Maddy and I in the South!

NOLA, Here we come!

Maddy arrived! Yea!! She was tired but didn’t want to nap right away so we set off for Magazine Street. I hadn’t been to this area, it was really cute. We had a glass of sparkling and some dips and veggies at Saba and then drove down the street a bit to check out some shops. We found the cutest vintage china and dish shop, Avis Aldine. There were so many dishes I recognized! Maddy bought a very cute lemonade pitcher, likely from the 1970’s.

After wandering in the heat we grabbed a sno-cone to cool off, and across the street was The ‘Really Really Nice Wines’ Shop; and it was! It was very unique, not only in the layout of the wine, but you could buy a bottle and enjoy it there, they had a cute bar in the front of the shop. We bought a bottle for Kirby & Alex and one for ourselves, for later. Time to get back to the house, to wake up Lambert and let Maddy nap! We decided to head out on the town tonight!

Bourbon Street

We are going to ‘paint the town’! Maddy has never experienced Bourbon Street and I have not been since before she was born! I am sure it will be eye opening for both of us. We started with a relaxing cocktail and blue crab and corn beignets at The Carousel Bar. It was kind of silly, with the bar made to look like a carousel and the seats around the bar gently turn. There were no seats at the bar, so enjoyed a small corner to people watch and listen to the live music.

Then to Brennan’s (suggestion by Kelly and Eric). We shared a Rock Shrimp Boil and finished with Bananas Foster, table side. The bartender was hilarious. He was very good at his job, but he was over it, he made a fun addition to our stop here. We ventured onto the patio to visit the turtles, they are NOT the turtles used in their turtle soup. (I had to ask!) One more place I want to show Maddy, Pat O’Briens and the famous Hurricane. Back in the day you could buy the mix in a packet. I was hoping to do the same tonight, neither of us wanted to drink one right now. It’s a lot of rum and juice, apparently it was created by Pat O’Brien during WWII when whiskey was hard to procure.

Frenchmen Street

Bourbon Street was louder and more obnoxious than I recalled! So it’s on to Frenchmen Street, which is supposedly more like Bourbon St from the past, more jazz, less ‘noise’! It’s a more laid back, funkier area. We popped into a bookshop and other cute stores along the way. Then we came upon MANY tours, with families and kids, it’s not late, maybe 9ish, but weird. We notice this building they’re all looking at from the horses, buses, walking, all manner of tours! Of course, we googled it, LaLaurie Mansion. Pretty sad actually, it seems she was a mad woman that tortured and killed her slaves, so the slaves are the ghosts that haunt the mansion. There is a lot of paranormal activity in NOLA, though we didn’t choose to go on a tour, it would likely be interesting!

We found a bar to have one last drink, The Spotted Cat Music Club. They were in between sets when we arrived, so we went to ‘The Kitten Bar’ on the back patio. The whole place was fun and felt like a great party and gathering spot. We pulled up a chair at the kitten bar and we noticed the TV, as did the others that were around us; there was a movie playing. It was hilarious, a few older men (likely my age) remembered the movie and the bartender was impressed, The Beastmaster. SO STUPID!! But please let me know if you know it, or if you WATCH it!! Time to head home. But WAIT – there’s an Art Bazar! So fun to pop into at 11pm. Maddy bought some art and we had fun perusing the stands, NOW it is time to go!

Parks and WWII Museum

The next morning we decided to walk to Audubon Park, just down the street. It’s hot as hell, we didn’t bring water, and I am not feeling too spry. That didn’t last long! I will see the zoo next time! I need an A/C location today, The National World War II Museum sounds perfect! On the way we ate some pasta and a diet coke, feeling better! The Museum was HUGE! We spent the better part of the day there and later enjoyed tacos at Barracuda. Perfect!

Tomorrow is our last day in NOLA and Maddy has to work. So we do get up early and bring water, I am not hungover and we drive to visit the City Park. Another really large and pretty park with so many different aspects; children’s museum, art museum, fountain area, dog park, but the first stop is the best, Cafe Du Monde, for Beignets, the kind with just powdered sugar, everywhere! We walked about 5 miles, exploring the park and birds. (Maddy’s newest interest).

More of the South!

We are heading for Savannah, Georgia. Two nights and then a stop at Ridgeline, SC to drop off the van at Camping World, again!!!! Tuesday we left, first stop is Biloxi Mississippi. Maddy has a meeting so we park near the beach to hang out. Lambert and I walked the beach and took in some sights. Then it’s on to Alabama! We stopped in Mobile at ‘the oldest brewery’ Iron Hand Brewery. I think we were expecting something a bit different. It’s the oldest, 2016. HAHA. It was in a cute area and the building looked old. We enjoyed a quick bite and a beer before heading to the RV spot, Live Oak Landing in Stockton, AL. It was a nice, small park with a large day park next door, so it was nice to walk around, hearing the cicadas!

Our next day was going to be a long drive, with stops for meetings. We made it through Alabama and into Georgia. Our stay for the night was in Danville, we got there fairly early and started setting up outside, then NO WAY…. GNATS galore! OMG, you practically had to hold your breath outside to not inhale the bugs! In the morning we set out to drop the van and get to the hotel in Savannah. The Thompson Hotel was wonderful, pool, pool bar, restaurants, huge lawn out front for the pup. They greeted us with a local beer at check in too! We enjoyed the pool for a bit and made dinner reservations at Olde Pink House, took the hotel shuttle into town (free!), wandered and went to dinner.

Lambert was afraid of the elevator. I am sure it was his first time riding one, after three nights he still did not like the elevator!

Savannah

Savannah was interesting. It had been on my bucket list for a long time, it was all because of the BOOK… Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil . The city wasn’t quite what I expected, but it was cool. We walked to River Market, anticipating Pike Place Marketish vibes, but it was a bunch of imported stuff. Pretty disappointing! We walked up to the City Market which was much more fun. We enjoyed some Byrds cookies, wine tasting (UCK) but $3 for 6 tastes , we couldn’t pass it up! Lambert also got to pop into a fun dog store for some treats! Last stop, late brunch, including mimosas with little duckies.

We wanted to do something fun that Lambert could do, so we checked out BringFido.com and found a ghost tour! After eating at Zunzi’s , a fun African restaurant and a cocktail at Hitch we set off to meet our ghost tour guide. Quite an interesting walk! Especially the cemetery in town. Part of it is still there, part of it is now a park, people had an allotted amount of time in the late 1800’s to move their loved ones’ remains from the Colonial Park Cemetery to Bonaventure, which is almost four miles away. Many people did not have the means to make this happen, so there are still many bodies buried here, not inside the actual cemetery. HMMMMM – wonder why it’s haunted???

The rest of Savannah was very low key, more pool time, a raging storm and another good night’s sleep! Grabbing the van in the AM (and no, they did not find anything or fix anything!) UGGGHHHH

Some observations..

Still lots of churches. I haven’t noticed just one religion, lots of Baptist and Methodist….and storage units.

Jesus Still Loves Me (Us)

Waffle House – they are taking over the south! There are over 1900 in the US, with 446 in Georgia alone! We meant to eat at one, but (thankfully) it didn’t happen!

The drive along the highways is so similar from state to state. It’s a beautiful, large four lane road, with huge green spaces in the middle, but it doesn’t really change much.

Lots of cemeteries and graveyards! (Like a weird amount, with tombstones and headstones.)