A Californian's Guide to the BOOT

St. Patrick's Day Parade - Metarie Road

2010-03-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today the roommate, another friend, and I decided to enjoy the taste of gorgeous spring weather that Southern Louisiana is currently experiencing by attending the St. Patrick's Day Parade along Old Metarie Road in Metarie! We went there with no expectations about the parade, other than to see cabbage being thrown from floats along with beads! Since Mardi Gras was only a few weeks ago, the three of us were all beaded out and waiting for the cabbage. In fact, we were purposely not trying to catch beads!

We parked near the intersection of Metarie Road and the Railroad tracks near Winston's Pub. Parking near the pub off the parade route was perfect because it gave us access to a clean bathroom in exchange for purchasing a beverage, thus allowing us to avoid the port-o-potties!

After a pit stop and re-hydrating, the three of us walked up Metarie Road to Metarie Village Shopping Center and picked out a spot. While the parade was entertaining and had some great music, it was quite different from the Mardi Gras parades we saw a few weeks ago: no marching bands and lots of marching groups. The variety of Irish music playing from the floats was great, too! Definitely recognized a few of the floats as being recycled from Mardi Gras!

Since we were at the end of the parade route, we chose not to stay for the whole parade since it was getting later in the afternoon and we'd been in the sun for most of the day. Plus, we wanted to beat the traffic! In addition to the enjoyable weather and parade, the people watching was absolutely fantastic!

Parade Location:

2nd Saturday Art Walk

2010-03-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to Downtown Lafayette's Art Walk and was surprised to find that there were quite a few of the smaller galleries with displaying works that I liked, and little at the Acadian Center for the Arts that I liked! The three smaller galleries featured in the slide show had lots of local art containing many motifs of Cajun life - oysters, crabs, and crayfish. Also, many of the pieces in these smaller galleries contained really vibrant reds, blues, and greens!

I also visited a new gallery, Adrian's Fine Arts and Antiques, that I had not previously been to that featured a charicature artist, which I am usually not a fan of this genre, whoever I was really impressed! This gallery also featured really great live music! By far my favorite stop last night!

As I mentioned, the Acadiana Center for the Arts (ACA) usually contains my favorite works for the evening, however this was not the case last night. The only collection that I enjoyed at the ACA yesterday was one in which the artist had painted various musical instruments (i.e. violin, cielo, bass, French horn, etc.)with different themes from the celestial to a violin made to look like it was wearing a tuxedo. The Vault at the ACA contained some local pottery from the rice patties that didn't really do anything for me, which probably had a lot to do with the drab colors that were used. In the main gallery, there was a photography and acrylic collection in which the artist had taken blurry photos from the back seat of a car and then painted an even blurrier interpretation of the photos. Personally, they were not to my taste because they reminded me of my vision when I take out my contacts: one big blur of colors.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening: good art and some great weather!

On a side note: My friend and I strolled through Park San Succi and found ourselves participating in a hula hoop class demo. Why Red's does not offer this class, is beyond me!

Location:

Ice Gator Game

2010-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I went to a Lafayette Ice Gator game with some friends. As odd as ice hockey in South Louisiana sounds, so does snow in these parts and that's obviously happened three time since I've been here.

Anyways...

Despite the fact that I am not an avid hockey fan, I am always up for any spectator sport involving speed and body slamming. A friend of mine asked if I was interested in seeing Lafayette's pro or semi-pro (it's up for debate, depending on who you ask)ice hockey team play that evening, and my first response was too Google ticket prices. While at the Ice Gator's website checking out ticketing, I noticed that the March 6th game was list a "guaranteed win night," so I was definitely in!

What is a "guaranteed win night?" According to the Ice Gator website, a "guaranteed win night" is a game that the Ice Gators are so confident they'll win, that if they don't, then they will give every member of the audience a free ticket to the next home game. Since I love FREE things, I was sold on this and obviously went to the game without even knowing who the opponent was (still don't), yet hoping GUEST would win! Unforturnately, things did not work out that way and the Ice Gators won the game in over time!

