The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

I am sorry that Fran was really starting to feel poorly and that you were not feeling well on the last day. The Easter buffer looks nice good job you managed to score that in time!

Dinner looked nice shame Fran had to sit that out. How kind of your table mates to share their wine package.

Good idea to skip the plantation tour and nice plans to come back exploring places at your pace. Agree avoiding places that introduce predujice laws!

That really drives me crazy the way they race you off the cruise on the last morning! Guests will remember the last thing on the cruise they would do better to give you a positive experience. We akways go early to Cabanas now they do not advertise it is open but it is. Only one side but land on it early about 7 am and they have a good selection.

Your hotel looks very nice but I am sorry to hear the voicemail about your cats. I don't know if I am glad to not know on vacation or not? If I can't do anything about it I would rather find out after. But if a decision to be made then I guess best to know.

Looking forward to the new TR!
 
I'm glad you had a great trip with Naked Jim and Alberto! Can't wait to hear about it.

Sorry you guys were feeling so bad. Boo to the last day!

Jill in CO
 
Getting of the ship is no fun, and I always complain about that last DCL breakfast, but it seems yours was not better at all.

Nice of the guy to help you with your luggage and even better to have your room ready. I hope you felt a little refreshed after your nap.

Can't wait for the new TR!
 
Interesting as always! That swamp boat tour was so cool. I think you are braver than I would have been. Sure a lot of rain/water down there compared to California.

That cabin in the swamp reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean too. Wish I could have heard the guide talking like the firefly :)

I hope your cats were/are okay!

Sorry you guys weren't feeling well by the end of the cruise. And that they rush you off the boat like that and so early!
 


Disembarkation day is always a sad and crazy day. Sorry you two weren't feeling well and on top of that kitty troubles.
 
Yup. Just about the same amount on the other side too.

Thought so. That's the way it is up here, too.

Of course, that's my motto, Fran's is "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."

:laughing: I like Fran more and more everyday.

Wasn't there a pie by that name?

mmmm... mud pie. I love that. Made it a few times, too.

Probably the same they would think about people trapsing through the house.

Good point!

Really? Did the room have a chamber pot too? Wait don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Would it help if I told you I didn't use it?

So what did you find. :rolleyes1

That the stick is a fake.
But there was one, so it's all good.

His plan was to use the fruitful fields of Louisiana as a bread basket for his empire. With that gone he had no reason to keep the territory.

Did not know that. Interesting.

but I did not know that in 1814, the final component of the British invasion was to seize the port of New Orleans and take control of the Mississippi River.

Did know that, though.

There was even this odd submarine

aka: Deathtrap.

I'm not sure if you folks know who Huey Long is, but he was governor of Louisiana from 1928-1932.

I've actually heard of him.
Don't know a lot about him, but heard of him.

Not bad for a foreigner, huh?

When we finished this exhibit we checked the time and we had spent almost two hours and only been through about 4 exhibits.

That's a sure sign that you were having a good time!

I can barely wear a Halloween costume much less an outfit like these.

I bet I could rock those outfits.

Yep. Definitely.

I was hungry, until I smelled the smoke in the casino and then I wasn't.

ew.
So glad you can't smoke in the casinos here. Gross.

When we got there, the minimums were pretty high but I insisted we play.

Of course they were. They have an entire boatload of people who just showed up.

We both bought in with a large bill and within 15-20 minutes we were walking out without our money.

Well, that just sucks.
I've got an idea... don't go back there!

As we came back to the boat, we were checking out all the debris that was caught in the dock.

Any bodies?

Today we went on and off the boat through the gentleman’s parlor. All week I had wanted to get this shot!


:laughing: Well, you had to get that!

We both liked the cakes so much we had a second piece.

It does look good.
Even before I read that you had seconds, I was thinking that.

She had a Manhattan seafood chowder

I've never had that.
I've always had the cream based chowders.
Always wanted to try that, though.

The drink server never would take a picture with us.

"Wanted in 13 States..."

Just as soon as the gal grabbed the napkins and leftover silverware, the old woman came back saying, "That's MY table! I was going to finish my coffee! What did you do with my napkin?"

Whoops!

Eventually she chilled out enough to graciously offer to share the table with Fran and I.

Well, that was nice of her.

Did I mention it was raining, quite a bit?

Nope.

When we got to the "meeting point", no one wanted to leave the safety of the boat to go stand in the muddy rain.

No surprise there.

But you'll remember the day before we also mentioned that no one wants to sit next to either of our fat @$$es.

:rolleyes2

Absolutely. No. Comment.

He talked about a lot of things, but the major "takeaway" I got from his talk, and mind you he was a local born and bred in the Bayou, was that the refineries are poisoning the countryside.

Sad. Really.

I assume Parrish in Louisiana is synonymous with County in California.

::yes::

And then I checked just to make sure.
Apparently LA and AK are the only two that don't have counties.

Also he talked about cancer rates and infertility in many of the towns where refineries have replaced sugar plantations. If that is really true, that is awful.

Ugh. That's horrible... and not overly surprising.


And that sign sure confirms what the guide was saying.


Even with the rain, you guys look like you're having fun!

My picture is blurry, but you can tell this is a big one.

::yes::

Our guide (who by the way sounded EXACTLY like Ray the Cajun Firefly in Princess and the Frog)

I finally saw that movie!
So I know exactly what you're talking about now!

Anytime you can see where the plants aren’t growing it’s because the gators are sliding in and out of the bayou at that location.

