I forgot to take a picture of our hotel room when we first got here so I took one this morning.
We stayed at the Hyatt Centric and it was a really nice, big room.
When we checked in, the hotel clerk asked what kind of room we would like and I asked for one with a view.
This is what we got.
Our only view was of the building next to us.
It was so close that we could barely even see down to the street.
Oh well, we didn't come here to sit in the hotel room and look at the view so no biggie.
Another treat I look forward to having when we are in the states as we don't have them at home.
It's a Whatchamacallit bar and they are delicious.
I brought a couple home with me and gave them to mom and her friend Ms DM.
We had another walking tour booked for today at 1 pm.
This time for the Garden District and Cemetery.
We had to take the trolley again and left early so we could check out Magazine Street again.
We walked around a bit and found this cute little place - Red Dog - that looked interesting so we stopped there to have brunch.
We ordered the pimento cheese appetizer plate and we loved it.
Had it just been the cheese dip on it's own it might not have been as delicious but all the elements together were marvelous.
This is his "OMG this is so good" face.
I ordered the sweet potato pancakes.
They had bacon and candied sweet potato on top and they were to die for.
Best meal I had the whole trip.
My Honey had shrimp & grits and a couple of poached eggs and he was mightily impressed as well.
He also considered it his best meal of the trip.
A very satisfied customer!
We finished up there and headed over to the front of the cemetery to meet up with our tour group.
This lady with the white top was our tour guide.
She was very good, provided us lots of information.
We didn't click with her like we did with Stephen though.
It was a larger group this time too so less personal.
We headed into the cemetery first thing.
Again, some of the tombs are in much better condition than others.
This was an interesting one.
The smaller one on top was likely for a child.
This cemetery had a whole wall of "waiting rooms" as well.
The tomb you can see behind here belonged to a society.
If your family couldn't afford a tomb but you were part of a society, you could be buried in these.
This cemetery was much larger than the one we visited Monday.
This one is open to the public as well so you can go in and look around anytime.
One of them happened to be open so we were able to have a look and see what they look like inside.
Not much really.
Some of them are closed up nicely.
And others not so much.
This was an interesting one.
There was even a Society for Destitute Orphans.
It was very pretty in the cemetery, lots of big trees.
This one has plants growing out of it.
There were some interesting tokens left at the tombs.
And fresh flowers at this one.
Somebody is missed.
This one looks to have been grand in it's day.
The weathered look really becomes it though.
The Ashley Judd film Double Jeopardy was filmed here and she was "trapped" in this tomb.
I like the rounded tops.
It is sad that some have fallen into such disrepair.
My Honey captured this shot.
I love how it's kind of eerie looking.
The one single rose against the run down looking tomb with the shadows of the tree cast upon it.
It could be a poster for a horror movie.
Some had little fences around them - likely another way to show off their wealth.
These tombstones were all broken in half and just lying there.
Sad because they were beautiful.
I think the guide told us this was the oldest tomb in the cemetery.
It had plant growing from it as well.
We left the cemetery then and walked around the Garden District a little.
It is kind of the ritzier area of town which is quite obvious from the size of the homes but they have all these fancy little details too like this ornate fence.
We were treated to some beautiful flowers.
Another colorful bike - they are just so fun.
My Honey noticed this amazing doodle.
The tour guide told us this home belonged to Sandra Bullock.
It was surrounded by trees so you could only see the tippy top but it looks like an amazing place.
Apparently she doesn't live here but comes sometimes and lets other celebrities that are filming in the area use it too.
I think it's awesome how they have the street names worked right into the sidewalks.
My Honey and his flower pictures!
This home we learned belongs to John Goodman.
Must be difficult to be a celebrity and to have people always checking out your home, just because it's yours or they are hoping to catch a glimpse of you.
I am guilty of that I must say.
It would have been so cool to see Sandra or John in the flesh.
Love the gate.