However, I got into Saturday night's game for free because a girl outstide the stadium was giving away FREE tickets to people in line to buy the $10 game ticket. Therefore, things still worked out and I got my FREE ticket!!

The game was really exciting, but I was surprised by how many times the Gators fell down during game play: definitely don't recall that many face plants on the ice from the Olympics!

Despite the fact that the Ice Gators won and I did not get a free ticket to a second game, I still had a blast and would DEFINTELY go to another Ice Gator game!

The zambonie (see slideshow) was really unique because never before had I seen one designed to look like a gator!

WARNING: I'm a picky eater, so I usually eat at home or take my own snacks along in my purse. After reading that statement it should not surprise you that I ate dinner at home before the game and was really glad that I had, based on my visual appraisal of the food served at the Blackhem Colliseum concession stand. Also, a friend of mine described her hamburger from the concessions. Personally, soggy is not a word I like to associate with any food other than a French Dip. So, eat concession stand food at your own risk! YUCK!

BONUS: We did not stay for the ULL hockey game that began immediately after the Ice Gator game. However, if you attend and Ice Gator game on a night that ULL is playing after them, then you can take advantage of a two for one hockey game!

http://www.icegators.com/

Map:

Mardi Gras Day, February 16, 2010

2010-02-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

from the roommate:

Lundi Gras, February 15th

2010-02-22T22:36:00.000-08:00

Ludacris Performing at Lundi Gras Festival on the Riverwalk

Pics from the roomie:

Parade Schedule:http://www.mardigrasparadeschedule.com/

Mardi Gras Weekend - Feb 14th

2010-02-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

Mardi Gras Weekend - Feb 13th

2010-02-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

Endymion - Tom Benson Lombardi Trophy Float

View of opposite Parade Stand and Dance PAR-TAY

Photos from THE ROOMMATE:

http://www.mardigrasparadeschedule.com/

Mardi Gras Weekend - Feb 12th

2010-02-22T22:05:00.004-08:00

The Friday of Mardi Gras Weekend started off with a rare Louisiana snow fall! Blame the Saints for winning the Super Bowl!

Parades in NOLA:

Rest of Muses:

Photos from the Roommate:

Mardi Gras Superbowl Sunday - Feb 7th

2010-02-22T22:05:00.003-08:00

Parade pics from the ROOMMATE

Saints WIN the Super Bowl at Rum House on Magazine:

Mardi Gras Superbowl Weekend - Feb 6th

2010-02-22T22:05:00.001-08:00

Photos from THERoommate

Mardi Gras Superbowl Weekend - Feb 5th

2010-02-22T22:04:00.001-08:00

MEMPHIS: Bb-q, Blues, and Beale Street

2010-01-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, the roommate and I headed to Memphis to satisfy our desire for a Food Network styled BBQ weekend, Elvis sightings, and visit a friend of mine from college!

FRIDAY
Our adventure started mid-afternoon on Friday when we headed to Memphis via I-55 for a six hour drive with a Mary Higgins Clark Book on CD and our work lap tops. Seven hours later (thanks to road construction on I-12)we arrived in Memphis starving and ready for RIBS!

The roommate and I joined my friend from college for dinner a late dinner (10 p.m.~ish) at Rendezvous'(http://www.hogsfly.com/)in downtown Memphis to kick off our weekend of BBQ! Aside from being a Food Network and Travel Channel favorite, this place was highly recommended by two co-workers that went to the University of Memphis. Rendezvous' is located in an alley behind the Holiday Inn on 2nd Street. We almost missed it, except for the luring scent of ribs wafting down the street. As you can see in the slide show above, this restaurant is located in a dark alley, in the basement of the building. Sketchy sounding, but oh so good!