Really! That's cool!

This cabin was already there when they bought the property, they “just fixed it up a bit.”

You can tell.
It has that "newly renovated" look to it.


I wonder how much it would hurt if he bit a finger?

As soon as Aligator number 2 neared the log, the first one dived into the water.

And then it was his log.

Ah ha! So it's true! Size does matter!

When we docked back at the landing all the women made a beeline for the restroom.

Again?

Oh. All that water.... got it.

Fran was the last one left to board and the driver sent the guide to let her know that he would be bringing the bus to her.

Nice of them.

The bus made a stop at Nottoway Plantation for those who wanted to get off and enjoy it. We were starving and tired so we passed on that one.

So disappointed. It looks like a great place to see.

After a whole week we are still friends and speaking to each other!

:laughing: Then I'd consider that a success.

It has been a fantastic trip so far

Good!

When we got back to the boat it was a treacherous muddy walk back to the gangway.

How did Fran manage.
Heck, how did you manage?

It was with this meal that I could tell the cruise was coming to an end. No one asked if we needed a refill on our drinks and before I was done with my pasta I jumped up to grab desserts.

This is a thing? I had no idea.
I would've thought it might be the opposite, to ensure a good tip.

Nottoway, where we would stay for a night or two.

Ah! Well, if you're going to stay there, then you're forgiven for skipping it.

However until the state of Mississippi gets their act together, Vicksburg and Natchez are off the list.

At first I had no idea what you could mean.
And then a lightbulb went off.
I'd heard of the new laws, but hadn't clicked that MS was the State.
Is there another State as well?

As we were leaving there was eerie fog on the river, it was kind of cool.

::yes::

When I got back to the room, Fran asked if I would be upset at her if she skipped dinner. She wasn't feeling good at all and had no desire to eat.

Aw, poor Fran. Hope she started feeling better once you got away from the river.

I chose off the available every day menu and got the petit steak. It sure didn't look petit to me!

This was the "grand" petit steak. If you wanted small you should've ordered the petit, petit steak.

For dessert I went with the raspberry sorbet.

mmmmm.... want.

Breakfast was served from 6:00-8:00AM, we had to vacate the room by 8:00AM and be completely off the boat by 8:45AM.

Doesn't leave a whole lot of time if you happen to come down close to 8.
But then again, judging from what you then wrote, there wouldn't be any food either.

if you thought the last breakfast on a Disney ship was bad, this one took the cake. There was no menu service, strictly buffet. As they ran out of things, the plates disappeared and never returned.

Again... did not know this.

He admitted to us that he liked to help guests with their bags because any excuse to get him off the ship was a bonus. Otherwise they might ask him to clean toilets or something!

:laughing: Smart man.

When we got off the boat my phone started exploding with sounds indicating text messages, emails, all sorts of other alerts that I couldn't get due to poor WiFi on the boat. Most were inconsequential, except for one from Naked Jim. It was rather long, but the gist was that one of our cats, Samantha, had gone out Sunday morning and didn't come home. Also Olga, who had been somewhat lethargic before we left had deteriorated to listless and no longer wanting to eat. We had anticipated this day and left all the pertinent vet information in case it came down to it.

Sorry to hear about that. I presume you'll update us?

Neither of us felt very good, but I knew I needed to get us some mucinex as that stuff is like a shop vac for your sinuses.

I'll have to remember that. It's not available in Canada.

It was barely 9AM and we both slept for about three hours.

You guys were really not feeling that great, were you.
 
How did I get so behind?!

Great updates! The food looks delicious. :woohoo: Too bad about the crabby lady and her table.

The rain looks beautiful. I really enjoy a good rainy day.

How cute is that tiny gator.
 


I am sorry that Fran was really starting to feel poorly and that you were not feeling well on the last day. The Easter buffer looks nice go

You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Dinner looked nice shame Fran had to sit that out. How kind of your table mates to share their wine package.

There is a trend developing here...

Good idea to skip the plantation tour and nice plans to come back exploring places at your pace. Agree avoiding places that introduce predujice laws!

Yes we do much better when we can go at Fran's pace and not someone else's!

That really drives me crazy the way they race you off the cruise on the last morning! Guests will remember the last thing on the cruise they would do better to give you a positive experience. We akways go early to Cabanas now they do not advertise it is open but it is. Only one side but land on it early about 7 am

We've gone early to BBB once, but I much prefer dining at the sit down breakfast and stretching out the end of the cruise, even if they are somewhat rushing you off the ship.

Your hotel looks very nice but I am sorry to hear the voicemail about your cats. I don't know if I am glad to not know on vacation or not? If I can't do anything about it I would rather find out after. But if a decision to be made then I guess best to know.

We definitely wanted to know. There will be more in the next post.

Looking forward to the new TR!

I'm trying to wrap this one up ASAP!

I'm glad you had a great trip with Naked Jim and Alberto! Can't wait to hear about it.

Sorry you guys were feeling so bad. Boo to the last day!

Jill in CO

Well last day of the cruise, but we have a few more in NOLA. However, I can't wait to post about this last trip!

Getting of the ship is no fun, and I always complain about that last DCL breakfast, but it seems yours was not better at all.

No it wasn't better. And since they had so much to do to get ready for the next batch they pretty much ignored us all. It's like the tips were already in their bank accounts!

Nice of the guy to help you with your luggage and even better to have your room ready. I hope you felt a little refreshed after your nap.

