New Orleans 2013

Clint had a conference for SPE in New Orleans at the end of September.  We decided to make it a family trip.  The trip down there was rough.  We were stressed, grumpy, argumentative and OSU lost to West Virginia.  We skipped dinner (the kids had Chick-fil-A) with the hope of getting some authentic New Orleans cuisine.  We pulled into our super fancy hotel and unloaded our stuff to the valet and went to the room.  We were in the room two minutes when we got a phone call that our car wouldn't start.  We were like, "What do you mean, it's a Toyota?"  Sure enough it had broken down.  Thank goodness it wasn't on the 700 mile drive especially the hundreds of miles without cell phone signal.  Horrible end to a horrible day.  The boys and I got to hang out in our luxurious hotel room while Clint went on a search for a new battery.  With the help of a new battery Clint got the car running again, but he was not too happy when he got to the room at 10:30 at night and had no gumbo or liquor waiting for him.

The rest of the trip was fantastic.  Sunday, Clint had to be at the conference all day.  The boys and I started the morning with a swim.  The pool was part of the spa and was sooo beautiful and relaxing.  We had a great time.  After our swim the boys and I headed to the Audobon Zoo.  We stopped along the way to grab some delicious deli sandwhiches and the "best espresso in New Orleans".  It turned out to be a boone!  The zoo was a lot of fun with the boys, but it was hot and I felt like we made a million trips to the bathroom.  We made it back to the room and the boys were put down for naps.  Clint returned to the room about that time and we enjoyed an afternoon happy hour.  Once the kids woke up, we loaded them up into the stroller and hit the streets for some dinner. 

The zoo was beautiful, but Beau took it upon himself to clean it up a little.  People were stopping to watch this little two year old worker.

Party Paul earned his name.  He was excellent the whole trip, but there was always something for him to look at.  All the boys enjoyed walking the streets of New Orleans.  Also my kids love cajun food so it was soooo easy to feed them in New Orleans.

On Monday we started the day right with coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.   Surprisingly the kids were not too impressed, but Clint and I were in heaven.  We walked down to the French Market for souvenirs for the kids then headed to get some muffalettas to go.  Clint then had to head to the conference.  The boys and I walked the French Quarter with Paul on my back and Sawyer and Beau in the stroller.  I had a lot of beignets to burn off.  We enjoyed jazz on the streets and window shopping.  We met Clint for muffalettas back at the room then we had another swim while Clint returned to his conference.  During nap time, Clint and I enjoyed our happy hour once again.  The Lowes Hotel was amazing and the bar/restaurant downstairs was a Brennan's restaurant.  The drinks were soooo good but soooo bad for us and soooo expensive.  After happy hour we were off for another delicious meal.  Monday night football was in New Orleans that night and our hotel was down the street from the Superdome.  We found a restaurant on Canal street and watched the parades of Saint fans heading to the stadium while we ate.  Once again free entertainment for the kids!

Beau had just dropped his drawers to urinate in St. Peter's Square.  I'm pretty sure he is not the first person to do this.  Hah!

On Tuesday we made our way to Cafe Du Monde again, then to grab a muffaletta for lunch from a different deli.  We then headed to the aquarium.  It was fun, but there was still a lot of exhibits missing after Hurricane Katrina.  We ate our muffalettas at the aquarium and afterwards went to the hotel for nap time/happy hour.  We grabbed dinner again and made our way to the streets for a walk.  It was still pretty early so we ended up on Bourbon Street.  I had a baby on my back, and two in the stroller.  Clint decided to jump into a bar and grab a drink to go (it is New Orleans).  Needless to say I was stopped by a cop when I was standing there alone with three kids!  We grabbed a bunch of gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, and sandwiches from Mother's to pack our ice chest with on the way home.  Then we hit the pool for one last time. 

 
Clint's Gumbo ranking

Clint tried Gumbo at every restaurant we went.  He is officially a gumbo connoisseur.  It is his favorite food.  Here is his results.

1.  My mom's
2.  The Greatest Sports Bar - totally random sports bar
2.  The Gumbo Shop
3.  Palace Cafe
4.  Grand Isle
6.  Mothers
7.  My gumbo (I've only made it once.  As Clint puts it "There's a lot of room for improvement".)

I guess you could say Cint was a cocktail connoisseur in New Orleans too.  His favorite was the Sazerac (essentially pure whiskey).  He had to drink them to feel manly after all the cosmos.