Their ribs are prepared with a dry rub, which was my first experience with meat prepared this way. Photos of our meals are featured in the slide show: I got the ribs and BBQ chicken combo; the roommate got chicken and brisquette; and my college friend got a full rack of ribs. None of us had ever eaten dry rubbed ribs before and were surprised that the meat did not just fall of the bones as it would with a wet rub. All of our entrees were served with cole slaw and beans. The beans were delish, but I passed on the cole slaw because I am not a fan of this side. (Not just theirs, I passed on cole slaw every where we ate over the weekend.) Rendezvous' BBQ sauce also has a different, almost vinegary flavor to it, which I really liked and definitely complimented the seasonings on the ribs. The BBQed chicken was great too, however I was obviously there for the ribs!
- Definitely would go here again!

After dinner, we wandered down to Beale Street to listen to some live music and walk off our meal. Our first stop was Bum Boogie Cafe, where there was firey blues band on stage! After watching their set and members of the audience down stares shake and shimmy to their tunes from the upstairs balcony, we headed up the street to Club 251 to take in another band that was more of the rock genre.

SATURDAY
The roommate and I were up earlier than my college buddy, so the two of us pulled out our Frommer's Memphis travel guide and went on the downtown Memphis walking tour that was laid out in the book. On our walking tour we saw the Mississippi River, the Orpheum Theater, a statue of Elvis, Gibson Guitar Factory, and where the Grizzlies play before lunch.

The three of us went to lunch at Corky's (http://www.corkysmemphis.com/), which was another recommendation of both the Food Network, Travel Channel, and a co-worker. Google maps told us that the drive to Corky's from downtown would be about fifteen minutes, however, we hit almost every red light on the way in the rain, which made the trip seem that much longer. Upon arrival, the parking lot was packed and so was the waiting area. Immediately we knew it was worth the drive!

At Corky's, we sampled the ale, rolls, onion loaf, beans, pulled pork, and ribs! Corky's Ale was a definite thumbs up. The rolls were a mild sour dough rolled in butter and garlic powder. For an appetizer, we split half of an onion loaf, which is essentially a stack of their onion rings served with a secret sauce (my guess is that is was their BBQ sauce and mayo). We each got our own pulled pork sandwich that melted in our mouthes and was THE most delicious pulled pork sandwich that I've ever had! The three of us split a rack of their wet ribs and the meat just fell off the bones, leaving incredibly clean rib bones!
-Absoluetely going to Corky's again!!

Saturday Afternoon, the roommate and I headed over to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks climb out of the fountain and March back to the elevator, but it was too crowded to see anything. The two of us decided to try again on Sunday.

After a failed attempt to see the ducks, we went to the Fly Saucer Drink Emporium to watch the second half of the Saints Game. This bar came HIGHLY recommended by a geologist that I work with, largely because it has one hundred beers on tap. I give the place a thumbs up for the decor and the fact that they had Magic Hat #9 on tap, which I have never seen outside of the East Coast - a definite treat!

That evening, the three of us debated about what and where to eat for dinner, afraid that after eating at Corky's, we would be disappointed by any other BBQ eaten that weekend. However, we took a gamble and stuck with our BBQ theme for the weekend, which we were quite thankful of when sitting in Marlowe's (http://www.marlowesmemphis.com/) with our ribs in front of us an hour later.

Marlowe's was lip smacking good! I am so glad my friend convinced the roommate and I to carry on with the BBQ theme because the ribs at Marlowe's are not to be missed! The service was also very good and personal! Apparently they have a pink Cadillac limo to take guests to and from the restaurant, however we were staying outside of its travel radius and were unable to catch a ride! Since I was still full from lunch, I was unable to finish my ribs at dinner, however I had a great doggie bag for Monday night's dinner. I am quite pleased to say that they were still fantastic even after microwaving them at home. Once again, the meat pretty much fell off of the bones!
-Delicious and MUST go back!

SUNDAY
We started the day off by heading over to The Peabody early to make sure that we got a good spot on the second floor balcony to see the ducks march out of the elevator and into the fountain. (See the video below.)

