New Orleans

Hey there. I finally have a few mins to post about our trip... and what a trip it was. It was my first time driving to LAX and parking there and for those of you who know, it's a nightmare. I knew that it was bad, but didn't know how bad. I wanted to be there an hour before our flight, my wife suggested 2. Good thing qwe left 2 hours before. After missing the exit (stupid mapquest) and having to exit the freeway, then getting back on the other way and then back on again... it took forever to finally reach LAX. Once there, following signs mind you, we cirled the airport like 5 times and when we finally were able to stop at a red light, I yelled at a bus driver for directions to a parking lot. Again, circled some more and finally reached the parking lot.

We hurried into a shuttle and off we went to the United Terminal. First time flying United, or TED as they call it now. We checked in and then went through security. I emptied my pockets, boarding pass included, so I was held up because I didn't have my pass with me. Stupid brain... I told the lady that it's in that bucket thing and after she searched for it, she asked my name to verify. I then was "cleared" and allowed through the metal detector.

Here we are at LAX


We ran up the stairs and walked briskly to our terminal. Once there, it was practically empty. We gave the woman our tickets and she was like, whoa, you guys are very late. Almost missed the flight if you'd gotten here "6 minutes later." Close call. lol Because we were so late, my wife and I didn't get to sit next to each other.

On to New Orleans. We stayed at the Monteleone hotel. Nice hotel and all. Had a pool on the roof, a gym, and spa. We settled in and off we went to explore the city. We took a walk towards the riverfront and checked out the Mississippi River. Here are a few shots of that. The jester in the front was pretty massive so I had to get a shot with that. lol



Further down, we stumbled upon 2 Holocaust memorials. The first one was a curved tablet with names on them and the other was a structure. The are structure was extremely interesting. At first glance it's just bars heading up in the middle of a star of david. After reading the plaque, you understood that viewing it at an angle, you will be able to see symbols to represent unity, strenght, and religion among others. I only snapped religion and unity.








Here is the plaque giving the artist credit for his work.



Oh before I forget... We were almost hit by a trolley! Stupid trolleys. No more than 15 mins in New Orleans and we were almost decimated. lol That's why we decided to snap a few pictures with a trolley in the background. I'm sure that's something that's going to stay with us for awhile. lol




Soon after we took a stroll down the famed Bourbon Street. There was plenty of live music playing, along with many restaurants, pubs, and it's fair share of strip joints. One in particular made me laugh since it had a pair of a woman's feet swinging from inside the building to the outside. Wish I took a shot of that but was too busy laughing to remember the cam. We tried the local drink, Grenade, and I ended up drinking them both since my wife didn't like it very much. To be honest with you, I have no idea what that drink is made of. We just ordered, and I drank em. lol Oh and in case you don't know what a blow job is, here it is. lol



And here is the origin of the word, Dixieland.



We also visited a local cathedral. I want to say that it was St. Jude's. Here is the sculpture located there.



We also checked out the IMAX and the Aquarium. I'll only post this one of the aquarium since I thought it was pretty bad ass.



We also killed some time at the casino. I believe it was a Harrah's. I thought it was a little odd that there'd be stars and a moon in front of a casino so we took this shot from the top of the small flight of stair in front of the back entrance of the casino. Pretty cool, I think.



Those are the higlights of our trip there. We walked into many stores and what not, but I don't want to go into every detail. So we're back on a plane, on our way back. I thought this shot was simply breathtaking so I had to include it.



So there you have it, friends. Our trip to New Orleans. Later!