Lady
04-20-2003, 06:04 PM
We arrived in New Orleans right on time at 4 PM Saturday April 12, 2003 and while Tramp and Scamp got the luggage I went and secured the Airport Shuttle – the first one was filled so we waited about five minutes for another – we soaked in the warmness of the area – it was not overly hot – we picked a wonderful week – the temps were only to be around 78-80
Once in the shuttle I held on for dear life while the driver told us some tidbits about New Orleans and we made our way into the city on I-10 – the cars were in and out – lots of cutting – tailgating – our driver was talking to the guy in the passenger seat in the front and would turn his head and look at him every few moments – I just figured, since I had not heard of any van incidents we were okay
We went by a few other hotels and let some customers off and then made our way to Embassy Suites on Julia Street – we took our luggage up to our one bedroom suite – had a nice balcony overlooking Julia Street – no chairs or table though?? – our door looked out over the atrium where breakfast was served each morning and the lounge area where the drinks were served during happy hour each afternoon, we had two double beds, I had wanted a king – the room smelled funny though – it was not pleasant – we called down to the front desk and had our room changed – same floor – our balcony now looked out over an alley and another building across from it – no view whatsoever – but we did change to a king bed and the air was much better – we lost the atrium view also.
We went downstairs and had happy hour – Rum and Coke would be my drink for the week – Vodka and Tonic for Tramp and Scamp lived on cokes or coffee – put all our drinks in to go cups and headed down the street to Riverwalk (a shopping building overlooking the Mississippi) – walked around the top two of three floors and saw the shops – lots of shopping to do there – we began to notice though, basically one shop is the same as the next really – so we just breezed by most of them and a few – we went in for a few moments and did a quick looksee – we are not shoppers – trying to get rid of the stuff we already have at home lol
We were beginning to feel a bit hungry and checked out one restaurant – Anthony’s – it was an average restaurant with expensive prices – we passed and had a few po boys from one of the stands – Tramp and Scamp had the shrimp and mine had stuffed crab – OMG – I was in heaven – I just wanted to sit there and eat about three more – we sat outside overlooking the Mississippi River – as we ate we watched the various riverboats all lit up come and go and did a little people watching -
Scamp pointed out to us the roach that was just inside the door of the Riverwalk complex – and it had wings and was flapping them as if to say, hey you the tourists look at me!! – ackkkkk we were all still eating – wish he had not told us – my lettuce soon was just a bit too crunchy – ewww – I blocked it out of my mind and kept eating until some little kid opened the door and the dang thing came out next to our table – then another kid – stepped on it as he walked into where the stores were and it made a crunch noise – and my sandwich was gone – we asked one of the folks who sweep up to scoop him up for us – that was our one and only experience with these critters so seven days and one bug – guess we lucked out!!!
We drank our drinks and watched the ships barges riverboats travel along the river until 9:45 when there would be fireworks over the Mississippi to cap off the second day of the French Quarter Festival – at 10:00 p.m we were still waiting to see them – by this time other folks had already left the outdoor deck and the inside was looking empty except for some of the workers – we decided we would head back to the hotel – our hotel was only two short blocks – it really is in a great location – we went mostly everywhere just by walking.
Across the street from Riverwalk, on our way back to the hotel, is Mulattes – a cajun restaurant that has quite a few good selections on the menu and a live band with a good size floor for dancing. We found a table and after a couple of songs – Tramp and I got up and did a couple of swing dances to the cajun music – it’s true what our instructor taught us – you can swing to any music – Oliver was still sitting at the table – but by the next song a very pretty girl, about 16, came over to him and asked him to dance with her – she showed him how to dance to the cajun music – it was sort of a quick waltz – and since he already knows how to waltz from our Civil War Reenacting – he was going around the dance floor and beaming – she was a local and introduced him to the friends she was with – but all too soon they had to leave and we too headed to the hotel.
It was our first day in New Orleans – we had started at 6:00 a.m. from our home and now it was Midnight in the hotel which was like 1:00 a.m. in our systems – as we looked at television for a few moments we saw the fireworks over the Mississippi - they did have them - don't know why we couldn't see them – I set the television on timer and did not even watch 5 minutes of it from that point - If today were this good - tomorrow was sure to be better!!
