Days 7 & 8: The Big Easy

First, happy Jewish New Year to all our Jewish friends reading this blog. In other news…

After another six-hour drive complete with the cheapest gas we’ve seen so far ($2.37/gal – score!), a stop at Subway where the lady refused to make Meredyth a new sandwich after the entire mustard bottle literally exploded on her sub, and the very flat and very empty expanse of grasslands that is Mississippi, we arrived in New Orleans! Though both Ashley and Meredyth had been to New Orleans before (Ashley at various family functions, and both of them at Jazzfest this past year), they were SO excited to be back and to stay with Ashley’s aunt and uncle Terri and Richard (and their two lovely daughters Maggie and Lili). That night, we went to an AMAZING dinner at this place called Jacques-Imo’s where we ate like queens. We tried alligator cheesecake, fried green tomatoes with crawfish, seafood smothered eggplant, southern grilled Mahi Mahi, and delicious cornbread. Then we were treated to Pinkberry (Ashley’s first time!) and came home with our tummies full and a renewed love for New Orleans.

The next morning Terri treated us to pedicures and lunch out at this amazing local cheese shop. We then ventured down to the French Quarter because when we were both here for Jazzfest in May, we hadn’t really had the time to sightsee around the area. We strolled through all of the main roads and alleyways, ducking into local art galleries, chatting with shop owners, and window-shopping. Some of the highlights included a used cookbook shop (Meredyth’s favorite stop) and the Blue Dog by Rodrigue gallery (Ashley’s favorite stop).

Then, after an unexpected call from Ashley’s uncle Richard, we were picked up in the French Quarter and taken to Mardi Gras World, which is this huge warehouse where they make all of the floats for Mardi Gras. So here’s the awesome part: we went there to pick up our FREE tickets to the Taylor Swift and Dave Matthews concert happening on Thursday before the NFL season opener when the Saints will face the Vikings! Richard was able to get us wristbands from a friend of his at work so he, Maggie, and us are going to get to see two amazing acts TOMORROW in JACKSON SQUARE before the BIGGEST NFL REMATCH of the WHOLE SEASON! We have been living the dream here in New Orleans. Richard, you are a Saint (literally!!). We can’t WAIT for tomorrow!

Later on, we went out for Mexican food and ice cream, and came home to rest up for our epic day tomorrow. We know we are living the sweet life when the biggest dilemma we have is deciding whether to wear a Saints jersey or T-shirt on game day. Either way, we can’t wait to chant the Saint’s new mantra: “Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Them Saints?” We are highly looking forward to losing our voices while cheering on the Saints in a local bar. We even drive by Drew Brees’ house tonight to roll down the window and give a cheerful shout: WHO DAT!

Needless to say, tomorrow will be prime postcard-giving-out time.

Observations:

1. Mississippi has $250 fine for littering. Why the fine is $1250 less than the fine in Tennessee we don’t know. Naturally, Ashley was all fired up.

2. New Orleans is HOT. We mean… like… REALLY hot.

3. Maggie showed us a new trick to do before we go out – if you suck all of the air out of a plastic water bottle and stick your lips on the head of the water bottle for about ten minutes, they will emerge resembling Angelina Jolie’s plump puckers. Who needs collagen injections when you can use water bottles?

4. New Orleans is a lucky charm. Not only have we been treated like royalty here, but several things have just plain worked out. For example:

- The people who were issuing the wristbands to get into the Taylor and DMB concert tomorrow were supposed to ask for our IDs (which were supposed to match the names on the ticket printouts… which were Richard’s colleague’s name and his friend’s name) and Ashley’s skilled “I left it in the car…” was able to convince them to give us tickets regardless.

- Terri’s best friend India has a house in Taos, New Mexico, and was generous enough to offer us a place to stay for a few nights when we are in New Mexico. It just happens to work out that she has space in her house for us, and we are SO excited to see Taos and SO grateful to have lodging!

- As a result of our opportunity to stay in Taos for two days, we decided to push back our reservations at this hotel near the Grand Canyon that we plan to stay us while we hike. Meredyth called the hotel to change the reservation to a day later, and was informed that all they had left for the additional night we needed to stay there was a deluxe suite which was a lot more expensive. Meredyth was somehow able to secure the extra night at the hotel for the original rate, so we get to stay in the deluxe suite the second night we’re there for no extra cost.

- After what can only be described as a hair travesty, Meredyth has recently had the unfortunate fate of having to wear her newly short hair in a braid and bobby pins every day because it seriously looks BAD (one side is longer than the other, there is no layering whatsoever… her head basically looks like a square). BUT because New Orleans seems to be the land where good things happen to us, Terri was able to get Meredyth an appointment with the owner of her favorite Salon in New Orleans for tomorrow morning to hopefully fix the damage done. She is totally pumped. After all, it is important to look your best to witness the Saints ABSOLUTELY ANIHILATE the Vikings!

We hope you have all had a day filled with good adventures and wonderful luck too!

Miles to go: 2,517

Total Post Cards Given Out: 53

Post Cards Received: 0 (hopefully we will start receiving soon)

States Traveled: VA, MD, WV, PA, OH, KY, TN, MS, LA