New Orleans

What does one do when her husband goes on a business trip to a city she has never been to and has a free flight that needed to be used? Why she tags along!

Jason was going to New Orleans on business while Wyatt and I were going for pure pleasure. We had such a great time. I want to thank all of you for your airport advice. It helped tremendously. Wyatt was practically an angel on both flights. It is true...they love the sound of the plane engines. He even did well on take off and landings and he smiled at everyone! Everyone kept saying how cute he was and I kept saying, "Win their hearts now, Wyatt, so in case you cry they won't care." That sure got a good laugh out of the other passengers.

We had so much fun gallavanting through the French Quarter, eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde, walking along the Mississippi River, getting a tour of the city in a mule-drawn carriage, breastfeeding on Bourbon St. (yes, I did use my hooter hider but was tempted not to), shopping at the flea market, sitting in Jackson Square listening to the Jazz bands playing, and watching all of the different artists do their thing in the Square. It really felt like I was in the streets of Paris (pronounced Pear-ee) with all of the beautiful architecture around and tourists posing for their caricature portraits.

Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral

Cafe Du Monde

Tour through the French Quarter in a "tiny little surry with the fringe on the top."

Mississippi River

On Thursday, while Jason was slaving away at the conference, I met up with two friends. First, Darrah is the wife of one of Jason's coworkers, Todd. Todd and Darrah are good friends of ours (and we are related too-my brother married his sister). Todd was here for the conference but his wife was on Spring Break so she decided to make a trip out of it too. Second, my other friend is a friend from BYU that is from Louisiana. We reconnected on Facebook awhile ago and I told her I was coming to New Orleans and asked how far away she was from the city. She had just moved to the city in August so her husband could go to law school. I was so excited that we were able to meet and catch up. She was so nice to show us a part of New Orleans. We rode the trolley down St. Charles Street and saw all of the pretty oak trees and the beautiful, huge houses. It was fun to see all the beads in the trees as well left over from Mardi Gras.

Breanna and Darrah

Elijah and me

Bre and Me at the Gumbo Shop

We had some great food. Because as my friend, Breanna, put it "New Orleans is all about the food!" The first night, Jason and I went to Mulate's. It was a fun restaurant with a band and dancing while you waited for your food. Wyatt slept practically the entire time (not sure how because it was really loud). We sat right by the window and we just had to get a picture of me burping him because he was looking at all of the passerbys (let's just pray they didn't see more than they bargained for). I had a famous po-boy sandwich and beignets, but my favorite meal was at the Gumbo Shop. Bre took us there because that is where her family loves to go....and now so do I. It was the best meal I had there! It was a crawfish pasta. YUMMMMM!!!! The next night we ate at the Red Fish Grill. It was really good but maybe since Wyatt was being kind of naughty I didn't enjoy it as much, but it was still "amazing!"

I loved New Orleans! It was such a fun city full of culture....old and new. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would want to go back in a heartbeat. It definitely was worth it but now I'm ready for another trip to recover from this one.