Louisiana!

Josh had a planning conference in New Orleans, Louisiana this last week-and there was no way he was going alone to such a fun place so I tagged along. We were gone a full week, just the two of us. My mom came up to watch the girls for a couple days and then Josh's parents came into town for the rest of the of time. The girls had a blast with their grandparents and were such great girls for them. It was a relief not to have to worry about them.

Anyways, when we got to New Orleans we rented a car and drove about an hour southwest of New Orleans to a town named Houma (pronounced home-a), and spent 2 days down there. It is a nice little town in the bayous and swamps. It was nice to see the country parts of Louisiana. We had a nice tour of an old sugar plantation one of the mornings. It was interesting to learn about the area and as well as learn a lot about sugar production now and then.

After that tour we went on a swamp tour in the bayous. This was s huge highlight for me. It was so much fun going on a little boat and wander around the swamps. We saw a lot of wildlife, but of course the best were the alligators. We saw a lot of them small and big. The biggest one we saw is about 12-13 feet long (about 120 years old, they grow very slowly). Our tour guide fed them little pieces of chicken along the way and he could get them to jump out of the water several feet!

After a couple days, we returned the rental car and went into New Orleans. What a fun and chaotic city that place is! We were at the same time as the French Quarter Music Festival so there were stages set up everywhere with all sorts of music-it was so much fun to just wander around and listen. Josh had to go to his conference at this point, so we only had evenings to do things together, so I did a bunch of wandering around on my own, relaxing by the pool, reading, etc.

One of the evenings we went on a Haunted History tour of the French Quarter. It was like a history tour mixed with the paranormal. Sounds kinda goofy I know, but it was really interesting and fun to do at night.
The food down there is delicious!! Although I did get sick of eating at restaurants for a full week, so when I came home and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich it tasted so good! :)

The French Quarter--I LOVE the balconies everywhere you look. You also see police officers everywhere you look as well. :) This place is pretty calm during the day, but weekends and evenings got pretty crazy with people.

One of the days we met up with some friends, which was a wonderful day. We had such a blast with them. Picture from left to right: Jeremy, Josh, Tony, and Charlie.

Crayfish--a local favorite and pretty cheap down in Houma. I tried one even though I don't like seafood just to say I had one. Interesting little creatures, like mini lobsters. Josh really liked them.

This is the scenery we enjoyed while we were on the swamp tour-absolutely beautiful.

I was able to kind of catch of the alligators jumping out of the water a bit. One time an alligator jumped up right by where I was sitting--I stood up for a little bit until that one went away. It was a wonderful 2 hours on that tour!

The last day in Houma, Josh and I went on a Nature Trail that we found. It was a lovely walk, but you had to make sure you stayed on the trail because off of it might have looked like solid ground, but it certainly wasn't!

Of course we had to get a picture of us with the Bourbon Street sign. Not only is there a lot to do in the French Quarter, but there are a lot of very interesting people to watch as well. And believe me, they come out of the woodworks at night down there! :)

Saw this sign and just thought it was humorous---aren't a lot of antique places just JUNK?

Okay, be thankful because I spared you by not posting the video Josh made of me doing Karaoke, but I had a great time doing it. I think in this picture I am singing Mambo #5.

This is our friend, Jeremy that we met up with. And don't you just love the costume? We are singing Summer Nights from Grease (LOL I know a classic).

The Mississippi River was right outside of our hotel, so we were able to walk along it quite a bit.

Please, don't pet the alligators.....

We had such a great time! I am so glad we got the opportunity to go. Now back to real life. It was good to come home-we did miss the girls.