Road Trip 2008: Day 4 of 17 (New Orleans)

We had the kids keep a journal about their trip experiences

Derek and Todd relaxing on the front porch in the morning

Taking the streetcar to the French Quarter

Lunch at The Court Of Two Sisters

Derek and the mighty Mississippi

Helen tries on sunglasses at The French Market

Cafe Du Monde of course

Winding it down on Bourbon Street

Monday May 26

On Monday we took a day trip with Katie to New Orleans, which is about an hour east of Pierre Part. We parked uptown near Tulane University and took the streetcar down St Charles Street to the French Quarter.

We spent some time looking for a visitor center that was marked on our map. We couldn't find it until we realized it was in the police precinct. It turned out not to be much of a visitor center - just a small bookshelf in the corner with some pamphlets. The policeman weren't very friendly either.

We went to The Court Of Two Sisters for lunch. We hadn't planned on it being a big brunch, but we decided to try it. The food was very good, the ambiance in the open courtyard was very nice, and there was a wide selection of food so everyone could find something they liked. However, nobody really ate enough to warrant the price - as is usually the case with us and buffets. It's bothersome to see Adam get a plate full of cheap fruit or something, when I know it's the expensive stuff like the shrimp where the value is to be had. I can usually get my money's worth - given enough time, but everyone else is usually ready to go long before I'm full.

We walked around the French Quarter and stopped in a number of shops. We walked through the French Market (a big flea market) where Katie and Helen got some cheap knockoff designer sunglasses and Katie bought a purse. Then we walked over to check out the Mississippi river. We stopped at Cafe Du Monde for some beignets, of course, before checking out Jackson Square and walking over to the Riverwalk mall. We were all tired, but toughed it out and strolled over to Bourbon Street as night was falling. The kids were a little shell shocked by all the activity, but nothing too inappropriate. We could still hear the music playing as we waited for the streetcar to take us back uptown. We were glad that the kids got to hear the Bourbon Street music - something truly authentic New Orleans.

The boys were complaining that they were starving so we looked for a nice neighborhood place to eat. We were lucky enough to stumble upon The Camilla Grill. It reminded me of the old Junior's Grill from my Georgia Tech days and we saw plenty of what looked like Tulane students. A place with some character, great food, and friendly service at a reasonable price - perfect.

All in all the trip to New Orleans was ok, but a little touristy, especially after our authentic Cajun experience the day before. We found that many towns had the usual children's museum, aquarium, etc. designed to attract the tourists; I'm sure those places would have been fine, but we tried desperately to find those authentic experiences that made each town unique in what seems is an America that is turning into one big homogenous place with the same big name chain stores, restaurants, and hotels.

Road Trip 2008: Day 3 of 17 (Pierre Part)

Sunday May 25

We woke up in the morning eager to check out Pierre Part. The first thing we did is walk out to Todd's front yard and check out the crawfish traps that Todd puts out in the bayou located just across the street from his house. The kids ran from trap to trap eagerly waiting to see what would be caught. There were only a few crawfish. Todd says that they come in "runs" and you never know when they're going to be running and fill up your traps. However, we did catch a turtle and a couple snakes. Todd let one "good" snake go, but decided to shoot the other "bad" one. For days, shooting the snake was all that Derek and Adam talked about. Todd let the boys shoot the gun at some other targets as well, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Then we borrowed Todd's uncle's boat to ride around the bayou. Todd has a lot of family with houses along the bayou. The area is a system of interconnected waterways, which lead into a big area of water called Lake Verret. Todd took us into a number of the secluded waterways looking for wildlife. We saw bald eagles and lots of other birds, turtles, and a nutria, but no alligators. Todd and Katie said that it's actually fairly rare to see alligators since they have so much area, inaccessible to boats, in which to hide. On the boat ride back we stopped at Todd's uncle's house. He's an artist and has an incredible menagerie of driftwood sculptures that covers the front of his house. I would say covers his front yard, but his yard is really just the bayou. His house is built in the water.

In the afternoon, the boys helped Todd clean the crawfish for the crawfish boil. Todd had purchased several large potato sack size bags of live crawfish from a friend of his and threw a big party for his family and friends. He has a nice big covered porch area attached to his house that was perfect. Katie also invited a number of her friends from Baton Rouge. One of Katie's friends brought some delicious boudin sausage. We couldn't get enough of it. There were lots of nice interesting people and we really enjoyed meeting everyone. There were all kinds of kids and dogs running around. We played volleyball . It was great. We felt so privileged to experience an authentic cajun crawfish boil.

They were also having a fair at the local Catholic Church, which in Pierre Part means that was the place to be. So we headed over to the fair with a bunch of people from the crawfish boil. Helen and I were pretty beat from the long hot day, but the kids kept right on trucking. Derek ran all over the place with one of the kids he met at the crawfish boil. They must have rode "The Flying Dutchman" swinging boat ride 10 times. All the kids kept pressuring Katie to ride and she kept giving them excuses until she finally gave in and was quickly whisked away in a whirlwind of kids.

