New Orleans

Before I say anything, I want people to know that I struggled with a decision on whether to post about this past weekend or not. But the people want what they want, so to any Parents who read this I apologize beforehand.

To say this New Orleans trip was something I was looking forward to for months would be an understatement, when this trip was planned I knew we would have the best time possible and as planned I can say its the most fun I have had in a long time. Now off to to the post

Before all 10 people got in town, I met up with Kristi and Andrew on Friday morning to take them around town but to also take them to get a New Orleans favorite, a shrimp po-boy, after consuming 2 pounds of shrimp I took them back downtown so I could go and pick up the mouse who was arriving from LA. After picking up Carly, we checked in at the hotel and got ready for what was to come! Still with about 3 hours to kill, Sarah informed us she was having problems at the Dallas airport (which we later found out was due to Alice not wanting her to come, kidding) so instead of dinner we went to the first bar we saw, (which also coincidentally was running buy 1 drink get 3 free) Now to anyone who has never been to the city, I wouldn't even consider this a special, but we acted as if the world was ending and we didn't want to miss a drop. (Several things will happen from this, Andrew and I's bromance will rekindle, but it will also make Carly the hungriest midget I have ever seen!) One thing to know about Carly (and I touched on it a little in the last post) is when she is hungry she turns from a cute cuddly mouse to a 300 pound angry man, so after she intimidated both Andrew and I we walked a block over to one of my favorite places in New Orleans; Deanies

One of the great things about Deanies is you get unlimited servings of these magnificent potatoes, I'm sure some of you are wondering how is this significant and I will tell you, In the 10 years I have dated Carly I have not once seen her eat a potato, but when these hit the table, before I could grab one Carly had inhaled two and was yelling for more (its better if you picture her as the 300 lb man) After ordering a few more beers (Abita X-mas Ale, which is phenomenal) we waited for our food which could not come soon enough.

We ordered a crawfish,shrimp, crab meat pizza which may sound nauseating, but it honestly lasted all of 5 minutes (another thing I couldn't believe Carly ate). For my main course I got the BBQ shrimp which while messy is some of the best food you can get in town. After devouring our food we got the call that all of our partners in crime were on the way to meet us.

Here's the thing, when you have 10 people in a group it sometimes can be a hassle, but not with this group, after giving out hugs and kisses and butt slaps (maybe that was just Andrew and I) the first thing that was said is, Its time to get after it. For a few of our guests this was their first time ever in Nola, so we had to go straight to Pat O's for the inaugural Hurricane. But before we could make it to the bar, Hand Grenades and Huge Ass Beer's were in order.

After taking in a few of the sights we made our way into Pat O's , where finally everyone could have the "World Famous" hurricane! The great things about Hurricanes is, that when you first start drinking them they taste like fruit punch, but as a few people found out, the next day the last thing you want is a hurricane. We sat at Pat O's for a few hours and here is a few pictures of the mayhem

From Pat O's we walked right across the street, to Tropical Isle to get another hand grenade, this is pretty much where the night took a turn from being out late to being out early morning. (At this point of the night having a girlfriend can have its down falls), In the mix of hand grenades, Drew and Mike were gracious enough to buy Mind Erasers for everyone in the group, (Here lies the problem) Carly had decided she could not consume any more liquids so not wanting to be rude, she gave me the shot which now not only did I have my own, but I also had to drink hers, (I've never had a Mind Eraser and surprisingly they were really good), (Thanks D and M!!!) But we weren't done, Next thing I know Tommy, had shots in hand, and before I could even think about the ramifications of what was happening, Sarah had 10 more shots in hand. (Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!) At this point it was nearing 3 AM and since almost everyone had worked before coming in we decided to only make one more stop before calling it a night.

I think this picture pretty much gives you a great idea of where we went, (If you guessed

anything other than Cafe Du' Monde, shame one you). Depending on who in the group

you talk too, this was either a great decision, or just further added to naseusim (Pretty sure that's not a word) of the

night. After consuming these beauties, being the responsible adults we are, we loaded up my car (kidding) and began the the treacherous walk home. At 430 AM everyone was back safe and soundly in the Hotel and recuperating for Saturday.

