just enjoyed being together in a new city.
And-I didn't even mention our Favre-themed stops that flanked our NOLA trip. On the way there, we stopped in Kiln, MS where he was born and raised. On the way out, we hit up The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS where he played college football. This was an unplanned treat that we happened upon. Literally, we saw a sign, learned it was just 4 miles from the interstate, and drove right into the stadium parking lot. The field was unsecured and open for anyone to walk on. Ben was like a kid in a candy shop. Yes, we did find a foam finger at the bookstore across from campus :)
Recognize the house? It'sthe old folks home from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." We also saw Sandra Bullock, Sean Penn, Bradgelina's and Lenny Kravitz's places among others. 
We happened upon these street performers on our way to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. I love this kind of thing, where people use their strength and skill to entertain pedestrians. It was a blast!
The beignets were delicious! Check out that powdered sugar falling off!
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