It's weird how this picture turned out, it's actually a pinkish flower but because of the angle of the camera it looks a purple/black color.
A pink and black house - so cool.
Anne Rice purchased this one too because it had a scary story attached to it.
Something about a child's remains being discovered in the upstairs or attic when renovating.
This was creepy but cute at the same time.
I like how they have their entrance all decked out.
Looks like it could be on a magazine cover.
I was just in love with these homes and these trees, WOW, they are so beautiful.
Another gorgeous one - it belonged to the author Anne Rice at one time.
She loved haunted & spooky houses - the scarier the better.
More flowers.
Got to take time to appreciate the little things.
This home belongs to the famous football family, the Mannings.
I know nothing about football so that didn't mean much to me but it is a lovely home with a beautifully manicured lawn.
And for our final celebrity home of the day - this one used to belong to Nicholas Cage, however, he lost it when he filed for bankruptcy.
They have it all decked out for Halloween.
I never knew this was a thing.
This was another way for folks to show off their wealth.
Instead of having just a plain fence, they would get some kind of intricate design.
And just in case you are interested, it is for sale.
Someday when I retire to my dream home, it will absolutely have one of these, a porch swing.
Even better, a porch swing and my favorite color for a house, yellow.
There is My Honey.
Just one beautiful house after another.
The guide was telling us here about how the trees destroy the sidewalks and it is a never ending project to try to fix the sidewalks and the roads.
But they do it because they love their trees (I don't blame them)
There is that handsome fellow again!
So after the tour, we stopped at a little coffee shop and had an iced coffee and it hit the spot perfectly.
It was pretty hot and muggy out there today so it was nice to sit and enjoy an ice cold drink.
Afterwards, we caught the trolley back to the hotel and googled directions to a restaurant My Honey really wanted to try while we were here.
Pho Tau Bay
It ended up being not that far from our hotel.
This place is Chef Emeril Lagasse's favorite pho place.
He featured it on a show he did about New Orleans and we all know that noodle soup is My Honey's favorite.
It has a really great story, an American GI, Karl Takacs, was stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam war and he fell in love with a woman there.
Her family owned 13 Pho Tau Bay restaurants there but due to political upheaval, the family was forced to leave and came back to the States with Karl.
After moving about the country, they finally settled in Louisiana and continued the family legacy there.
I am pretty sure Karl was there while we were eating.
He was very friendly and wanted to make sure that we had enjoyed our experience there.
I think he was on a break and eating his supper but he still made sure we were taken care of.
Super customer service to say the least.
It was really super neat and clean inside which is a very good sign.
It seemed like there was no customers around but people were coming and going the whole time we were there.
I indulged and had a vietnamese ice coffee even though it was quite late.
I'm on vacation anyway so caffeine doesn't scare me.
We had to try their spring rolls - super yummy.
I had Bo Kho which is spiced beef soup and it came with a side of french bread for dipping.
I can't usually finish a bowl of soup but I made a valiant effort because it was so dang good.
My Honey had Bun Bo Hue which is a hot & spicy pork & beef soup with fish stock and large noodles.
It was really good too.
Of course I always love the bean sprouts they give you for a topper and My Honey is crazy about the Thai Basil.
It was a really great meal, wonderful service.
If we lived nearby, we would be here all the time.
It was such a nice evening that when we left there, we figured it would be a perfect evening to take the ferry.
Just a lovely evening for a sail.
We saw on a show that the ferry was a good alternative to the cruise boats if you just wanted to get out on the water.
It was only maybe a 10 minute ride so I am not sure if that was exactly true but I am glad we checked it out.
There is the New Orleans water front, so nice.
Another view of the waterfront from the ferry.
Me just enjoying the ride.
The sun shining down from behind the building and sparkling on the water was wonderful
The ferry lands in Old Algiers which is just a tiny little community.
Reminded me of a little community that might have come right out of New England.
There was a statue honoring Louis Armstrong as soon as you got off the ferry.