Road Trip 2008: Day 2 of 17 (Mobile)

Saturday May 24

The original plan for the day was to wake up fairly early and quickly check out Mobile before heading to New Orleans. As would be the usual morning for us, we ate the hotel breakfast and didn't get out and about until 10 or 11. Our hotel was on the west side of Mobile just off of I-65. We drove east towards Mobile Bay and saw nice houses and streets lined with old oaks covered in spanish moss. We passed a Krispy Kreme and the light was on so we stopped even though we had just finished breakfast - we're on vacation. We don't have a Krispy Kreme near us, so they're a special treat. Derek scarfed a few down, but Adam claimed he didn't "wike" them - even though he ate some of the left overs the next morning. Both boys really liked looking through the glass separator into the back of the store to see the donuts being made.

When we reached Mobile Bay, we drove through a tunnel to an island where the USS Alabama Battleship Museum is. They had the battleship as well as a submarine, lots of aircraft, and a number of war memorials. We usually try to make an effort on Memorial Day weekend to do something with the boys to honor those that fought and died for our country, so we thought it was great timing to be touring the battleship museum that weekend.

The USS Alabama was active in the Western Pacific during WWII, using its long range guns that can shoot up to 21 miles to pummel Japanese positions. We went on a self tour of the ship that took about 3 hours. The ship was huge. We were all amazed at how much they packed into the ship. It was like a little city with everything you would need when you don't see land for 6 months at a time. There was also a SR-71 Blackbird spy plane that was very impressive. We all thought the museum was great, but after a few hours the boys were done.

After the museum, we went to the Mobile visitor center to check things out and then rode the trolley bus around town to see some sites before heading to Felix's Fish Camp for lunch. One of the ladies at the visitor center recommended it. It's a cool place with a nice view overlooking the water. We both ordered fish prepared in the house "special" ways - menuiere and almondine. Basically, it means to soak thoroughly in butter, so much so that Helen actually took the fish off her plate and poured the butter that the fish was sitting in into another plate. We ordered grilled fish for Adam and wished we had done the same for ourselves. However, the crab soup was excellent as well as the service.

After the battleship museum and a leisurely lunch it was obvious we weren't going to be able to see much of New Orleans and since we were already planning a day trip to New Orleans on Monday with Katie, we decided to drive around the Eastern side of Mobile Bay. The drive wasn't particularly noteworthy. We had hoped to drive along the bay, but the road was removed somewhat from the bay. Mobile seemed to be a nice quaint town with some life, but a nice relaxed pace.

We drove around the bay and down to Gulf Shores and headed west where the land dead ends into Fort Morgan. From there we took a car ferry across to Dauphin Island, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. We were pleasantly surprised by Gulf Shores. It looks like they make an effort with the zoning to give a nice look and feel to the area. The car ferry was a fun adventure. We parked the car in line for the ferry and got out and looked around while we waited on the ferry. We made the ferry crossing as the sun was going down over the bay. It was really beautiful and the boys thought the whole adventure was super cool. We were surprised by how many oil wells there are in the bay.

So this was our first real day and we were already off plan, but the day turned out to be a precursor of what was to come. It turned out for the rest of the trip that we would get into each town late - around 9 or 10 and then tour the town the next day before hopping in the car for the next town. It just seemed that wherever we were we could always think of plenty of things to check out, which put us into the next town late.

The bad thing about traveling so late was that there were plenty of things on the way to the next destination that we wanted to see, but the attractions all closed at 5 or so. Whenever we would show up when the place was closed. we would try to check out what we could and get a feel for the place, but regretfully had to move on. We tried not to beat ourselves up too much since were seeing so many things and we couldn't see it all. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was the first of these disappointments for us.

Katie and Todd were expecting us in Pierre Part and we were running very late. The first thing we realized about Louisiana is that they have terrible roads. I guess it's hard to build good roads on swamp land. I-10 has so many swells it felt like a boat ride. I joked with a friend at work who is from Louisiana about how you drive across Mississippi and think that the roads are bad and then you reach Louisiana and wish for the roads in Mississippi.

The long night drive was the perfect time to listen to the "This American Life" podcasts I had downloaded to my iPod. I purchased about 10 episodes and downloaded 1 free episode. I just about blew a gasket when all I could find was the free episode. I thought somehow I had failed to download the purchased ones to my iPod. Thankfully for everyone, I found the purchased episodes. I wasn't sure how the kids would like them, but they loved listening to them and would constantly ask to listen to them the rest of the trip. But, I would only play them when we were in for a fairly long ride and everyone was quiet.

