A "Lagnaippe" in New Orleans

Well, if I spelled that right up there, it means "a little something extra" in New Orleans. Rus was wonderful enough to take me with him this time on a trip to a conference he had there. It's good to know that out of 20-25 work trips he goes on a year, I might get to go on at least one of them with him...and while the the majority of those trips are to Nowhere, USA, this trip at least was to an interesting place. I'm still not sure what my impression was of the city...I'm thinking the right word is moody. Everything from the weather to the streets to the people. And I don't mean that in a bad way, really, really...it's more that the city had a lot of moods and they're really different from one block to the next. We experienced Bourbon St. on the first night, in the midst of a misty downpour. (Two days later it was 74 degrees and sunny, the last day it was much colder with an icey wind...that's how I mean moody) Let's just say that the safest place to look on that street is the sidewalk. Everywhere else was obscene. One street (or maybe two) over was Royal St., which had great little shops and fancy restaraunts. Then there was Decatur St., that was overflowing with bars and mardi gras stores. I have never seen a place so devoted to just three things: drinking, mardi gras, and food. (In that order, I assume). But if you got away from downtown, there were the most beautiful, ornate, humongous mansions I have ever seen. I think our tour guide aptly described New Orleans as having a history of decadence and opulence, and that was definately evident in those wonderful old mansions. I could go on and on...while Rus was in meetings, I got to enjoy the spouse's program, which included a bus tour of the city (including a few communities that were hit hard by Katrina), a steamboat tour, and then a tour of this wonderful plantation house, a mansion, called the Homas House. I made some great friends, ate so much that all I wanted was a peanut butter sandwich for any meal, and flirted shamelessly with Rus any chance I got. :) So here are some pictures...Enjoy!

We stayed in the Sheraton hotel (the tall building in the middle), a grand place where water bottles in your room cost $3.75 each, internet service is $10.00 for 24 hours, or if you use their computers it's $5.45 for 30 minutes, the workout room costs $10.00 to enjoy, valet parking (the only parking) is $26.00 per night, the continental breakfast is $16.95 per person, and the view from the 39th floor (that's where we stayed) was fantastic.

I do believe that the man on the horse is Andrew Jackson, the building behind him is, of course, a cathedral, the person with the glowing white shoes is me, and the whole square is historically important, although I do not know or at least can't remember why...
Okay, so seeing this great lady standing on top of the steamboat, playing "How Much is That Puppy in the Window" (among other things), totally made my day. It was comical in a way, and if you can't see that from the picture then I guess you'd just have to be there.

I admit that I really missed my kids while we were gone. The trip home involved three airplanes, which translates into three times going up and three times landing, and resolutely confirmed to me that I could never ever be a flight attendant. All I wanted to do was come home and hug and kiss my kids until they begged for mercy. Bekah, while I'm sure she missed me, had only one thing on her mind when she saw me, and that was, "Where are my necklaces?" Rus and I experienced more parades there on Canal St. than our city produces five years. It was ridiculous, over the top, and very "New Orleans". The floats in those parades could all look the same, it wouldn't even matter (actually, they might all be the same) the important thing is that they throw out insane amounts of beads, cups, and other mardi gras fare. So after one parade Rus and I had enough beads to add 10 pounds to my luggage, and we called it good for bead collecting. Now we need to have our own mardi gras party to get rid of them all.
Woo-ee! Look at the man I married! Those masks were so fun! The kids wore them all morning...Bekah put hers on top of her head sometimes so she could see better, and she came up to Rus this morning and said, "Daddy, where's my mask?" And he just pulled it down off the top of her head, onto her eyes. She had the most confused expressed for a couple of minutes and then she said, "Daddy, I found it!"

Well, I think that's all. It was a fantastic trip...I'm so thankful for the experience, and I'm so thankful to be home!