Every airport should greet arrivals the way they do in New Orleans:
I was so glad Debi and Bryan still had their tree up. I was rather surprised to see how many Facebook friends took theirs down Christmas day or the day after. I enjoy keeping mine up for quite awhile afterwards when everything has settled down and I can really enjoy it.
I took this as we were all walking (quickly!) to the car Sunday night on Bourbon Street which explains the blurriness. I had thought I’d retake it the following night but that didn’t happen. I love the way this place is decorated.
Chris, Bryan and Mark – Debi was sitting this one out:
Getting ready to toast the New Year with the band:
For Auld Lang Syne:
David and I drove across the river to pick up some friends of Bryan and Debi in the French Quarter. They live in Dallas, were in town for a few days and joined us all for the Ory family’s traditional New Year’s Day feast. I snapped this on Canal Street:
The food was incredible. Here you see potatoes, rice and black-eyed peas:
Ham, pork roast and cabbage here. There was also brisket, ribs, smoked sausage, a second type of smothered cabbage and brownies. It was all delicious!
As I said, I failed to take very many photos so I swiped this from Bryan’s Facebook page (hope that’s okay, Bryan!). In addition to the Ory family and the aforementioned friends from Dallas, there were also three of our pirate friends and the owners of the Tropical Isle bars. It was such a nice day. Fantastic food and good friends – it doesn’t get much better.
We had drinks in the Red Piano Lounge, went the room awhile and then back to the lounge for dinner and more drinks. While there, David noticed on Facebook that one of our favorite bartenders was at the Thunder basketball game with her husband. He messaged her suggesting that they stop by for a drink with us. And then we got involved in a rather interesting discussion with a couple of guys and he forgot to look at his phone to see her response. But that wasn’t a problem. She just called the bar and asked to speak to David. I do think that might be the first time we’ve been contacted in that manner. Ha! Anyway, as an employee she isn’t allowed to drink there so we met them at Mickey Mantle’s. We were all having a good time together when the bar closed so we walked to the Wormy Dog Saloon. When they closed we moved on to J.J.’s Alley. We figured shutting down three bars was sufficient so we called it a night at that point.
The lovely Skirvin was still decorated for the holidays so I snapped this picture as we were leaving Thursday morning:
I watched the neighborhood fireworks show with my neighbors in a neighborhood I never thought I would ever live in. But I guess that's life. We drank champagne, rang in the New Year and had a great time. Then off to bed since work called me at 5. Went to my local bar and had drinks and dinner with my new friends and family. I am happy you had a great time. I thank God everyday I get to live this life. I work in a place where I tell people all day long how much I love this city and it makes me grateful to be here. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Ours was very quiet – we're pretty much homebodies nowadays. Our plans were to go to Paris later this year, for our 25th anniversary celebration. Since it's hard to leave the farm for that long, I think we might try a weekend in New Orleans instead. It has been a long time since we visited that fair city….Happy New Year!
Christine: You are indeed fortunate to be living in New Orleans. I envy you. 🙂
Cherie: We had planned to go to Paris several years ago and then Katrina hit New Orleans and we made the decision to spend our vacation dollars there instead. However, Paris is still on my wishlist. 🙂