New Orleans, Here We Come!

My Honey waiting at the hotel for our shuttle to the airport.

Funny how easy it is to get up at 4:15 am when you know you are leaving on an adventure.

Ready to go!

Check in was a breeze and we were at Wings ordering breakfast within a half hour.

He is such a handsome fellow - and he's all mine!

I had eggs, hashbrowns, toast and bacon for breakfast.

They were very generous with the bacon.

My Honey had an omelet.

I think he is happy with his choice.

I picked up a book for the flight at the airport bookstore.

Boarded.

We were sitting in the very last row of seats but it was lucky for us because the only empty seat on the whole flight was in our row so it was nice!

I almost could not buckle up my seat belt and I kind of panicked.

I gave up and figured I needed to ask for an extension.

My Honey calmed me down though and so I tried again and I was able to do it up but talk about a wake up call.

Here we go!

I love take off, it is my favorite part of the flight - it always feels so exciting to me.

We are both thrilled that we are on our way.

New Orleans, here we come!

I love how the earth below looks like a patchwork quilt.

The browns & yellows are really predominant here, fall has arrived, that is for sure.

Things looked somewhat greener as we were landing in Houston.

We ate at this place last time we were in Houston airport and My Honey really enjoyed their burgers,  ww had a three hour layover so we tracked it down and had some lunch.

Still all smiles.

We had the deep fried pickles and they were really good.

I had the Ruby Burger which was really good as well and sweet potato fries which were not.

I did not eat the fries but that is a good thing.

My Honey had the Blues Burger.

I used to dislike blue cheese immensely but the more I try it, the more I like it.

My Honey is a total convert - he just loves it - I am not quite there yet.

It was a beautiful day in Houston.

I would have been quite happy if it had been our final destination.

I loved our trip to Texas last year and would totally go back.

I am also happy that we are heading somewhere new though.

These clouds were so beautiful, they looked like icebergs sticking out of water.

We are just about there, this is the Might Mississippi!

And there is the swamp land we hope to get to check out up close while here.

Our flight landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule - so awesome when that happens.

Waiting for our luggage - there it is, did not take long at all.

WE MADE IT1

First thing we did was find a shuttle to take us to our hotel.

They were very friendly and offered a great discount if we purchased the return tickets at the same time so we did.

I was looking for a Welcome to New Orleans sign at the airport to take a picture of us with but this plaque was the best I could find.

There was a tv in the shuttle and it had a welcome sign so that was cool.

Between traffic and drop offs to other hotels it took about an hour and a half to get to our hotel (we were the final drop off) but we saw lots of cool things along the way.

Like this mural painted on a cement column.

Not sure on the significance of these but they look cool.

There it is - a real welcome sign.

I love these trees, they are so beautiful.

Just some random beads on the sidewalk.

There are palm trees right down the middle of the main streets.

It has more of a tropical feel than I was expecting.

Another cool mural, this time on the Sheraton.

We are staying at the Hyatt Centric, they had these awesome light fixtures in the lobby.

When we were checking in she asked us if we had a room preference and I requested something with a view.

We checked in, dropped our bags off in the room (which has no view by the way, will post a picture later) freshened up then went out to explore.

Hard Rock was just up the street (later discovered it is actually attached to our hotel) and there was a band performing out front as we passed.

They were really good.

They have all these posts on the streets, I think maybe they were for tying horses too.

Whatever they are, they are cool.

The buildings are beautiful.

Just look at all the detail.

We went into a little shop and they had these cool metal croc sculptures.

It was a neat store, they had tons of samples of hot sauce.

Cool artwork.

I love this funky graffiti type of artwork.

Got a kick out of this.

Might go back and get it for my boy.

They had lots of metal creatures.

They had a really great chandelier in the store too.

We found a place to have supper.

Pier 424 Seafood Market

I had the spicy crawfish lettuce wraps.

I also had the corn and crab bisque.

Waiting for our food.

It was a nice place inside, very roomy.

We were inside, but it looked like we were outside.

The crawfish wraps - they were not very good.

My Honey had the stuffed shrimp.

He liked them however the fries were disappointing.

They had a good seasoning on them and might have been good except they were cold and kind of soggy.

The soup was the saving grace of the meal.

It was good.

We stumbled upon Bourbon Street.

Being Saturday night, the celebrating and partying was in full swing.

Cool to see but so not our scene anymore.

We are happy to be here though.

The weather was absolutely beautiful.

I had brought a sweater but totally did not need it.

It reminded me of Times Square a bit with folks dressed up in costumes making money by posing for pictures.

This costume was a new one for me though and I loved it.

This was a new one for me too.

This guy was posed this way and did not budge at all.

(Check out the hot dog stand behind him, so cool!)

We passed him and walked to the other side of the street and he was still in the same pose.

Someone was having a little fun with the street signs.

We did a bit of window shopping.

Kind of creep but totally awesome.

She was awesome too.

We would like to go back and check the store out when it is open.

Shadow art.

More window shopping - I liked the bag.

My Honey liked the little voodoo doll.

There is some interesting fashion here.

This store had fabulous hats.

Fabulous dresses too.

Think this hat was my favorite.

What a great idea.

I would like to get one - so clever.

New flavor of chips - did not try them but they look interesting.

We saw Fried Green Tomato flavored chips at the airport too - I should have taken a picture but hopefully I will see them again while we are here.

We headed back to the hotel but wanted something sweet so they suggested the Red Fish Grill to us.

It is attached to the hotel as well.

Check out those great oyster mirrors at the oyster bar.

Our table - liked the fish doodles.

My Honey says he can make one of these - might hold him to it when we get home.

The cover of the menu was made out of some kind of metal.

Neat idea.

I ordered the double chocolate bread pudding - the presentation was great.

It tasted just as good as it looked.

My Honey ordered the bourbon pecan pie and it had candied orange on it.

It was absolutely delicious too.

We actually ended up trading because each of us liked what the other had ordered better.

We were very happy with our desserts!

When we finished, we headed back to our room.

Although it was still early for a Saturday night, it was a long day for us and we were ready to hit the sack.

Looking forward to all the adventures that tomorrow will bring!

Until next time, be happy!