81 Degrees F
At Teddy’s cousin Lucy’s house
Writing on June 30, 2011
OK. After Shreveport, we had a long drive ahead of us and wanted to take a few stops so we wouldn’t go crazy in the car. Our first stop was in Natchitoches at the alligator park! It was on the way and I wanted to see some gators in the south—and boy, were we in the south! It was some serious bayou stuff. Lots of fun accents, banjo music and some eerie, lovely gators. They were so boring at first and looked like statues. We would throw these pellets of food at them and they wouldn’t budge. But, the gators in the back of the park were hungry—they would creep up slowly and CHOMP down on the water. Sometimes they would miss—they can’t see in front of their own noses. They let out this growl—and terrifying—to talk to each other. The highlights of the park were pretty peacocks, purchases of gator mugs, being sneezed on by an alpha male deer, and the gator growl.
Tiny bebe gators!
Yeehaw?
Just peacockin' it!
Teddy and some tiny goats.
A water pumping station!!
This is the deer that sneezed all over me. It was pleasant
Befriending the sneezers.
Say Cheese!
Their "smiles" are so cute...and deadly.
I thought this was just about the greatest thing ever.
The picture below is for Mary Helen Wuliger.
The greatest gift shop ever.
Gator Juice!
After a while crocodile
What a day
The second stop was in Baton Rouge for our first taste of Cajun! I Yelped a place in BR, we put on Garth Brooks’ famous song and rolled into town. The place, Tony’s Fish Market and Deli, had fresh fish one side and fried on the other. Teddy got fried crayfish and I got crayfish ettoufee and a corn muffin. YUM.
The last stop was just the most gorgeous thing ever—Oak Alley Plantation. Pretty much every plantation in the south claims that Gone With the Wind modeled its sets after them—it’s almost never true. But this plantation has a row of stunning oaks lining the walkway to the entrance, so obviously people make the connection to Twelve Oaks. We took a tour of the inside of the main house which was pretty interesting—I was just excited that I got to pretend to be Scarlett O’Hara for five seconds. Our tour guide was this very sweet lady in an antebellum dress. She had an awesome accent that Teddy and I adopted and would drive each other crazy imitating throughout the rest of the trip. After the tour, we got trapped on the terrace because an insane storm started. Check out the pictures below.
Teddy in front of the waterfall of rain
So pretty in the storm
Trapped on the veranda. Where's my mint julep?!
So stunningly beautiful
Scarlett in front of her house
This is me sitting under an oak tree at Twelve Oaks telling Charles Hamilton to go get me some dessert.
My favorite picture--surveying my land
We needed to get to Nawlins though, so we pushed on. Driving from open roads into the French Quarter was quite a shock—but a welcome one. Already, we could feel the buzz and excitement of this unique place. I got my first glimpse of some true New Orleans architecture. Most of my pictures from our trip here are of gorgeous buildings. A few weeks ago, we booked a room at the Royal Sonesta Hotel right on Bourbon Street. We were warned NOT to stay ANYWHERE near Bourbon Street. I know what they mean, but we still loved it. Once we spotted the hotel, it was impossible to find parking so I went inside to ask a concierge while Teddy drove around. Once on the street, it was impossible to find an entrance into the hotel so I had to go into a restaurant and ask. Once inside the hotel, it was impossible to find the concierge—but I finally found the overpriced hotel parking lot. Seventy bucks for parking over two days was worth it, however, for the amount of tow trucks in town we saw in full action.
We were simply starving and both kind of on edge by the time we got in line at the concierge desk. Our room at the Royal Sonesta was kind of a splurge purchase. But we knew we had to go all out in New Orleans—we really didn’t want to stay anywhere too sketchy either. The hotel is beautiful—the second you step in the doors, you forget that the hotel is located on Bourbon Street. Beautiful marble, gorgeous fresh flower bouquets, etc. We expected some sort of small, convenient room. But, what we got pretty much knocked us off our feet. I had clicked this button on the website for a sort of gamble—you pay a single price to have your room chosen on the day you arrive. There is a chance you’ll be upgraded. Teddy and I were escorted by the bellboy to our suite worth 5 times the price of what we paid; complete with two bathtubs (one jacuzzi tub in a mirrored alcove in the bedroom area), flatscreen TV in a separate sitting area, huge closets and a massive, beautifully decorated king sized bed! We were so punchy just minutes before, but the second the bellboy closed our door, we both kind of shrieked, jumped around and giggled for a while.
