A New Year...A new adventure...

So I guess it's no shock to you that I enjoy traveling. My sister, Robert and myself headed over to New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday to meet up with our friend Jennifer and friend Michelle. Amy and I had never been to Louisiana before so it was a fun thing to experience together and with other friends. It's only about 3 hours east of Pensacola so the drive really was nothing. We got there around noon and after refueling on a much needed Starbucks, we took to the sights. One thing we forgot about was the fact that the Sugar Bowl was on that Friday night and the game was Alabama vs Utah so the city was crawling with those college football enthusiasts....the people watching was FANTASTIC! I had talked to my friends and knew what places I wanted to see/experience. The Audubon Aquarium was our first stop and it was okay. I wasn't overly impressed but I would definitely say the highlight was the Stingray Touching pool....it was basically filled with stingrays and you could put your hand in the water and touch them when they would swim by (naturally...they didn't have their barbs or teeth so they were harmless). It was pretty cool....I would describe their texture as a slippery velvet...very interesting texture. They also had a baby nurse shark that you could touch and that was cool too. It's texture wasn't as fun as the stingrays. We piddle paddled around in the aquarium and then headed down the riverwalk to grab a quick bit to eat before seeing more of the french quarter.

Amy, Michelle and Jen

Amy, Jen and I

I told you what we had some fun. They had a small frog exhibit and I was teasing my sister about kissing her frog so she could find prince charming....

But what she didn't expect to find...was that it was Robert! Only kidding but it was this funny moment that I just couldn't help but get on camera!

They had this HUGE aquarium that had the "big" fish in it including the sting rays, a sea turtle, schools of large fish and none other than the sharks!

Once we grabbed a bit of lunch we walked around the square and then over to the infamous Bourbon Street. Some things I thought that were interesting about being out and about was there was always music in the air....the architecture to me seemed very old world/European and I loved the building structures...some of it reminded me of the stylings I saw when I was in Charleston. There was also plenty of palm readers and voodoo shops/temples and of course bar after bar after bar. Like I said...it was definitely prime people watching.

Amy and I at the "Court of Two Sisters" restaurant. Sadly my camera would not cooperate with Jen and so you can't see the sign :(

The only place Robert wanted to visit was the House of Blues so that is where we had dinner. The atmosphere did not disappoint and I had to snap a picture of this artwork that was in our booth....something about it just struck me.

After we indulged ourselves on more than enough food, we walked back down Decatur street because I absolutely didn't want to leave New Orleans without enjoying a beignet & coffee from Cafe Du Monde. It was the best dessert and the Cafe Au Lait was delicious....I mean really any dessert with that much powdered sugar can NOT be bad!! It was a full day but a fun one. I can't say that I'd be rushing back to visit anytime soon but it was a fun, new experience.

Amy, Me, Jen and Robert