The room being ready was a godsend. I don't know what we would've done if it wasn't ready!

Interesting as always! That swamp boat tour was so cool. I think you are braver than I would have been. Sure a lot of rain/water down there compared to California.

Yeah, we kept saying that we should send some home!

That cabin in the swamp reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean too. Wish I could have heard the guide talking like the firefly :)

Funny, it's so obvious, but I didn't even think about the cabin on PotC. I guess since it wasn't dark and there were no fireflies it didn't dawn on me!

I hope your cats were/are okay!

Yes and no. Next update.

Sorry you guys weren't feeling well by the end of the cruise. And that they rush you off the boat like that and so early!

It is a little annoying g, but I understand it takes time to get it ready for the next bunch.
 
Please feel free to not comment on everything, I was super duper behind!

We were seated with an older woman from Nixon, MO and a couple from Visalia, CA. Both of us got the gumbo.

Wow that is really crazy, what a small world!

In my best broken German I told them that I had the room on the other side of the boat and just wanted to look at the shore for a bit. They seemed OK with that and went on to ignore me.

I totally forgot that you speak a little German.

For those who complain about the dumpster view at the VWL, this cracked me up.

OT: Are most Standard views at VWL like this? We'd like to stay there next time for a few days but if SV's are like this, may as well upgrade.

Those who followed the house Saga remember that there were some nasty neighbors who wouldn't approve our building plans (it's a historic district). Well her friend painted their house, but they shunned the historic committee and painted it the color they initially wanted and not the one that was approved. The commission said they would let it go if no one complained. One. Person. Complained. They had to repaint. I laughed because I know just who it was. Our next door neighbor. Isn't it funny what a small world we live in?

Woah, what the heck?! :rotfl2:

I don't think anyone fancied having Prince Naveen for a starter

Aw why not, i'd love to try those someday!

DSCN8119.jpg

Aww that looks heavenly. :faint:

When I mentioned that I felt like I was getting sick, the woman said that just about everyone on the ship was experiencing a similar sensation and that it was more than likely an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air and our lack of tolerance to the river fauna.

Very interesting.



These photos are amazing and exactly what I think of when I think of the South.

Something else to note here, classic southern home design dictates that there be a main hallway down the center of the home and rooms off to the sides. This allows for cooling in the summertime and the breeze can flow throughout the house. There is always a small window near the top of the house to allow the warm air to escape.

Totally makes sense.

Another fun fact! This house served as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion! Take another look.

Now that is very cool!



So gorgeous!

Can you tell whose plates are whose?

Yep, yours! :thumbsup2

You can see how far inland the water extends.


I could not live there. It freaks me out even seeing how high it is to the road. No thank you.



What a gorgeous porch.


Oh my gosh, so beautiful!

Now I will say that I heard the Europeans on the tour saying that they thought these houses would be more impressive.

Are you serious?! I don't know, I think these homes are pretty darn amazing!


Wow that is cool!

But you'll remember the day before we also mentioned that no one wants to sit next to either of our fat @$$es.

:rotfl2:

Also he talked about cancer rates and infertility in many of the towns where refineries have replaced sugar plantations. If that is really true, that is awful.

No way! That really is terrible!

So after that cheery talk we arrived at the swamp

:lmao:



Yep never living over there!:eek:

OK, I know that I'm updating like crazy, but tomorrow night we fly home from WDW and I can't wait to start that TR! I'm sitting here looking out the windows of our Bungalow waiting for the Bellman to pick up our bags to transfer to a studio for tonight. We are splitting up with Naked Jim and Alberto which is sad. After a whole week we are still friends and speaking to each other! :lmao: It has been a fantastic trip so far and I cant wait to start the TR so this one will wrap up pretty quickly and we'll get started on the next. I'll post a link here and on the other TR, plus those of you who have requested a bat signal (and some others who have been MIA) will get notification!

Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to hear how you liked the Poly!:banana:

Also Olga, who had been somewhat lethargic before we left had deteriorated to listless and no longer wanting to eat. We had anticipated this day and left all the pertinent vet information in case it came down to it.

:sad2::hug:
 
Disembarkation day is always a sad and crazy day. Sorry you two weren't feeling well and on top of that kitty troubles.

I'm just glad that our hotel room was ready. It could have been a potential disaster for us if not!

:laughing: I like Fran more and more everyday.

Someday we must meet up. I bet it would be fun!

mmmm... mud pie. I love that. Made it a few times, too.

Never made it. Only had it in restaurants.

Would it help if I told you I didn't use it?

La la la la la la la

That the stick is a fake.
But there was one, so it's all good.

Well I knew that one was a token stick.

Did not know that. Interesting.

Yeah it was his Caribbean islands that he wanted to support, but he lost them around the turn of the 1800s.

I've actually heard of him.
Don't know a lot about him, but heard of him.

Not bad for a foreigner, huh?

I'm surprised! Most Americans haven't heard of him, but given Fran's surname and her father was raised in Oklahoma the family evidently speculated a bit.

That's a sure sign that you were having a good time!

We tend to like to read almost everything at museums. Drove my parents crazy at the Star Wars exhibit. They were done well before we were!

I bet I could rock those outfits.

Yep. Definitely.

:rotfl2: I would love to see you do it! :lmao:

ew.
So glad you can't smoke in the casinos here. Gross.

We usually go for the non smoking sections when in Vegas. And then I couldn't wear those clothes anymore until we got home and washed them.