The picture below is for Mary Helen Wuliger.
The greatest gift shop ever.
Gator Juice!
After a while crocodile
What a day
The second stop was in Baton Rouge for our first taste of Cajun! I Yelped a place in BR, we put on Garth Brooks’ famous song and rolled into town. The place, Tony’s Fish Market and Deli, had fresh fish one side and fried on the other. Teddy got fried crayfish and I got crayfish ettoufee and a corn muffin. YUM.
Num Nums.
The last stop was just the most gorgeous thing ever—Oak Alley Plantation. Pretty much every plantation in the south claims that Gone With the Wind modeled its sets after them—it’s almost never true. But this plantation has a row of stunning oaks lining the walkway to the entrance, so obviously people make the connection to Twelve Oaks. We took a tour of the inside of the main house which was pretty interesting—I was just excited that I got to pretend to be Scarlett O’Hara for five seconds. Our tour guide was this very sweet lady in an antebellum dress. She had an awesome accent that Teddy and I adopted and would drive each other crazy imitating throughout the rest of the trip. After the tour, we got trapped on the terrace because an insane storm started. Check out the pictures below.
Teddy in front of the waterfall of rain
So pretty in the storm
Trapped on the veranda. Where's my mint julep?!
So stunningly beautiful
Scarlett in front of her house
This is me sitting under an oak tree at Twelve Oaks telling Charles Hamilton to go get me some dessert.
My favorite picture--surveying my land
We needed to get to Nawlins though, so we pushed on. Driving from open roads into the French Quarter was quite a shock—but a welcome one. Already, we could feel the buzz and excitement of this unique place. I got my first glimpse of some true New Orleans architecture. Most of my pictures from our trip here are of gorgeous buildings. A few weeks ago, we booked a room at the Royal Sonesta Hotel right on Bourbon Street. We were warned NOT to stay ANYWHERE near Bourbon Street. I know what they mean, but we still loved it. Once we spotted the hotel, it was impossible to find parking so I went inside to ask a concierge while Teddy drove around. Once on the street, it was impossible to find an entrance into the hotel so I had to go into a restaurant and ask. Once inside the hotel, it was impossible to find the concierge—but I finally found the overpriced hotel parking lot. Seventy bucks for parking over two days was worth it, however, for the amount of tow trucks in town we saw in full action.
We were simply starving and both kind of on edge by the time we got in line at the concierge desk. Our room at the Royal Sonesta was kind of a splurge purchase. But we knew we had to go all out in New Orleans—we really didn’t want to stay anywhere too sketchy either. The hotel is beautiful—the second you step in the doors, you forget that the hotel is located on Bourbon Street. Beautiful marble, gorgeous fresh flower bouquets, etc. We expected some sort of small, convenient room. But, what we got pretty much knocked us off our feet. I had clicked this button on the website for a sort of gamble—you pay a single price to have your room chosen on the day you arrive. There is a chance you’ll be upgraded. Teddy and I were escorted by the bellboy to our suite worth 5 times the price of what we paid; complete with two bathtubs (one jacuzzi tub in a mirrored alcove in the bedroom area), flatscreen TV in a separate sitting area, huge closets and a massive, beautifully decorated king sized bed! We were so punchy just minutes before, but the second the bellboy closed our door, we both kind of shrieked, jumped around and giggled for a while.
Our first view of the Big Easy!
Bourbon St.
Our ROOM
Not small.
Bourbon St.
Our ROOM
Not small.
It was only about 10:30 pm when we were finished, but we were so tired and still a little head-achey. We went to bed early and vowed to wake up early for a big day in the Big Easy—but not before we had to walk back to our hotel on Bourbon Street. There was live music everywhere of every kind—jazz in one bar, classic rock in another, karaoke in the next. There were people paid to stand outside their establishments and herd tourists into the debauchery. Half naked people were dancing and throwing beads. It was strange and so sad for me to see girls my age or younger dancing in open windows slapping grotesquely at their bodies with dollar bills strapped to a garter around their leg. It felt like another time—like the Old West, but sluttier. It was nice to relax away from the crowd in our room.
Our hotel
