Dip...Bump...Dip

Of course, one weekend is not nearly enough time to be in New Orleans. But the time we spent there was amazing! Today we tried to cram in as much as we could before we finally had to head back to Tallahassee. We had to get our beignets fix at Cafe Du Monde before we could do anything else. I was also glad to get a cafe' au lait in my system. We then took in a little more of Jackson Square before grabbing some lunch at a place Mer was pretty excited about. We had some seafood at Ralph and Kacoo's (except Kins who had to have house salad because they were out of fried pickles). We had a semi-entertaining waiter with very unique scenery. We sat next to a window that housed a scene that included an alligator. When the waiter asked if we wanted our picture taken with the gator in the background, we emphatically said no. While I am sure this is not a response he gets often from tourists, we tried to help him understand that coming from FSU, that picture would be a sin.

After lunch, we hopped in the car to drive back down to the Garden District to see the above ground cemeteries. We stopped at Lafayette #1, which unfortunately not open on Sundays. So we looked from outside the gates and got a brief history lesson from Billy. We also learned that the grass was not going to be cut until late may due to filming....whatever the point of that was. Then we made a short trip to Lafayette #2 to experience a little bit of the difference between tourist New Orleans, and real New Orleans. Although not far from the first and on the same road, the attention given to this neighborhood was markedly less. Yet my interest in the unique mausoleums was just as high, and it was interesting to see the difference.

Billy was then gracious enough to venture to the Lower Ninth Ward to give us a small look at how far they have come and still have to go since Katrina. The scene was certainly somber and humbling to see first hand. I can not even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to spray paint "Do not demolish. Will return." on the front of your home or not even have enough of a home left to claim. The marks of inspectors and if people were found inside the homes after the storm are still abundant, and the vacant lots reminded us of how many people still cannot go home. While they have come a long way, the work there is far, far from over.

Then our trip back home began. While we were exhausted, we still reminisced about our whirlwind weekend. Here are some final random quotes and thoughts from the day:

Random guy's opinion on the smell of Bourbon St.: "A giant elephant should come take a shit so it can smell better." (to his defense, anything in the world smells better than Bourbon St...that is why there are so many bars...the more you drink, the less you may notice...maybe)

Billy's comment about a new born in the restaurant at lunch: "I give it 3 weeks."

On the bumpy LA roads: Mer: "I think my spleen and lungs have switched places." Billy: "How do you think my shrimp feels?" (I should let your imaginations run wild with this, but I will fill in here that Billy ate a ridiculously large lunch with many versions of shrimp dishes.)

A giant no smoking sign on the side of a warehouse full of fireworks for sale...probably a good idea, and should be common sense. Right?

As much as we love you Sonic, a "Fresh Banana" for $1...ripoff.

Sonic is delicious.

And The Verve Pipe's "The Freshmen" is still one of the greatest songs.

So I will end for the night by saying what an awesome weekend, and I cannot wait to go back! Be on the lookout for some pictures tomorrow because right now I am too tired to deal with the camera. I will possibly even add some things I have inevitably forgotten to write. (Or I will hope for the rest of my partners in crime for the weekend will comment with more randomness that they remember!)

Final words: Dip! Bump!