Peabody Hotel Ducks' Introduction

Peabody Hotel Ducks Entering Fountain

After the ducks, the three of us had made lunch at BB King's (http://www.bbkingclubs.com/index.php?page=memhome) on Beale our final BBQ meal of the weekend! There we each ordered a pulled pork sandwich and split a rack of ribs. The meal was really good, but nothing compared to Corky's pulled pork sandwich! Their ribs were good, however, we ordered a half rack of ribs in which half of the ribs were supposed to be wet and the other half wet, however we were unable to tell which were wet and which were dry. They were good, but I would still recommend the other three places over this one.

After lunch, the roommate and I parted ways with my friend from home and headed to Graceland (http://www.elvis.com/). Elvis' home was definitely work the trip and I am glad that we went during the off season because the place is definitely set up to handle a much larger visitor capacity than we encountered. His home, ground, and cars, were rather fantastic to see, especially have growing up with parents that played Elvis records for my brother and I was children and watched Elvis' movies as a child with my family.

Olde Time Grocery: Po-Boys

2010-01-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

Ever since the roommate and I began telling people about the Po-Boy festival, people have been recommending places for us to satisfy our po-boy craving. The place that everyone in Lafayette recommends is Olde Time Grocery.

This po-boy shop is located on Saint Mary's, around the corner from ULL and a favorite with the students. So, I waited until ULL was on their break for Christmas before heading over there to investigate the rumors that they make the best po-boy ever.

Despite the local University being closed for break, the place was still packed when I went with several co-workers the Friday before Christmas. I ordered their signature sandwich: the shrimp. The po-boy was definitely delicious, but Delancie's on Magazine in New Orleans still makes my favorite shrimp po-boy! Olde Time's sauce was great and so was the shrimp, however the bread was the texture of a bakery loaf of French Bread, than the po-boy French bread with a crunchy crust that I have been accustomed to with my po-boys.

Good po-boys and I will definitely go again!

24 deg F in the BOOT

2010-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

Over the past week, Louisiana has been affected by the deep freeze that has been affecting much of the rest of the nation. Yesterday, the temperature was 24 deg F when I woke up to do my laundry. On my way to the laundry room, I discovered that the ponds in my complex were frozen over.

While I was here in 2008 and 2009 for two back to back years of one day snow events that have apparently not happened in over ten years, I did not see ice or frozen ponds until this weekend.

As much as I enjoy cold weather, it would be better with snow (minus the shoveling)!

2nd Saturday Art Walk

2010-01-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

On the second Saturday of every month, the art studios and museum (ACA) in downtown Lafayette open their doors between 6-8pm for a lot of art and some wine - two of my favorite things! This past Saturday was my third Art Walk in the 16 months that I have been here. What does that say about someone who minored in art history and has only attended three out of sixteen of these since she's been here? That they are hit or miss. This Saturday was definitely a hit! Several of the art galleries had gorgeous landscapes. Also, the Acadiana Center for the Arts has an awesome photography display! My favorite photos on display at ACA this month were taken by an individual just after Katrina in 2005 of the various billboards that had been destroyed by the storm and then graffitied by people.

Unfortunately, the turnout this month was really low due to the unusually low temperatures. However, anyone that stayed home from the cold Saturday night, missed out on some great art!

Caroling in Jackson Square

2010-01-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

The Sunday before Christmas, I joined some friends in New Orleans for some caroling in Jackson Square. My fellow seconded friend, his puppy, and I joined a local friend and her family, that annually attend this event in Jackson Square. Before caroling in front of Saint Louis Cathedral,we warmed our bellies with a cup of seafood gumbo from Felix's in the Quarter!

Definitely fun and festive! Our friend's family was totally prepared, so the fellow Californian, puppy, and I caroled like pros at this event: our friend's grandfather had sturdy holly red candles in plastic cups (wind protection) for our entire party, which were a definite upgrade from the candles that come with the song books that are handed out as you enter the square. (The group that puts on the event provided everyone with song books and candles.)