Of course they were. They have an entire boatload of people who just showed up.

Plus it was a Saturday. Everyone knows they jack up the limits on weekends.

Well, that just sucks.
I've got an idea... don't go back there!

Good plan! Now we just need to plan a trip to Vegas when the weather cools off.

Any bodies?

They must have been wearing cement shies cause they weren't floating in the river.

:laughing: Well, you had to get that!

Couldn't resist a photo op like that!

It does look good.
Even before I read that you had seconds, I was thinking that.

I love Tiramisu, and that was really pretty good!

I've never had that.
I've always had the cream based chowders.
Always wanted to try that, though.

I'm happy sticking with the cream based, which is why I got broth instead.

And then I checked just to make sure.
Apparently LA and AK are the only two that don't have counties.

Interesting. Thank you for that fun fact.

Ugh. That's horrible... and not overly surprising.

Very sad to hear. I despise unscrupulous companies.

And that sign sure confirms what the guide was saying.

I couldn't believe we drove past it after he had talked about it. I guess it is rather common.

Even with the rain, you guys look like you're having fun!

I think we were. It was certainly something we could never do at home!

I finally saw that movie!
So I know exactly what you're talking about now!

It took me a while to make that association, but once we got well into the tour, that was all I could think of.

You can tell.
It has that "newly renovated" look to it.

And it was even more waterfront than possibly a couple days before!

I wonder how much it would hurt if he bit a finger?

I'll let you test that one out.

Again?

Oh. All that water.... got it.

Plus it was an hour and a half long tour.

Ah ha! So it's true! Size does matter!

Either that or it's all in the eyes. This is Tesla giving his relative "the look". We know they are not littermates because she is older than him, but since they were rescues we don't exactly know how they are related, they both have those same eyes, so they're somehow related.



So disappointed. It looks like a great place to see.

I would have loved to see it, but we were starving since breakfast was six hours prior. Plus there is only so much Fran can do in one day. Although this last trip has given me faith that perhaps I could let her go back to the room and I could continue on solo, or possibly with DIS friends.

Then I'd consider that a success.

Which is why I'm looking forward to posting the TR!

How did Fran manage.
Heck, how did you manage?

Very slowly and carefully!

This is a thing? I had no idea.
I would've thought it might be the opposite, to ensure a good tip.

There is a standard gratuity that they charge to your room for each person that you are involved with (ie Stateroom host, Server, backup server, head server) and you can't lower it. You can only increase it and by this point, most people have either added their tips or left them at the standard.

Ah! Well, if you're going to stay there, then you're forgiven for skipping it.

I just hope we can get that trip planned for the near future and not wait as long as we have talked about doing this cruise!

Aw, poor Fran. Hope she started feeling better once you got away from the river.

Hope again, call this foreshadowing....

This was the "grand" petit steak. If you wanted small you should've ordered the petit, petit steak.

OK, thanks for explaining that one. It was still good.

Doesn't leave a whole lot of time if you happen to come down close to 8.
But then again, judging from what you then wrote, there wouldn't be any food either.

Yeah pretty much. I did notice that they were really good at packing up the buffet, so probably even better on this last day. We didn't stick around to find out.

Again... did not know this.

Yeah, the big difference between this and a Disney cruise is that in the morning you got the luck of the draw with servers. Chances are the morning shift is different than the evening shift so your "regular" servers may not even be there. On a Disney Cruise you have the same serving team from dinner on departure breakfast. They know they have to get you off the ship as quickly as possible so at least they bring you what you want quickly to wrap things up and get you out of there. On the AQ, they just tried to avoid us so that things that were not self serve they didn't have to deal with. As I said getting coffee was like pulling teeth!

Sorry to hear about that. I presume you'll update us?

So you're not left hanging, it was Olga's time. That was expected, but everything else worked out OK.

I'll have to remember that. It's not available in Canada.

That's too bad. I rely on that stuff when I feel icky!
 
At first I had no idea what you could mean.
And then a lightbulb went off.
I'd heard of the new laws, but hadn't clicked that MS was the State.
Is there another State as well?

I realized that this one didn't show up in the quote. There are two states currently, but others are considering similar laws. North Carolina is one, they have made a law that people must use the bathroom of the gender they are born with, not the gender that they identify themselves as.

The other state is Mississippi who has passed laws stating that folks do not need to offer customer service to folks that take them outside their religious comfort zone, so they can deny services based on their religious beliefs.

Evidently there are other states that have similar laws pending. But we're not supposed to discuss politics here. :rolleyes1
 
How did I get so behind?!

Great updates! The food looks delicious. :woohoo: Too bad about the crabby lady and her table.

I have been updating like crazy! All the updates that I had posted while on vacation were ones that were already ready to go before we left. As you will find out in the TR, we had a mix of uptime and downtime on the last trip, so the River Cruise trip is all done. I just don't want to post three days in one update. I like to give people a chance to comment before moving on. However, not too much since I can't wait to get started on the next one. But I won't have three TRs going at once! I still have April at F&W to cover on the "Sharing" one!

The lady wasn't that big of a deal, I just thought it was really weird how she thought the table was "hers", even though she didn't leave anything there to save it!

The rain looks beautiful. I really enjoy a good rainy day.

How cute is that tiny gator.

I don't mind the rain either, but in the end, I think that was our downfall.

Please feel free to not comment on everything, I was super duper behind!

No problem, you had more important things going on!

Wow that is really crazy, what a small world!

