Day 2: New Orleans

Kate here: I thought the drive across Florida was going to be hot, but damn. There are no words. It was more beautiful than I had anticipated. I relished the glimpses of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico when we passed through Pensacola. The states of Mississippi and Alabama practically flew by. And then, we were in the Crescent City, New Orleans, Sin City, party town. We only had the morning on July 6th, 2017 to see the town. Thankfully, I'd visited before without kids, so I didn't feel that I was missing out on the music and drinking on Frenchmen's street. This visit was going to be kid friendly.

We struggled a bit finding Cafe du Monde thanks to the ever annoying Google Maps anomaly that directs one to a franchise location in a downtown mall. :-( Going to the original Decatur St. location for beignets was a bucket list item for Maddy since she saw the movie, Chef, so this had to be perfect. We finally arrived and found a table since it was 8am. Had to flag down a sour server; I'm not sure why they were so nasty. Maybe it's a thing? But the beignets and coffees came quickly and we were immersed in the doughy sweetness. It's crazy how one's worries melt away with each bite. I enjoyed the atmosphere with the slowly swirling ceiling fans stirring the humid air and the sound of an older trumpet player and his deep, rich voice singing Amazing Grace. Maddy was in hog heaven and quickly became covered in powdered sugar.

We walked around Jefferson Square and checked out the artwork.

The girls thought it would be fun to get their palms and tarot cards read, so we sat down with a fortune teller. She seemed to really nail Breanna on both the palm reading and tarot. Bre can write her highlights. Maddy's palm reading highlighted how smart and creative she is! I decided to get my tarot read and it was a phenomenal reading (see the cards below).

We walked to Bourbon Street, so they could at least see it and did some window shopping. Most stores weren't open. But one mask store was. It was super cool!Bre ended up buying a cyborg mask for Halloween.

We visited a cafe for a bit of food and headed toward Mardi Gras World. Wow! What a fabulous experience in New Orleans. It was like getting to experience Mardi Gras up close and without the pickpockets. ;-) The experience included a movie about the history and cultural experience of Mardi Gras. Since the girls were unfamiliar with it, they received a good background in it. The both want to visit now for it. I knew that Mardi Gras included balls, but I didn't realize that there were so many parades for the 4 weeks prior to it. I want to see the Zulu parade, and so does Maddy and Bre. Maddy and Bre want to see the Muses parade, too. After the movie, they cut a large purple, green and gold iced king cake from Gardino's. It was soft and sweet. Yum!! We didn't get the baby, but a lady in our group did. Next we toured the factory, warehouse or studio where they make and house the floats. There were hundreds of enormous fantastical critters in vibrant colors. I felt giddy like a kid. We saw 6 completed floats. We saw artists in the process of sculpting and painting the creations made from styrofoam, and fiberglass. They were so talented! My favorites were Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast and the Sneech with the Star upon Thar from the Dr. Seuss story, The Sneetches.

Quickly afterward, we hit the road and I drove west for 14 hours. Too bad I couldn't have a morning Bloody Mary in the Big Easy! Maybe next time :-)