Woke up around 7am at the Faubourg Brewery (harvest host)... definitely trains in the night, but otherwise quiet. Meems came into our bed for a snuggle and then got up to do some more of her cut-paper art. She is happiest sat at the dinette cutting, drawing, gluing, braiding, taping, etc. We made coffee and mapped out our plans for the big day out in New Orleans. Jonathan also booked a swamp tour for tomorrow at 11am - a big one on our "to-do" list. Then Jonathan took Amelia outside to do her ball-throwing goals (he and the kids are doing some PE these days with setting goals for how to throw a ball effectively. Ollie was feeling a little down and homesick this morning and didn't want to participate, nor was he feeling up for going into the city. I think last night was fun but a bit overwhelming for both kiddos. Hoping daylight will make things less intimidating.
We hung out for a bit... I blogged, Meems made more board games and then to perk Ollie's spirits up, we went out and made some GIFS with Oliver's little phone program. Very fun planning out some reversed gifs jumping on dad's shoulders, and casting spells, etc. Spirits lifted, we had some bagels for lunch and called an Uber for 12:30pm.
Got a ride past the huge Folger's coffee plant/processing/shipping facility nearby, and into New Orleans to Jackson Square. We also drove by the shimmering golden Casear's Superdome where the Saint's Football team plays. Our driver was super friendly and had lots of information about the city. (we also learned before that we missed an amazing Halloween parade last weekend, doh).... but he told us about a cool Skeleton House to check out. Fun hearing stories about some of the people that he's picked up on his Uber rides... we chatted about Nicolas Cage having a mausoleum already built and ready in Cemetary Number One. He said lots of celebrities love it here and come here often.
He dropped us off at Jackson Square... a beautiful bluebird day and great temperature for exploring. We wandered Jackson Square, walked to the waterfront of the Mississippi River and saw the paddle wheelers. Here we also got a chance to see one of our favourite street performers... a cool looking black guy set up on a mini stage who was freestyle rapping about anyone that walked by. He was so funny and kept the flow perfectly with his rhymes. He'd joke about everyone walking by teasing them to give him some money. When people did, his little Chihuahua would toodle over to them and collect the dollar bills and return them to him, then hop back in it's bed. People would want to give him money a) because he was awesome and talented, and b) so they could have the little dog run over and collect the money. We didn't have any small bills smaller than a $20 at this point, and hoped we could make some change and come back. He was awesome.
We basically walked around peeking in shops, checked out The Gumbo Shop for later (a recommendation for getting gumbo and other Louisiana fare), little packed souvenir shops with extravagant hats and masks and fun shirts. Super friendly shop keepers. Jonathan found some Slap Ya Mama fish crumbs coating at a particularly nice little kitchen shop we looked in. He bought it for all the fish we'd catch. I found some nice stuff in there too. We went into the Voodoo Shop and paid tribute to the Queen of Voodoo, Marie Laveau. The kids and I put a quarter into the offering box and Amelia and I both wrote little "requests" on scraps of paper provided to give to the Queen. I wrote asking for safe and happy adventures. Not sure what Amelia wrote...she was very secretive.
Made our way over to Louis Armstrong Park as our next destination and had a wander around there looking at the art sculptures and the strange looking ducks in the pond. From here, we called an Uber to drive us to the Skeleton House on St. Charles Avenue, with the plan to take the tram/trolley back to Jackson Square after.
Our Uber driver was quiet and took us way up onto a faster route to get through and around to St. Charles. Less scenic, but interesting to see the smaller communities on the outskirts of the city. He dropped us off right by the Skeleton House... a huge white mansion on St. Charles with a lawn filled with punny skeletons of all sorts. Apparently it's been a thing for a few years and they add to it every year. Super well done and lots to look at. When we had our fill of funny skeletons, we walked a bit further down St. Charles Avenue to look at the huge houses and then picked a stop along the route to wait for the tram. It runs down the centre of St. Charles Avenue and has lots of stops. Apparently its about a $1 or so for a ride, but today it was free because the machine wasn't working to take the cash. We sat at the front and the kids had the window open to look out and get a breeze. A little boy around 12 or so cautioned the kids to keep their hands inside the tram because it got very close to trees and signs. Good advice! The old fashioned tram certainly got close to passing trees, etc. Fun ride and we chatted with a couple from Brooklyn, New York that sat beside us. Big Islanders fan. He had tons of stories to tell and was initially very tickled when Jonathan gave them a heads up (through the open window) that the cash machine wasn't working, so it would be free).
When we got to the French Quarter again, we walked Bourbon Street and found the Gumbo Shop for some dinner. It had a neat little enclosed courtyard inside, and the kids loved the little birds flitting around. Our water was awesome... like out of a tv show. Ollie had delicous beans and rice that he LOVED. Meems had a salad, Jonathan tried the catfish and I tried the shrimp gumbo with crab. I gotta say, I'm not a fan! The half crab on top was just not appealing to me and jonathan swooped it off and tucked it out of my sight. I didn't know gumbo would be so "gravy" like. I ate it up and enjoyed the experience of having tried it, but wouldn't order again, haha. I did enjoy my Blue Bayou drink, however!
We walked back to Jackson Square and watched another balancing street performer. I walked ahead a bit to look in some shops. Finally found some New Orleans postcards and one sticker for the rig. Jonathan and the kids caught up with me and walked on towards the waterfront to Cafe Du Monde to order a coffee and some infamous beignets... deep fried fritters coated in icing sugar. This was the highlight of Amelia's day.
With full sugary tummies, we walked over to the Walgreen's to buy some milk and took an Uber home.
Ollie taught Jonathan some minecraft coding and Amelia got back to work on her board games involving chests and dungeons. Oliver's loose tooth was bothering him.
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