Once in the shuttle I held on for dear life while the driver told us some tidbits about New Orleans and we made our way into the city on I-10 – the cars were in and out – lots of cutting – tailgating – our driver was talking to the guy in the passenger seat in the front and would turn his head and look at him every few moments – I just figured, since I had not heard of any van incidents we were okay
We went by a few other hotels and let some customers off and then made our way to Embassy Suites on Julia Street – we took our luggage up to our one bedroom suite – had a nice balcony overlooking Julia Street – no chairs or table though?? – our door looked out over the atrium where breakfast was served each morning and the lounge area where the drinks were served during happy hour each afternoon, we had two double beds, I had wanted a king – the room smelled funny though – it was not pleasant – we called down to the front desk and had our room changed – same floor – our balcony now looked out over an alley and another building across from it – no view whatsoever – but we did change to a king bed and the air was much better – we lost the atrium view also.
We went downstairs and had happy hour – Rum and Coke would be my drink for the week – Vodka and Tonic for Tramp and Scamp lived on cokes or coffee – put all our drinks in to go cups and headed down the street to Riverwalk (a shopping building overlooking the Mississippi) – walked around the top two of three floors and saw the shops – lots of shopping to do there – we began to notice though, basically one shop is the same as the next really – so we just breezed by most of them and a few – we went in for a few moments and did a quick looksee – we are not shoppers – trying to get rid of the stuff we already have at home lol
We were beginning to feel a bit hungry and checked out one restaurant – Anthony’s – it was an average restaurant with expensive prices – we passed and had a few po boys from one of the stands – Tramp and Scamp had the shrimp and mine had stuffed crab – OMG – I was in heaven – I just wanted to sit there and eat about three more – we sat outside overlooking the Mississippi River – as we ate we watched the various riverboats all lit up come and go and did a little people watching -
Scamp pointed out to us the roach that was just inside the door of the Riverwalk complex – and it had wings and was flapping them as if to say, hey you the tourists look at me!! – ackkkkk we were all still eating – wish he had not told us – my lettuce soon was just a bit too crunchy – ewww – I blocked it out of my mind and kept eating until some little kid opened the door and the dang thing came out next to our table – then another kid – stepped on it as he walked into where the stores were and it made a crunch noise – and my sandwich was gone – we asked one of the folks who sweep up to scoop him up for us – that was our one and only experience with these critters so seven days and one bug – guess we lucked out!!!
We drank our drinks and watched the ships barges riverboats travel along the river until 9:45 when there would be fireworks over the Mississippi to cap off the second day of the French Quarter Festival – at 10:00 p.m we were still waiting to see them – by this time other folks had already left the outdoor deck and the inside was looking empty except for some of the workers – we decided we would head back to the hotel – our hotel was only two short blocks – it really is in a great location – we went mostly everywhere just by walking.
Across the street from Riverwalk, on our way back to the hotel, is Mulattes – a cajun restaurant that has quite a few good selections on the menu and a live band with a good size floor for dancing. We found a table and after a couple of songs – Tramp and I got up and did a couple of swing dances to the cajun music – it’s true what our instructor taught us – you can swing to any music – Oliver was still sitting at the table – but by the next song a very pretty girl, about 16, came over to him and asked him to dance with her – she showed him how to dance to the cajun music – it was sort of a quick waltz – and since he already knows how to waltz from our Civil War Reenacting – he was going around the dance floor and beaming – she was a local and introduced him to the friends she was with – but all too soon they had to leave and we too headed to the hotel.
It was our first day in New Orleans – we had started at 6:00 a.m. from our home and now it was Midnight in the hotel which was like 1:00 a.m. in our systems – as we looked at television for a few moments we saw the fireworks over the Mississippi - they did have them - don't know why we couldn't see them – I set the television on timer and did not even watch 5 minutes of it from that point - If today were this good - tomorrow was sure to be better!!