The caroling lasted about an hour and was led by a group of about a dozen locals, including a priest from Saint Louis Cathedral.

Despite having a blast this event I have two observations:
1) some songs were unnecessarily song twice, back to back
2) Who sings Good King Wenceslas?!?!?
Definitely the worst carol EVER! Not to mention, it sounded awful because no one knew the tune and it was totally obvious! I recommend deleting it from next year's program.

Location of Jackson Square:

Celebration in the Oaks at City Park

2009-12-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

The roommate and I decided to check out this event after the Disney exhibit at NOMA Sunday evening. Not knowing what to expect and seeing a wide variety of ages attending the event, we figured it had to be great for the young to very old. However, we should have taken the fact that the museum curator that is our age had no idea that Celebration in the Oaks was even occurring in the museum's backyard as a red flag. However, the roommate and I have yet to learn this lesson.

Before leaving the museum, we found a security guard that was able to give us directions to the festival from the Museum that were WRONG and led us to the Christian Brothers School in City Park, instead of the festival. After some driving around the park in an incredibly thick and eery fog, we found the festival by the tennis courts on the complete opposite side of the park from where the security guard told us to go.

After finding the location of the festival, our next obstacle was finding the entrance to the holiday event. By now, we probably should have just given up and gone home, but we were determined. Eventually, we found the entrance between the tennis courts. Unlike what our NOMA security guard told us, there was a complete lack of signage as to where the event was and how to enter it.

The festival takes place in the Storyville section of City Park, which is a permanent amusement park for children and ironically named after the city's "experiment" with legalized prostitution - great name for a children's park! Not that we were planning to ride any of the rides because we were there for the light show, but they were all for children.

After moving through the childrens' park, the festival flowed into the botanic gardens. Seeing the botanic gardens was definitely worth the ticket price to get in because neither of us had previously been there. The two highlights of the light display were definitely the model train and Cajun Night Before Christmas displays.

The model train display was definitely a lot more impressive than the model train set that my brother and I played with in the basement as children and the model train shows that we went to. (Yes, this is what children that live in a city where it snows six months out of the year do!)

The Cajun Night Before Christmas display was a set of multiple light displays that were set to an audio recording of the story. So, to answer a previous blog of mine: Yes, the Cajun Night Before Christmas is an actual Louisianan Christmas classic!

Other than the two mentioned displays, the light show was not anything spectacular, just lights hung on bushes. However, we may have missed something at the laser light show. When we got to the designated area, there was a laser but no show. If you were there and saw something different, let me know!

The carolers were also festive and so were the trees that were decorated by school children. In fact, I think this event would have been magical if I had children with me. Then again, I am neither asking for my own nor to borrow anyone else's for an encore of this event any time soon. This is simply a suggestion that if you have children, then you should attend this event. Considering none of my friends have children, I can't recommend this to anyone that I'm friends with. JUST KIDDING, the red head has two little ones, but he's probably not allowed to come to New Orleans without supervision! HA!

http://celebrationintheoaks.com/

Excerpt of a Cajun Night Before Christmas:

Location of City Park:

The Princess and the Frog & Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio

2009-12-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

Friday night, the roommate and I went with a friend to see Disney's newest princess movie that is set in New Orleans, called The Princess and the Frog. The movie was awesome and totally hit on several all too Louisianan quips and sayings that one can only truly appreciate after spending a significant amount of time in the boot state. For example: "we're from far, far away"...."oh, you're from Shreveport;" lightening bug named Boudreaux; a star/lightening bug named Evangeline; and so much more! I can't remember laughing so hard! The frog hunters were awesome and definitely reminiscent of someone I met somewhere... The Cajun lightening bug was by far my favorite. Although I am not an expert on accents, I thought it was great that the movie was somewhat true to life, attempting to mimic the regional accents. Loved this movie!

In order to make it a complete Disney weekend, the roommate and I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) on Sunday to see the special exhibit Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio. The exhibit was fantastic! Touring the entire exhibit takes about an hour and a half, beginning with a 15 minute video introduction to Walt Disney's goals and inspirations for feature length animated films. After the movie, guests of the museum are handed an audio set for the portions of the exhibit that correspond to an audio tour.

