Back (unfortunately) from NOLA

gcvmom

Here we go again!
husband and I got back late Friday from our 6-day escape to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We really had a great time and it was a much needed break from all the difficult child-ness that goes on around here every day. We really couldn't afford this trip, but I was at my breaking point, so we'll have some debt for a bit. My mental health is worth it, I suppose.

I have to say I've never experienced such a complete spectacle like MG before. Sure, there've been bits and pieces of similar things, like the Vegas strip, or New Year's Eve, or 4th of July, Christmas and Halloween. But MG is like ALL of those things rolled into one crazy circus event that goes on for days.

The food was great, the people were very friendly, the sights and sounds a constant source of wonderment. I had people warn me that it was dirty and smelly and... so what? I hardly noticed with everything else going on around us! The city did a fantastic job of cleaning up each night -- huge crews were brought in around midnight to sweep, pick up, and power wash so that by the next day you'd hardly know that there was a huge party there the day before.

We did not rent a car -- took a cab from the airport, and we weren't too sure how close the driver would be able to get us to our hotel since it was on a parade route that was in progress when we arrived. Traffic into the city was a mess, but our driver maneuvered his way through the French Quarter (giving us a wonderful tour in and of itself) and actually got us within one block of our hotel! After that we just walked everywhere we needed to go most days. We did take a street car over to Tulane U. so husband could show me the campus where he went to school his freshman year (and subsequently flunked out of -- I mean, who sends a 17yo boy away to college for the first time in a town like NOLA where the drinking age was 17 at the time, and the same year the Superbowl is in town, and on a campus that backs up to the Sugar Bowl stadium?!)

husband got really carried away with the whole bead thing at parades. He was picking up broken strings off the ground and trying to "fix" them. He got mad at me for taking pictures instead of trying to catch beads. We collected so many the first night we had to go back to our room to drop them off before heading back out again -- to get MORE. I tried suggesting he just keep the "special" ones that had unique designs or medallions on them, but that was not an option for him. Since we'd packed very light and only brought two small carry-on bags and a backpack, there wasn't room for his "treasure." So he decided to ship our laundry home in a cardboard box (lighter than the beads and cheaper than checking a bag) and put all the beads in a suitcase and another bag we picked up. I think we probably had close to 40 pounds of beads! He's telling me about all his plans for the beads -- won't they look nice hanging from all our lamps?! Uh, okay, maybe for a couple days but... And I can give them to my friends at work! And if easy child's soccer team ever has their party, we can hand some out to all the kids! And... Oh my gosh he was like a little kid!

He spent Friday night "organizing" them all, and Saturday he had easy child help him hang them out on our bare fruit trees in the back yard (to possibly scare the birds away when the fruit comes) and hanging them in one of our bare liquid amber trees in the front yard (because it's so PRETTY!). Maybe I'll just leave it up out front until Easter...

He did not obsess about "bowling" while we were there, though he was very drawn to certain sections on Bourbon Street (ahem). He got testy a few times, but I chalk that up to his back and feet hurting from all the walking (he was amazed I wasn't in pain every day like he was, but then I'm in a little better shape than he is), the somewhat less than adequate sleep he got (didn't bring his CPAP machine and we both suffered because of that), and the sensory overload that he was constantly under. All-in-all, we got along really well and enjoyed eachother's company.

I would love to go back again some day (and not necessarily for Mardi Gras, though that was a lot of fun). There's so much history to explore and so much I did not have a chance to see!
 

buddy

New Member
So glad the trip went well. I only went one time and not during MG...I went for a conference and we stayed in the French Quarter too. I loved it. Only there a few days but we walked everywhere... really exhausting but so fun. I am so glad you got to just be friends hanging out together. Sounds like you really needed that. The bead thing is funny...sounds like something Q would do....he collects those beads from parties and has them for years... (collects anything really....makes me a little nuts but relatively speaking, it is NOT an A basket...or even a B basket issue, LOL)... I'm sure having them hanging everywhere in and out will make you a little nuts but hopefully the excitement will wear off (maybe the birdies can fly away with them?? or some hoodlums in the neighborhood will steal them for you? haha)

Welcome back!
 

crazymama30

Active Member
So instead of obsessing about "bowling", it was beads huh? lol. Glad you had a good time. The obsession thing reminds me of s2bx. And of difficult child. It sounds like you had a great time and a well deserved break. Good job for taking care of you.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Congratulations on surviving NOLA....Did you get to any of the Cemeteries? I've heard the tours are really incredible.
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
Am chuckling re the 40 pounds of beads - If you ever need more let me know - I have a TON that SO has brought home from storage units. I put hugh clumps of them together for sale in our booth, but no takers. I thought for sure someone would want to buy some for projects for kids LOL

Marcie
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
No cemetery tour, but we did wander around one for a while before it closed and got some cool pictures :) Peeked inside another that I believe has the tomb of Marie Laveau, the famed Voodoo Queen -- I could see a tomb with beads hung all over and lots of triple X's that are supposed to be a sign of protection (didn't think it was a sign of a hooker's tomb).

Yes, we did walk a lot! But we both need the exercise and it's really a great way to see things. Wasn't as much nudity in the streets as I'd expected. A few gals with their chests and torsos sporting only paint, and a stripper standing in a club doorway wearing a mesh top with dollar bills strategically placed and a G-string down below. I did get flashed by a young man in a trench coat -- he had on a crocheted "appendage" which was quite hysterical to see. Some of the beads thrown from the French Quarter balconies had little plastic male parts on them. But that's about as wild as it got for us. We actually were so wiped out from walking on Tuesday that we went back to the hotel around 8:30pm. husband was getting a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the noise, too, I think. He got anxious any time he lost sight of me, poor guy. Though with the pink boas, pink rhinestone Converse, red fishnets, purple feathered mask and green tie-dye tunic I had on I was kinda hard to miss! As we left the FQ we saw mounted police crews coming in and lots of motorcycle squads had their sirens blaring at one of the Bourbon street intersections that was particularly congested. We heard on the news that at around 9:30pm there was a shooting on a corner where we'd been, so I'm kinda glad we missed out on THAT bit of excitement!

As for the "collecting" husband saves all kinds of crud -- and he STILL has beads and doubloons from his first Mardi Gras in 1981!!! I don't mind keeping the more unusual necklaces, but the plain ones will need to slowly disappear, I think.

Yes, it was a good trip for us. Very little conflict. Lots of laughs. A little adventure. Kind of how I envision our life when the kids have grown. :its_all_good:
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Let's see... I was in Nawlins in the summertime, around 1982. I remember almost nothing about it.

BUT... Mom had introduced me to beignets, and I adore them. So last night, I'm in Cub Foods (I normally go to Kroger), on the baking aisle, and I see...

Cafe du Monde beignet mix.

No joke.

I thought of you...
 
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