The great thing about sharing a room with Carly is, when she is up I also had to be up. So even though I was asleep, I was woken up to Carly telling me that she was up! Naturally the first thing I could think to do was call Alice, after chatting for a while we decided everyone would meet down in the lobby at 11 56 Am (it was pushed back to around 12 06 pm) After meeting in the lobby, a few of us walked ahead in order to get us a spot at Mothers. Honestly, I don't believe we could of gone to a better restaurant! I ordered the Famous Ferdi Special which is ham, roast beef and debris (all the meat that fell off the roast during the cooking phase), The biggest winner of that meal had to be Tommy, who not only had one of their famous sandwiches, but he also had an egg biscuit which probably could of fed a small pack of kittens. The meal re-energized everyone physically but also got us ready emotionally for an event none of us saw coming! A PARADE!

As we walked out of Mothers, we had the pleasure of being apart of the Fox Christmas Parade! (This picture is special for one reason, it held the important celebrity guest, Bob Breck, yup the one and only Fox news weatherman!) Since we were at the very beginning of the parade, we also reaped the benefits of not having a huge crowd around us which allowed everyone to get as many beads as possible.

This was no ordinary parade though, for some reason a herd of mini horses were escorted along with the floats, and don't worry I was able to get a picture of these cute little guys. (On a side note, in the background those are the roller derby ladies, I'm not really sure what the purpose of them was, but either way this gives you a great idea of what kind of parade was going on.

I don't think much needs to be said about this special guy, but one thing to point out is the size of his feet!, This could be considered the tallest midget ever!!!!! (Andrew's face is priceless, my vote for picture of the weekend)

from here, we followed the parade but learning nothing from the previous night we ended right back on Bourbon street. Where buy 1 get 3 free began all over again. The good thing about being on Bourbon early is you have a chance to go on a balcony and from there it truly is a different experience. (Above) You can judge from the picture that we may of gotten there a little to early. After relaxing and just talking for a few hours, we made our way to Acme Oyster House for dinner.

The Meal was fantastic, I got red beans and rice in a bread bowl, Alice schooled us in how to eat oysters and the overall favorite was the sweet potato fries which after several requests were served in a bowl to appear bigger (Original size was honestly 8 fries on a plate. we went through 4 orders) From here, the Bourbon Street flu set in on more than half the group. So while half went back to the hotel, a few of us braved the elements and set out for one more great night. (While on this subject I should bring up that over the entire weekend I had been battling a sore throat/headache etc, after dinner my voice went from low to barely audible) We immediately set off for the same bar we went earlier, to see if we could reclaim our spot on the balcony, we got there and not only did we reclaim our spot but it was once again 3 for 1's again. We pulled up a few chairs and got ready for the long haul.

After about an hour or so Andrew decided it was time for him to brush up on his negotiating skills, so when the waitress came around asking us to buy shots for 3 dollars a piece, he talked her into 5 shots for 10$ with a promise of buying more. During all of this, all of the beads we had on were slowly being thrown over the balcony (and if you're wondering did anyone flash us? Yes it happened and I probably could not think of a worse candidate to do it) We sat at this bar for almost the entire night and instead of describing everything that happened, here is every picture I have from that spot.

One thing I will mention is, we were lucky enough to see a Santa Parade (sorry Tommy) go through Bourbon.

I mentioned earlier that my voice was barely audible and after a few hours out it officially was gone, But from here we made a stop at the Cats Meow to see some karaoke, after a few minutes we left and went into the oldest bar in America; Lafittes. This place was awesome, it has no electricity in the building so they run an extension cord from a neighboring house so they can run the bar. Also we sat there and listened to some live music from a guy playing some famous piano. Around midnight since no one could hear me anymore I decided to take it back to the house, Alice and Drew accompanied me back and around 12 3o we were sound asleep in our beds.

Sunday morning rolled around and we all started walking to a little breakfast place called Surreys, Carly and I ordered a banana pancake along with several other dishes and it was extremely good . Unfortunately our time was dwindling down before everyone had to get to the airport but the last thing we were able to do was take this group picture

I was sad to see the weekend end, I really did have a great time and could not ask for better friends. Thank you guys for coming and I hope you had just as good a time as well, and like I said everyone should come out for Mardi Gras! Also I would like to say Happy Birthday to Sarah, Alice and Mike hope you guys had a great day!

On a quick side note, as if the weekend wasnt full of surprises, I came home from the airport on Sunday to find out I had missed a final on Saturday. After some sweet talking and a little luck the teacher let me make it up on Tuesday!

I also realize the format is a little iffy, this post took me 3 hours and 19 minutes so please just disregard it!!!!!!