The exhibit is divided into several rooms, one per princess movie: Snow White; Cinderella; Sleeping Beauty; The Little Mermaid; Beauty and the Beast; and The Princess and the Frog. Each room features cell and drawings (that have not previously been displayed) with accompanying information on the animation process and how it has evolved with each film. The exhibit also features soundtracks and video clips from each of the featured movies. Highly recommendable and totally different from the Disney Animators' behind the scenes tour that I remember at Disney's MGM!

http://www.noma.org/exhibitions.html

Location of City Park:

Aaron Neville and His Qunitet's Christmas Concert at the House of Blues

2009-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday night, the roommate and I attended the Aaron Neville Christmas Concert at the House of Blues. We got there early to stake out a spot on the second floor balcony, stage left that allowed us to essentially look down on the stage and guitarist below us. (The photo above is taken from a different angle than where we watched the show because I didn't think it was a good idea to take out my camera standing next to a security guard.) The two of us were definitely the youngest members of the audience.

Definitely on the list of top five concerts that I have ever been to! I think the roommate may even agree on this, even though she had no idea who she was going to see when she told me that she wanted to go! Haha... two songs into the concert, the roommate turns to tell me that she doesn't care when the show is over because we are staying until the end! Love it!

The two of us got our tickets via the House of Blues' Two for Tuesday member e-mails. Despite that fact that you get three e-mails a week from them, the Two for Tuesday ones are great because we bought our Aaron Neville tickets via the two for one e-mail: basically paid half price for tickets. Woohoo!

http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/neworleans/

Location of the House of Blues:

Christmas Tea at the Windsor Court

2009-12-08T21:00:00.001-08:00

After watching Sunday's Saints game and before going to the Aaron Neville Christmas Concert, we sipped tea at Windsor Court. They were brewing their Holiday Tea and it tasted like Christmas! :)

The scones and finger sandwiches were delicious, too!

Very elegant and a great recommendation for our Sunday afternoon!

Location of Windsor Court:

Abita Christmas Ale Party at the Rock'n'Bowl and Ye Olde College Inn

2009-12-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, the roommate and I decided to take a break from the usual night out on Bourbon and check out the Abita Christmas Ale Party at the Rock'n'Bowl (Abita.com). For those of you that don't know, Abita Beer is a Louisiana Brewing company that makes some great seasonal brews using local flavors like satsumas and pecans. Periodically, Abita hosts Bar Crawl events in South Louisiana that are free to register for and attend. Registration entitles you and your pub crawl wrist band to $1.00 beers at the venue.

The event Saturday night at the Rock'n'Bowl was to unveil the Christmas Ale and included in the one dollar special. Unfortunately, neither of us were fond of the Christmas Ale that tasted like Andygator with mulled spice: YUCK! However, several other Abita brews the two of us enjoy were included in the $1.00 special. So after suffering through the Christmas Ale, we swapped it out for one of our usual favorites. :)

After two $1.00 Abita's we still had some time before the band, Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, started their set. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to go next door to Ye Olde College Inn and taste their Bread Pudding Po-Boy that sold out before we could try it at the Po-Boy Preservation Festival.

When we walked into the Inn, our only concern was whether the Bread Pudding Po-Boy was on that night's menu because we were on a mission. This then caused some what of a panic and taught us a valuable lesson: never ask the hostess if an item is on the menu that night because she will immediately panic and think rumors are abound NOLA that they are our of an item or no longer serving it. After clearing up the confusion we were seated and immediately got to business, ordering a the Bread Pudding Po-Boy and the Creole Bread Pudding. (Don't worry, we got one of each to split because the portions are MASSIVE and super rich!)

Amateur Food Critic's Bread Pudding Review:

- Bread Pudding Po-Boy was phenomenal! It was like brown sugar encrusted french toast! Tasting this explained why it won at the Po-Boy festival the other year.