The first episode we listened to was "Notes On Camp". It was about kids going to summer camp and what a meaningful experience going to camp is for many. Helen and I never went to summer camp and thought it sounded very cliquish and ceremonial like most types of organizational groups- sororities and fraternities, cub scouts, or church. Everyone seemed to take the whole experience way too seriously for us. We're just not "belonging" kind of people. However, there was a hilarious story that one lady told about how when she was young her mother thought it would be a great experience for her kids to go "to camp". The mother was new to America and unfamiliar with many of the customs, but was determined that her kids would go "to camp". So she packed up a tent and all the supplies and dropped her 3 kids off at a campsite and told them she would be back for them in a week. The daughter telling the story was the oldest at about 13. It quickly became obvious to the kids that they should not have been left alone. It wasn't long before the other parents became suspicious. So all week the kids had to act like they had parents by calling back into the tent, "Mom, we'll be back in a little while" or yelling at a passing car, "Would you pick up some ice cream too, Dad?" When the mother returned in a week and the kids complained, the mother thought the kids were ungrateful. Here, she had gone to the trouble of setting them up for this great American camping experience and all the kids did was complain.

We ended up getting in to Pierre Part about midnight. Katie and Todd were still up and gave us a warm welcome. We visited a little before falling into bed.

Road Trip 2008: Day 1 of 17 (Atlanta to Mobile)

Friday May 23

We originally planned on leaving on Saturday so we wouldn't be so rushed and we planned on New Orleans being our first destination before heading to Pierre Part, LA to stay with my sister Katie and her boyfriend, Todd. But, Todd's work schedule meant that we needed to be in Pierre Part for an all day party on Sunday. So, we rushed to get out of town and make it to Mobile, AL Friday so we could head on bright and early to New Orleans.

The boys spent Thursday night at Helen's parents since they were out of school and Helen had to attend her school's graduation. The graduation lasted longer than she expected and I got hung up at work, so we didn't get on the road until 3:30 - right in the middle of Memorial Day weekend traffic. Once we made it through Atlanta the drive was pretty smooth. We gained an hour with the time change and arrived about 9:30.

The first night was 1 of only 2 nights that we prebooked. The other being Tuesday night in Baton Rouge. I knew that trying to save some money on the hotel each night would make a difference over 17 days, so the first night I booked the Baymont Hotel in Mobile. Usually, I go into my hotel booking thinking I want to be cheap, but I find it hard pulling the trigger on anything less than 3 stars when I see the online pictures of the properties. The Baymont was definitely less than 3 stars, but I thought we would see how it went. It was fine and they even had a free breakfast, but that was the last of our staying in a "motel". I don't know what the formal distinction between a hotel and a motel is, but I always thought it was that you access a motel room from the parking lot vs an interior hallway. If that's the case then the Baymont was a "motel" and we just felt more comfortable in hotels.

Road Trip 2008: Overview

On Friday May 23, the last day of the school year, we headed out on a 17 day road trip that took us from Atlanta, down through Lousiana, along the Texas coast, down to the border of Mexico...and back.

What about the trip?

Adam was excited to see "the Dome" he had studied about in school

Derek took this shot of me and Adam running the bases at the Coke pavilion

Whohoo! Last day of school!

There are a lot of things to do when you return from a long trip. There's all the stuff that has to be put away, laundry, yard work, etc. And, of course, it's summer vacation for Helen and the kids so there's visiting with friends, pool time, staying up late to watch movies, etc. All these things conspire to keep me from updating the blog as I would like. In fact, I still haven't written about last year's Disney World trip (although I still plan to).

We take these big trips and I have all this information to blog about, but because we're doing all the other things I don't get the free time to blog like I do during the school year. It's enough to make a guy cranky. I told Helen that I would feel better if I could just get all the pictures and video copied to the computer, trim the hedges, and start blogging about the trip for my loyal readers. Tonight we watched the first of 3 hour long videos from our trip.

The week before we left was hectic with the end of the school year, getting ready for our 2 week road trip, and everything. Helen was stressed about getting all her grades done and whether or not a high profile spoiled athlete with a cocky attitude, enabling parents, terrible work ethic, and scholarship offer was going to pass her class. The kid passed - barely, but Helen was worried that the administration was going to pressure her to pass the kid or change the grade without her consent. Whenever she has a student issue where the parents or administration is involved she gets very stressed out. I usually think it's no big deal - handle the situation based on your principles and don't worry about what others think. I always tell her, "What's the worst thing that can happen? They fire you and you find another job or better yet...you stay home." Oh, and she was due to turn 40 in a couple weeks while we were on our trip. She didn't seem too bothered about turning 40. We joked that she was too busy to think about it.

On the Tuesday before we left I surprised the boys and checked them out of school in order to go to the Braves vs Mets afternoon baseball game. I started the yearly tradition of taking them out of school for an afternoon Braves game when Derek was in preschool. We saw a neighbor of ours and Adam's baseball coach. It was a beautiful afternoon, we ate lots of junk, and the Braves won.

We're Back From Road Trip 2008!

17 days, 3000 miles, lots of pictures, video, and memories.