We just walked around the streets a little and looked at the houses.
Another one of those awesome balloon animal statues except this one is an elephant - so quirky and cute.
Appreciating nature's beauty.
We saw a bunny and there was a squirrel on the pole but he was quicker than the camera.
This little cutie was just lounging around enjoying the nice evening.
There is always something beautiful to see if you just open your eyes and look.
I love how these flowers looked like they had smaller flowers growing from their midst.
We've seen lots of these shrubs around and I love them.
We walked along the waters edge.
There is a nice path/road here for walkers/joggers/cyclists.
Fabulous view too.
Just a busy boat out on the Mississippi.
There was a little restaurant next to the ferry so we went there to get a dessert before heading back.
Their bread pudding had raisins so I skipped it but My Honey gave it a try.
I chose the chocolate chip cheesecake and was delighted with it.
We picked a perfect time to ride the ferry back as we were treated to an amazing sunset.
It's hard to capture the beauty of it but we tried.
As we were arriving at the dock, the dinner cruise was just heading out.
Kind of wish we were on it.
We disembarked and we hanging on the Riverwalk waterfront area and it was just in time again, this time to see the moon rising into the sky.
It's just starting to rise in the sky here.
Starting to see the reflection of the moon on the water now.
I call this one "La Lune"
I like how all of the lights are reflecting on the water,
This is the city behind us.
This is the River Walk area.
My Honey trying to capture the perfect shot.
We both took a lot of pictures of the moon that night.
Really just enjoying this beautiful night.
It's higher in the sky now.
I know - how many pictures of the moon can a person look at?
The Moon & Me.
Eventually we did grow tired of taking pictures of the moon and we moved on.
We walked around the french quarter a bit and found a place to have a bite to eat.
We went to a place called Daisy Duke's.
They had some nice artwork.
This is just a few of the pieces they had.
They had this awesome sign too - ha ha - guess that's how you know it is a really classy place to eat.
We had an oyster platter (yummy).
and fried green tomatoes.
We headed back to the hotel and stopped in the costume store we'd seen the other night but couldn't go in because it was closed.
They had this "Halloween Decoration" that was so lifelike that it was disturbing.
No wonder my feet were hurting when we made it back to the hotel tonight.
We put on a lot of miles today.
I rested in bed while My Honey sprayed my feet with cooling spray and I checked Facebook to see what memories would be popping up today.
More from our trip to London.
They were busy putting up the Christmas decorations in the streets of London while we were there.
They were strung across the streets and they looked awesome.
Wish we could have been there to see it once it was complete.
I bet it was spectacular.
We took in some theatre while we were there.
Took a food tour of the East End.
It was one of the best food tours we had ever been on, I would do it again.
The girl here was our tour guide and this fellow worked at the cheese shop we were checking out.
Of course we had fish & chips and mushy peas.
The mushy peas tasted just like their name, it'd be like taking peas and mashing them up (fresh not frozen) and I loved them.
I wasn't crazy about the fries though, I prefer my fries to be really crispy and these most certainly were not that.
Cool door knocker.
Another.
We liked them so much that we bought one for a souvenir.
Our front door has a glass inlay so we haven't found a place to put it yet but we will.
Lots of random artwork/graffiti around the streets in the East End of London.
These were some of my favorites.
They had a sign bandit who kept going around and altering street signs like this "no entry" sign.
I prefer to think that he was enhancing them - they were so clever.
Our guide and and some truly amazing artwork behind her.
We ended the tour with a cup of tea which I really grew to love while we were there.
They had these great sugar cubes which came in white & brown and they were random shapes & sizes. More so lumps really as opposed to cubes.
We checked out china town and had a fishy.
It was made with a batter similar to a waffle batter and it was slightly crunchy on the outside, soft & doughy on the inside with just the perfect amount of sweetness.
I could have gobbled up a whole bag of these.
My Honey & I in Trafalgar Square.
Well that'll do it for today.
Until next time, be happy!
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