- The Creole Bread Pudding, however, was a different story and not to my taste: too wet, rich, and buttery. (Keep in mind that this amateur food critic is from Southern California, eats organically as much as possible, and cooks in the Mediterranean style.)

*Even though we did not dine at the Inn, the food looked delicious and we definitely plan to go back for more than just dessert in the future!

After enjoying dessert, we went back to the Rock'n'Bowl to listen to the band before heading to The Roosevelt to meet up with friends, enjoy the Winter Wonderland display, and try a holiday drink at Sazurac.

Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys

I almost forgot to mention that although we did not bowl at the Christmas Ale party, the venue was really neat and we plan to go back and bowl another night!

Location:

The National World War II Museum

2009-12-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

I initially visited the World War II Museum in January of this year on the recommendation of a college friend that is in the air force. My first visit left my impressed by how much there was to learn at the museum and that after a four hour afternoon of touring the exhibits, I had not come close to seeing everything!

In high school, I took A.P. U.S. History and felt pretty confident about my WWII knowledge going into the museum, but I was constantly discovering new facts about the war with each exhibit. For some reason my high school history books failed to mention the role that Hollywood played in winning the war with regards to building sets and inflatable trucks to make it look like the allies were gearing up for an a D-Day invasion in France on a different coast than Normandy based on "false artillery and troop build up." Other details that were absent from my AP classes were that dolls were dropped with the paratroopers with audio recordings of gun fire attached to them to make the number of paratroopers look larger than there actually were! Additionally, I had no idea that there were so many D-Days on the Pacific front.

This museum is phenomenal - rarely use that word, if ever!

As I mentioned, I was unable to see everything at the museum on my first visit in January and knew that I would need to go back. I decided to make my second trip to the museum after the opening of their new Victory Complex in October. Saturday afternoon, my friends and I went back to the WWII Museum to check out the new complex and see the rest of the museum that we missed on our initial visits.

Saturday afternoon, we began our trip to the museum at the new Victory complex by purchasing the combo museum entry and 4-D Beyond All Boundaries in the Victory Theater (http://nationalww2museum.org/victory-theater/). The three of us had some time to kill before the movie started, so we decided to get a drink at the John Besh Restaurant at the museum, The American Sector (http://nationalww2museum.org/american-sector/. None of us were hungry, but we were thirsty and ordered sodas! The bartender served them in a giant vat whose nozzle had to be suppressed to infuse the soda with CO2. It was totally worth the visit! We weren't hungry and did not try the food, but it looked delicious!

The 4-D Beyond All Boundaries in the Victory Theater was spectacular! Tom Hanks narrated the movie, that resembled a ride at Disney World, with the seats vibrating when the audience was place in the seat of an airplane cockpit and inside a tank. Definitely sit in row five or higher to avoid being snowed on! (Our bartender at the John Besh restaurant recommended rows five through eight as the best ones to site and he was right.)

After the movie we began our tour of the museum. If you go to the museum, definitely start your visit with the 4-D movie!

http://nationalww2museum.org/

Location:

New Orleans Christmas Parade and Decorations

2009-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday, the roommate and I had some time to kill while we waited for our friend to meet us at the World War II Museum after lunch. So, the two of us found a sunny spot on Canal Street and took in the parade! When the parade ended, we walked up Canal to the end of the parade route at Elks and were entertained by dueling high school marching bands. Honestly, I have never seen anything like it and have to add it to my "only in Louisiana" list: one band played a tune with corresponding auxiliary and flag team choreography, they then challenged the other band to top their performance. After the Christmas Parade, the roommate and I continued to stall before the WWII Museum by checking out the Christmas decorations on and around Canal Street.

Our first stop was to The Shops at Canal Mall had a large tree with carolers wandering the mall in period attire and generally frightening shoppers - always entertaining to observe!