And even smaller in few!

I totally forgot that you speak a little German.

Yeah this interaction made me realize that I speak even less German than I thought I did! :lmao:

OT: Are most Standard views at VWL like this? We'd like to stay there next time for a few days but if SV's are like this, may as well upgrade.

Oh no. I think there is only one set of rooms (on floors 1-5) that have the view of the dumpster. As you will see (or maybe not) we had a nice woodsy view. I hope I took pictures of it! :scratchin If not, I hope Jim did!

OK, I just went and checked and NONE of us took pictures of our view. But I have never had a dumpster view so far in two stays.

Woah, what the heck?! :rotfl2:

Yeah, this one made me realize what a small world it is!

Aw why not, i'd love to try those someday!

I had pet frogs as a kid. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Aww that looks heavenly. :faint:

You have reminded me. I need to put Prime Rib on my menu rotation. This morning I planned out all my dinners for the next two weeks and wrote up shopping lists for today and later this week. I need to put a Prime Rib in there (I'll wait a couple weeks until I can drop some of the weight I gained on this last trip! :rotfl2:)

Very interesting.

Well you got to figure, we develop a tolerance to the plants in our native area, but these were totally foreign to Californians.

These photos are amazing and exactly what I think of when I think of the South.

Aren't they?

Now that is very cool!

As I sit here in my chair at home, my computer faces three HM pictures which feature the DL HM. Nice I can think about two locations when I see it!

So gorgeous!

Thank you!

Yep, yours! :thumbsup2

I knew it was obvious!

I could not live there. It freaks me out even seeing how high it is to the road. No thank you.

There are other things like the humidity that would make me not want to live there, but imminent flooding is also a pretty good reason to rule a place out!

What a gorgeous porch.

It definitely was quite picturesque.

Oh my gosh, so beautiful!

You gotta have a lot of money for a driveway like that!

Are you serious?! I don't know, I think these homes are pretty darn amazing!

I thought they were too, I guess there is no pleasing some folks.

Wow that is cool!

Another era altogether.

No way! That really is terrible!

It's sad what some companies are doing to our environment.

Yep never living over there!:eek:

:rotfl2: :lmao: :rotfl:

Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to hear how you liked the Poly!:banana:

Well, I will say we loved it, but how we loved it, you'll have to wait for the TR to find out.
 
We left off with us leaving the boat and checking into our hotel that would be home for the next few nights. After about 3 hours of sleep, I started to feel a bit more human. I got up and started to unpack the suitcases that we were meant to use for this part of the trip. I had packed one of them for "don't open until we get home". That had a lot of souvenirs and some of the warmer clothes we needed in Memphis. I also got out the computer and was thrilled to find I could upload 10 pictures in the time it took for one on the boat! I posted an update on the TR and then decided to go look around and see about some lunch. It turns out that we were attached to a building with a food court. These pictures are from the next day but you get the idea. It turns out that pictures are not allowed in any of the buildings in the CBD (Central Business District), and a security guard reprimanded me for it. Well someone should tell the tourists that!




















I ended up bringing us back a brisket Po-Boy from this place. It was much better than I expected and way more filling.





It was about this time when Jim called for guidance. For those of you who have cats, you'll know that the sure sign they are ready to go is when they lose their desire to eat. Up until the day we left, she hollered at us when she wanted another "special" can of food, so she went downhill in less than a week. He took her in, the vet called to verify this is what we wanted and shortly thereafter she went to the Rainbow Bridge. We will miss her but she is now in a much better place.

Fran seemed to be feeling OK, sickness wise, after her nap so we decided to visit Meyer the Hatter. It's the oldest and largest hat store in the South. She got a straw Fedora. I got a new hat that will most likely make its appearance in the WDW trip this month. You can see the store off on the right with the Green awning.



We were a block away from the French Quarter and I couldn't resist at least making a quick trip in to check it out. So we went down Royal street for two blocks and turned to go back via Bourbon street. Fran was thrilled to find the Harley Shop and we both got shirts with Bourbon street logos on them. I was amazed to see how well they got the detail right modeling this part of the city after that land in Disneyland, you know where the Haunted Mansion is located?



Next door I found foot long daquiris, we got hurricane flavor. The whole area was a lot more seedy that I had expected, but maybe that's because we were on the street where the Hustler club was located!







This was one of the places that was high up on the list, but didn’t end up making the cut. But it’s on the list for next time.



Then my legs were getting tired, so we just headed back to the hotel. Bourbon street turned into the street where our hotel was located so we just went back there. We saw the Google mobile on our way back to the hotel.



Home Sweet Home.



Fran was coughing pretty heavily so she called her rheumatologist and left a message on the machine requesting that they call in a prescription for these cough suppressant pearls that we have at home. I had half a dozen in my "pharmacy" in my purse but she was running out of them quickly.

I hopped in the shower and washed my hair and self. What a luxury to leave the water running for the whole shower and not have to turn it off when you aren't actively rinsing some kind of soap out of your hair or off your body! After I finished my luxurious shower, I sat down on the bed. This is when she told me that she really had no desire to eat and food didn't sound at all good to her. We decided to cancel our reservation at the John Besh restaurant, Luke, which really bummed me out. I was looking forward to trying their bread pudding but I could understand that she felt that bad. This is about when I thought the entire time in New Orleans was shot to heck. I'll give you a spoiler as some of you have heard a few tidbits by now, but it wasn't entirely ruined, it just didn't turn out how I planned. But in the next few hours it seemed all was lost.

