HPLuvr the Travel Agent

So when I couldn't purchase an airline ticket to Utah for spring break for less than $450, I decided to accept my fate and attempt to convince a favored guest to come to me. I was very lucky that with less than a week to plan, mi momma rose to the challenge and joined me once again for a vacation in Houston. My challenge was to provide the entertainment. While the Houston Livestock and Rodeo was in town so I made sure that we attended a concert one night [which demands its own blog; coming later]. The other highlight was our impromptu road trip to New Orleans, LA aka NOLA. The French Quarter- a section of New Orleans, has very beautiful houses. There were many stores, hotels, and homes that were still damaged and closed, but seeing as it has been 2 years since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is beginning to return to its feet and we were able to walk the streets and see some of the most beautiful homes I have seen.

We still saw remains of Mardi Gras on some of the local homes. I guess that the beads in the French Quarter are similar to Christmas lights on Red Necks homes- both are left up all year long.

When we were first driving to the French Quarter, I got off the wrong exit and ended up in one of the scariest neighborhoods I have even been in. We were the only white people there, and even though it was the middle of the day, there were groups of adults milling about the street and chatting on the front porch steps. In fact, as I was attempting to find a street that was on the map that my mother was reading, we pulled into a corner market to both study the map. All was seemingly fine, until a large van pulls up next to us, the driver hops out, quickly moves to the back of the van to open up the back doors and begin to do business with the pair of rather large men who appeared out of no where. With a full tank of gas, and some driving around, we eventually made it to a parking lot near the French Quarter; and we spent 2 days in the French Quarter, checking the craziness that is Bourbon Street, and particpating in a Haunted Evening tour of New Orleans. For those of you who are unsure what the big deal about Bourbon Street is, it has so many bars, there is no room left on the street for anything else. Which is comforting when at 9pm you are walking back to your parked car in the dark, and you turn a corner and the street is lit up like the middle of the afternoon. The only thing I can remotely compare it to, is when you are driving into Las Vegas. You have been driving through the dark desert for hours now, when in the distance you see one heck of a spot light shooting its beam straight up into the sky, then you drive around the mountains blocking your view and even though your car clock says it is 2am, the whole city is lit up like mid-day. I loved the atmosphere of this tourist town.

The street musicians added to the general feeling. And although it is odd to admit it, there are many VooDoo [the religion] and HooDoo [the "black" magic] shops with shrunken heads and VooDoo dolls for anyone that you wish to VooDoo. By the way, how are you feeling? Pain in your side? But that really is a big thing there. In fact go rent Skeleton Key.

...and the hidden treasure of New Orleans... I stepped into a small albums shop. In this shop there were hundreds of signed celebrity albums, movie posters, and guitars. Oh, it was a sight to behold. Then I came across one that I wanted to get for the #1 Fan of this musician. But unfortunately all I could afford to do was to slyly take out my camera and snap a few pictures of this particular treasure and hope that at least one of the pictures came out not blurry. Feast.