Our next stop was to the lobby at the Sheraton on Canal, whose window display depicts a Cajun Night Before Christmas. I have not Wikapdeia-ed this story, yet, to prove that such a Christmas Classic does exist, so I am taking the word of two of my favorite Louisianans that it does. According to their telling of the story, Santa had a skiff instead of a sleigh, alligators in place of reindeer, and a white alligator (yes, Virginia, they do exist) instead of Rudolf. As I said: only in Louisiana!

Upon leaving the WWII Museum, we continued our holiday lights and decoration viewings by going to the Hilton on Bourbon and enjoying their teddy bear trees!

The Roosevelt was next on our list of free holiday light displays to see and it was fantastic! Their main lobby was lined on both sides with flocked evergreens and bare perennial trees decked in lights in keeping with the Winter Wonderland theme.

Touring the lighted tree display at The Roosevelt gave us the opportunity to check out John Besh's restaurant and bar in the hotel, Sazurac. The four of us only sampled the bar offerings in the lounge Saturday evening and will have to go back for dinner on another trip. With the prime goal of the restaurant trip largely to confirm that the food served at his restaurant is better than the Specialty Holiday Cocktails listed on the drink menu. The bartenders made a mean Gin and Tonic (G & T), but steer clear of the Holiday Specials (Mrs. Claus, Jingle Bells, and Mistletoe) unless you like the taste of rubbing alcohol! Had the roommate and I not split a Jingle Bell (ordered on Jingle Bell and an empty glass), then I might have felt bad about NOT finishing the coffee beverage. Not only did the two of us dislike this drink, but our two friends with us tried them and agreed they were terrible. A member of our party ordered the Mistletoe, which tasted like sweaty socks dipped in Yeager with a twist of lemon.

Unfortunately, I think this is how these cocktails are supposed to taste and we were not being overly critical that night because we saw others in the lounge order the same drinks and leave without finishing them. (Obviously this could mean anything, but I feel better assuming that it was because they also thought the cocktails were terrible. Plus, we overheard a man tell his wife that her Mrs. Clause was awful after he teased her for not drinking it and then proceeded to taste it.)

3-11 with State Radio at UNO Lakefront Arena

2009-12-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon, I drove down to New Orleans with a friend for the 3-11 concert at UNO's Lakefront Arena! We braved the 38 degree F wind and rain that night to drive across town to UNO. On the way, I realized I had no idea who the opener was, so I looked them up on Pandora for an in-vehicle preview of State Radio. The preview was definitely favorable, reminding me of a Pepper-Rebellution combo.

This was my first concert at the Lakefront Arena and I was definitely impressed with the acoustics! Unlike other indoor venues I have been to, there wasn't a weird echo reverberating the music and making it sound like loud noise.

Overall assessment: clean venue with good acoustics; 3-11 was awesome as usual; and I found a new band (the opener) for my iPOD! Although the weather was frigid and wet, it did not snow in New Orleans, like it did on the north side of the Lake. In fact, I would have preferred and was even hoping for snow over cold, slushy rain! Honestly, I was so pumped after 3-11 that the wind an rain wasn't even an issue (not that I wasn't dressed in anticipation of snow)! :)

[I was definitely disappointed to wake up the next morning and not find snow. :( ]

311 - "Hey You"

311 - Percussion Set

Location:

Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island

2009-11-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

Today I went on an awesome 46.8 mile round trip bike ride to Jefferson Island with two of my cycling buddies. (Our goal was to bike off the previous day's Thanksgiving turkey!) We took a number of back roads that wound us through Cajun Country on some abnormally smooth surfaces for Southwest Louisiana- the city road crews must have known we were planning a ride because some of the roads were freshly paved!

Upon reaching Jefferson Island, the three of us had lunch at the cafe, wandered through the gardens, toured the Rip Van Winkle Home, and viewed the lake. The lake was of particular interest to me with how it expanded in size due to a salt mine being punctured in the 80s, thus creating a vacuum effect for sucking in neighboring water bodies and creating the present lake.

http://www.ripvanwinklegardens.com

Location: