from the plantation to city park

We got up nice and early this morning, braved the crowds at the hotel for breakfast (hey, free breakfast is no joke!) and then set out for Oak Alley Plantation. We got there right when it opened, and we managed to pretty much stay one step ahead of the crowds all morning, which was perfect. I made the boys pose for pictures, and even managed to get one of my parents, but then my folks decided to go ahead and do the tour ahead of us. Once we all finished learning about life from the perspective of both slaves and owners (though not enough from the slave perspective, in my opinion, because it's important to really acknowledge our shameful national history), we met up again and walked around the grounds, then we had lunch at the plantation restaurant.

 

Listen, friends, I'm not really one to take a lot of pictures of my food, but this was an AMAZING meal. Fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade, crawfish stuffed mushrooms, crawfish etouffee, bananas foster waffles, white chocolate creme brûlée, praline cheesecake. (Not all mine, we all tried bites from each other.) It was so good.

We headed back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta, then headed to City Park for the annual Celebration in the Oaks, where they do all sorts of holiday lights and it's a big festival. The lights were impressive, but the crowds really sucked. It was too loud and hard to navigate, especially for my mom, who has a bum knee. We had tickets for a train ride to see all the lights, but the train wasn't running, so we stopped in a cafe. My parents went in first and sat at an empty table that had a bucket of popcorn on it, then the boys joined them and figured the popcorn was free so they started munching on it. Then a guy came from out of nowhere and started yelling at everyone for eating his popcorn. It was all deeply weird and upsetting, so we decided to get out of there. Strike one for NOLA, I guess. Luckily for us, the server at Oak Alley gave us a hot tip about a better city lights display in a park in the suburbs that you drive through, so maybe we'll check that out tomorrow.

from the street to the swamp

After breakfast at the hotel, my parents, Mike, Henry, and I headed down to the French Quarter to walk around for a while. (Liam and Max opted to sleep in back at the hotel.) We stopped at Cafe du Monde (bucket list item for me!) and got beignets and chickory coffee (hot chocolate for Henry). Henry was reluctant to try the beignets and insisted that he didn't need his own order and would try a bite of mine "if he had to." HA! You'll never guess what happened. That's right, he tried a beignet, and the next thing I knew, he had polished off the whole plate of them. I asked him what the deal was, and he replied, "Mom, you didn't tell me these would be so GOOD!" He was covered in powdered sugar by the time we got out of there.

We spent the rest of the morning wandering from shop to shop, just browsing and exploring. Mike and my dad went into a store with a full hot sauce bar and emerged with plenty of products in hand. Mom and I found some trinkets to take back home too, and Henry managed to sweet-talk Mom into getting him a little something in nearly every shop we ducked into.

Back at the hotel, we dropped off my parents and picked up Liam and Max, and we headed out of the city to take a swamp tour. It was a pretty rainy day, but that didn't bother me any. Nor did the fact that it's not really alligator season bug me much. We did end up seeing a small alligator, along with some interesting birds, some huge feral pigs, and about a zillion raccoons. The boys loved the swamp tour, particularly since they got to hold baby alligators in the main office before we left, and they got to throw food pellets at the raccoons and pigs. (Yes, I mean "at.")

great blue heron

some kind of coot maybe?

anhinga in the rain

omg huge feral pig

raccoons and a pig back in the distance

My folks had a relaxing afternoon napping at the hotel, and we met up with them again for dinner, and then the boys played euchre with my mom until it was bedtime. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty great first day in New Orleans!

jazzy!

Friends, I've been asking Mike nicely for 15 years now if we could please go to New Orleans for Christmas ... and this year, he finally said yes! Today's my birthday, so we celebrated by working, then picking up my parents and driving to the airport. That's right, we've got company on this adventure!

After the usual hectic boarding/flying/disembarking/finding the rental car process, we checked into our hotel just before dinnertime, and the desk clerk was kind enough to recommend a local seafood place for dinner, so today I also ate my first po'boy. Delicious!

The hotel has a jazz theme -- check out these fixtures. I can't wait to get up tomorrow and see what's what in this city.

around here today

Lots of wildlife to admire today.

tufted titmouse

white-breasted nuthatch

blue jay morning meeting

male cardinal

male downy woodpecker waiting his turn...

because there's definitely a pecking order, and
red-bellied woodpecker tops it

female cardinal posing in a frame

the dreaded starling

"I remain, as always, weary of your human shenanigans."

purple-crested Henry

a brief pupdate

Thunder is sad because Pluto is outside, and Thunder is not.

Pluto is happy for the same reason.

camera loves him

Today the Indiana Pacers (I'm told this is a sportsball team) did an early holiday gift giveaway, and look who managed to get himself interviewed by the regional news station:

We saw it on the actual news tonight, and poor Henry got a little lesson in showbiz because the interviewer asked what he thought of the giveaway, and Henry gave a longish, thoughtful answer. However, what made the cut to the actual broadcast was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it snippet of Henry saying "That's pretty cool!" Sorry, kid, it's a ruthless business.

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Yesterday afternoon I took the boys over to Bethany's house for a marathon baking session. They were really into it; check out the flour all over Henry! (How did he get it on his eyelid?!)

Today I am thankful for aunts who welcome me to share wifi on zero notice, parents who come and pick up my kids so they can spend the day at the farm, nieces who delight me by sharing my not-quite-normal sense of humor and appropriate communication, sisters who let me vent, dogs who are complete assholes sometimes ... and YOU. I’m always thankful for you.