So I decided to go out in search of some dinner. It hit me that staying in the CBD that none of the restaurants were open for dinner. I walked towards Canal street and the first thing I saw was McDonald's.

No.

I was not going to eat there while in New Orleans.

I saw an IHOP, and a Chinese restaurant and a Vietnamese place. Asian food didn't sound good either. By now the sun had set completely and I didn’t want to get too far away from the hotel. I turned around to go back the other direction. A pack of young local girls walked past me and I heard,

"Stitch, why you walkin' so damn slow girl?"

A girl at the back of the pack said, "She wasn't tawkin' to you."

And front of the pack girl says, "Oh yes I was!"

I could almost hear the “snap” in her voice.

By the way, she didn't refer to me as a loveable mischief making Alien, but instead a word that rhymes with his name.

At that point I decided I better just take what I could get and not dawdle. There was a Domino's a block from the hotel and I decided that getting food quickly and safely was more important than something palate worthy of NOLA.

So I ordered a small pepperoni, mushroom and onion pizza and waited about 15 minutes for my dinner. I went back to the room. As I approached the stoplight at the corner I glimpsed a rat running into the sewer, nice.

When I got back to the room I ate my dinner, watched TV, don't remember what, but probably some syndicated NCIS or Castle or some other crime drama sort of thing. By 10:30 or so I was having trouble keeping my eyes open and laid down to sleep. Fran didn't even wake up once while I was having my dinner.
 
New Orleans Day 2


I woke up this morning around 7AM, but didn't feel like doing much or even going down to breakfast anytime soon, so I just kind of rolled over and went back to sleep. Fran had agreed to go to our lunch reservation today even though she said she wasn't hungry at all. Around 9AM, I went down to breakfast. I just got some coffee, cereal, a little pastry, and some potatoes. I didn't want to spoil my appetite for lunch. No pictures. Sorry.

I think it was actually this day that I took the pictures in the food court in the CBD. I also went to the little convenience store and got us some new sinus medications, as we had taken the whole pack I bought the day before. They had the super strength 12 hour version.



I messed around on the computer a bit and even put up a "lost cat" post on this Neighborhood based group I'm a part of. It's similar to Facebook, but instead of your friends, your neighbors are logged on. Besides lost animals and free stuff available, you can find out about why police sirens were blaring in the middle of the night, and crazies and transients who you might want to look out for in the neighborhood.

We got dressed for lunch and just as we were headed down to the lobby to catch a taxi, we got a call from Fran's Rheumatologist office. They had called in the prescription to the CVS on the corner, plus they called in a Z-pack just for good measure. I decided I would pick it up when we got back from lunch.

Lunch today was at Commander's Palace, a long time New Orleans favorite. Emeril Lagasse got his start here, but the place was on the map long before that.





The restaurant is in the Garden District. I would have loved it if we could have strolled through this area and check out all the mansions and their Gardens, but that's something for another time.

We were seated immediately and I was amazed by the long line of waitstaff that were lined up on the way to the dining room. Each and every one of them greeted us and welcomed us.

I had heard about their 25 cent Martinis, and definitely was up for that. They had three flavors and of course I can't resist a blue drink.



I tried to take pictures of the room discreetly.







And then the menu









Fran decided to go with the soup sampler. I was a little hungrier so I got a whole bowl of the gumbo.





I switched to a classic vodka martini and had the halibut for my main course. It was really well cooked and very good, but I only ate about 3/4 of it because I wanted to save room for dessert!





The Creole Bread Pudding was just fabulous! It came with a whiskey sauce that had quite a kick! The top was almost like a meringue while the bottom was a full on bread pudding. I ate every last little piece I could scrape out of there.





As we were finishing up, I noticed that our shipmates whom we had sat with for Easter Brunch buffet had been seated across the room from us. On our way out I said “hello” to them and we got a cab to take us back to our hotel.





On our way back, Fran told me that this one excursion was too much for her today and she wouldn't be able to keep our dinner reservation for this evening. I was sad, this night’s reservation was at Brennan's which is known for having invented tableside Bananas Foster. However, this gave me an idea. When I had been out on my photo reconnaissance mission I noticed that the Hilton (where restaurant Luke was located) was a whole lot closer than I realized. In fact the night before, if I'd turned right out of the building instead of left when looking for dinner the night before. I would have found many more options and even stumbled upon Luke! I asked if she minded if I checked with them about going as a party of one, and she said that would be a great solution. Just as we reentered the hotel I got a call from Brennan's to confirm and I told them we'd have to cancel due to illness.

Fran wanted to go back to bed. So I went over to CVS and got her prescriptions. I decided that I was going to see about hiring one of those bicycle guys with a back seat to take me on a tour of the French Quarter. On my way to do that, I walked over to the Hilton and on the way there I got a call from Naked Jim. It seemed Samantha finally saw fit to come home. Phew! I would have hated to lose two cats in one day. We talked while I sat in the lobby of the hotel until I finally had to tell him that I needed to get going or daylight was going to run out on me!

I went to Luke and they were happy to make me a reservation for a party of one and then I went back up to the room to tell Fran the good news about Sam.

So then I was off to get my whirlwind tour of the Quarter. I really wasn't quite sure how you did this, two different guys passed me by before I got the hang of looking for them. I'm glad it worked out the way it did because my guy Kevin was awesome! Even though I took his picture at the end of the tour, I'm going to post it first so you know who is telling me all this great stuff!




[Continued in Next Post]
 
[Continued from Previous Post]


I was a couple feet up from Bourbon street so he wheeled the cart back so we could start there. He pointed out Gallatoire's as one of the quarter's finest restaurants. I told him that it was on the list, but Antoine's actually won out. He was really excited for me having a visit to Antoine's planned and told me all about their two kitchens. One for the Oysters Rockefeller and one for everything else.



We zig zagged throughout the streets and I learned that Bourbon and Royal streets were probably the most seedy. Many of the streets closer to the river and near Esplanade street (the other end of the quarter) had galleries and nice restaurants without quite so many bars and people over indulging. We went past the Louisiana Supreme Court building which was located inside the heart of the quarter.



There was the Napoleon House. The Major of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815 had offered his home to Napoleon during his exile from France. Though Napoleon never made it to New Orleans the name stuck.



I was just snapping pictures as he rode all over the place.







The Cabildo, is an old Spanish Court on the edge of Jackson Square. It was where the Louisiana Purchase documents were signed. Now it is a museum. This was one of the places we thought about going, but not with Fran being so sick.



He did show me where Pat O'Briens was



And Preservation Hall



St. Ann is the gay district





and I noticed Café du Monde on our drive.

In the French Market Catherine the Great greets you with her horse.



We went past the Old Mint which is now a museum







On the East side of the French Quarter was a section where Kevin told me you could experience “trad jazz”. First time I had ever heard that term.



and rode up this tree lined street before turning on Royal street.





We went down the other end of Royal street. This end was much more calm and sedate.



This end of the quarter was so beautiful.





This is a swanky hotel where all kinds of celebrities have stayed. I don’t remember who any of them are, but evidently it’s a very discreet hotel where their privacy is ensured (well at least after they arrive).



The Court of the Two Sisters is a restaurant that Fran ate at many years ago with her mother. It’s one of the more well-known fine establishments in the city.



Brennan’s, where we had canceled our dinner reservation only hours before.



Eventually he dropped me off at the CVS because Fran had sent me a text asking if I could pick her up something to numb her throat. I got some Cepacol and also got some vitamin C and a microwaveable bowl of chicken soup.

I just chilled in the room until it was time for my reservation and then headed over to the place. This is why I was here.





I was seated fairly quickly.













I wanted to try the oysters, but was a little dubious about the local variety. My waiter convinced me to get them but I told him I don't like large oysters. When he brought me the plate, I was shocked at how large they were. He told me the guy even traded out some bigger ones.



They also brought me some bread.



I wasn't even halfway through the oysters when the hot appetizer I had ordered as my main arrived, I told the gal who brought it that I wanted to finish my oysters before I ate that. And that must have been where the lines got crossed. I couldn't finish all the oysters because they were just too darned big, and they were starting to gross me out having to chew them so many times.

I sat there with my half carafe of wine, wondering if they planned to bring my next course. The waiter finally took away my unfinished tray of oysters, giving me a hard time about not finishing. It was about this time that I started to wonder if I was experiencing single female diner syndrome. My waiter just leaned up against the wall directly across the room from me talking to the oyster guy, and wasn’t even paying attention to his tables. I decided that the oysters were enough protein to fill me up. If the appetizer didn't come before I finished my wine, I was just going to pay the bill and go.

I had struck up a conversation with the couple on the banquette next to me and they agreed the waiter was lousy. Sure enough. Wine finished, no crab dip. So I signaled the waiter, told him to cancel the rest of my food and just bring me the check. Of course this generated all kinds of hubub, first the waiter tried to make it right, but certainly he couldn't do anything. Then the manager came over, gave me his card and told me to talk to him personally when I came back tomorrow and he would take care of me. Maybe, but not if I'm going to Antoine's!

When I got back to the room it was only 8:30PM. I think we caught the last two episodes of the Castle Fall season before calling it a night. I prayed that tomorrow would be a better day for Fran.
 
The other end of Royal street is more how I pictured New Orleans. Sorry you had such poor service at dinner.
 
Fantastic update! Love how you took a tut tut around the city. The oysters do look huge. Sorry Fran was;t feeling better. :hug:
 
WOW! That's a lot of rain!


About $.04 per acre.

I'd like to buy at that price too!!



All week I had wanted to get this shot!

Love it!



We both liked the cakes so much we had a second piece.

I'm hungry and those cakes look delish!




the old woman came back

Awkward situation! Glad she relented to share the table.



I assume Parrish in Louisiana is synonymous with County in California.

We have parish's here as well. Over here, it's about the size of where the church congregation reside. A lot of our suburbs were later formed on the basis of those original church parish's.




Even if we weren’t seeing many gators, the scenery was pretty.

It seems you got a few gators in your shots. Yes, very pretty scenery.




some others who have been MIA

Guilty as charged!




She wasn't feeling good at all and had no desire to eat.

Aww, that's a shame.




Neither of us felt very good, but I knew I needed to get us some mucinex as that stuff is like a shop vac for your sinuses.

That's even worse! Both of you!




she went to the Rainbow Bridge

Olga was a grand cat. I'll miss her too. :hug:





I could almost hear the “snap” in her voice.

She was a right royal "Stitch".




As I approached the stoplight at the corner I glimpsed a rat running into the sewer, nice.

*shudder*
I would have run the other way!





25 cent Martinis

O.M.G. :faint:




if I'd turned right out of the building instead of left when looking for dinner the night before. I would have found many more options and even stumbled upon Luke!

What a shame you didn't take the right fork last night.




Bourbon and Royal streets were probably the most seedy.

That's a shame.




they agreed the waiter was lousy.

Sorry you got him.





All caught up! I'm going to need a ping for your Naked Jim TR, please.
 
It was with this meal that I could tell the cruise was coming to an end. No one asked if we needed a refill on our drinks and before I was done with my pasta I jumped up to grab desserts. I could tell they were getting ready to shut down the buffet. Lucky we made it in before they went into full shut down mode! Sorry we dug into it before I realized I hadn’t taken a picture.
Good thing you decided to go straight to the Easter brunch. Nothing like the feeling of being rushed at a buffet when they're clearing dishes up right behind you.

We were all packed up and down to breakfast by 7:00AM and if you thought the last breakfast on a Disney ship was bad, this one took the cake. There was no menu service, strictly buffet. As they ran out of things, the plates disappeared and never returned. I had hoped for some strawberries but it was empty when I got there. The blueberries, raspberries and blackberries were refilled and I realized that they were only refilling things that didn't require prep. So I grabbed some cantaloupe before that plate disappeared.
See what I mean? Yikes! That really is frustrating.

Our luggage was waiting on the dock as promised. There was a guy there whom I had seen on occasion throughout the week. I think he worked in sanitation of some sort, and he asked us if we needed help to get out bags to a taxi. I was glad for the help, especially since it was quite aways to the Hilton Riverside where one would catch the taxi. There was a full on mall in between the dock and the Hilton. I never would have found our way without him. He admitted to us that he liked to help guests with their bags because any excuse to get him off the ship was a bonus. Otherwise they might ask him to clean toilets or something!
Wow! That's pretty inconvenient. You'd think there'd be some easier access to transportation. I'm glad you at least had someone there to help you.

When we got off the boat my phone started exploding with sounds indicating text messages, emails, all sorts of other alerts that I couldn't get due to poor WiFi on the boat. Most were inconsequential, except for one from Naked Jim. It was rather long, but the gist was that one of our cats, Samantha, had gone out Sunday morning and didn't come home. Also Olga, who had been somewhat lethargic before we left had deteriorated to listless and no longer wanting to eat. We had anticipated this day and left all the pertinent vet information in case it came down to it. It was still only 6:30 in California so we just waited on any action.
Oh no... sorry to hear, but at least you had someone you trust to take care of things and do what was right.

These pictures are from the next day but you get the idea. It turns out that pictures are not allowed in any of the buildings in the CBD (Central Business District), and a security guard reprimanded me for it.
What?? That just seems kind of odd.

Then my legs were getting tired, so we just headed back to the hotel. Bourbon street turned into the street where our hotel was located so we just went back there. We saw the Google mobile on our way back to the hotel.
Cool! So when we look on street view in New Orleans, we'll now see Alison taking a picture of us!

I hopped in the shower and washed my hair and self. What a luxury to leave the water running for the whole shower and not have to turn it off when you aren't actively rinsing some kind of soap out of your hair or off your body!
What a different world you live in from most of us. I realize the drought out there is a serious matter, but I just can't even imagine it.

"Stitch, why you walkin' so damn slow girl?"

A girl at the back of the pack said, "She wasn't tawkin' to you."

And front of the pack girl says, "Oh yes I was!"

I could almost hear the “snap” in her voice.

By the way, she didn't refer to me as a loveable mischief making Alien, but instead a word that rhymes with his name.

At that point I decided I better just take what I could get and not dawdle. There was a Domino's a block from the hotel and I decided that getting food quickly and safely was more important than something palate worthy of NOLA.
Oh wow... You never like to hear about things like this, but it can happen anywhere. Sorry you had to resort to just going to Domino's instead of taking a little more time to explore and find something better.

Lunch today was at Commander's Palace, a long time New Orleans favorite. Emeril Lagasse got his start here, but the place was on the map long before that.
I'm glad she was feeling up to it... well, at least for lunch.

On our way back, Fran told me that this one excursion was too much for her today and she wouldn't be able to keep our dinner reservation for this evening. I was sad, this night’s reservation was at Brennan's which is known for having invented tableside Bananas Foster. However, this gave me an idea. When I had been out on my photo reconnaissance mission I noticed that the Hilton (where restaurant Luke was located) was a whole lot closer than I realized. In fact the night before, if I'd turned right out of the building instead of left when looking for dinner the night before. I would have found many more options and even stumbled upon Luke! I asked if she minded if I checked with them about going as a party of one, and she said that would be a great solution. Just as we reentered the hotel I got a call from Brennan's to confirm and I told them we'd have to cancel due to illness.
I'm sorry that she wasn't up for more, but this seemed like a great idea!

He did show me where Pat O'Briens was
I'll have all the hurricanes he can haul on this bike, please!

I had struck up a conversation with the couple on the banquette next to me and they agreed the waiter was lousy. Sure enough. Wine finished, no crab dip. So I signaled the waiter, told him to cancel the rest of my food and just bring me the check. Of course this generated all kinds of hubub, first the waiter tried to make it right, but certainly he couldn't do anything. Then the manager came over, gave me his card and told me to talk to him personally when I came back tomorrow and he would take care of me. Maybe, but not if I'm going to Antoine's!
Oh wow... I'm glad you were able to get out and try Luke, even if by yourself, but I'm sorry to hear the experience was a bit of a disappointment.
 

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