Nawlins'

Hi there! T and I just returned from a wonderful weekend together in New Orleans for a Weekend to Remember conference. It's a 3 day event where you and your spouse learn about God's design for marriage. We highly recommend it to you guys out there. T and I count our blessings constantly for having such a good marriage. There are so many around us that don't and sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this life! *Now don't get me wrong, we can get on each other's nerves at times.

We met up with another couple but were mostly just with each other. This is the first time we have ever had an entire weekend (Fri-Sun) from the 3 kiddos. One couple that spoke to us has 12 children... alllll theirs! I can't even wrap my mind around it. Precious!

Soooo, this was my first time to the Big Easy as an adult... I went with a friend and her mother when I was 12..... I took a survey on Facebook to see where the best place to eat would be and of course I got several suggestions. ( the conference recommends you and your spouse have a date night the Saturday night.) One of which was Nola. This is Emeril's restaurant. First of all let me point out, while I love nice things and I'm not a total cheap-o, this place was overpriced for the quality of food. We were sadly disappointed and would have much rather spent our cash at Doe's. But it's ok... we can always say we went there. Our first dinner was at Mother's. I'm not a seafood eater so I could not appreciate T's shrimp po-boy. I had red beans and rice. It was fine. Our first morning we had breakfast at the French Quarter at Cafe Du Monde.... mmmmmm is all I can say about that. Then for lunch we came across this pizzeria ( yes, pizza) Rotolo's and can I just say how fabulous it was?! We has cheese sticks with a mixture of cheeses including Feta.. one of my favs. Then we got the chicken alfredo pizza. Oh my goodness.

Then this morning we had breakfast at Pierre Maspero's and it was wonderful. I branched out and had a mimosa with and omelet and hash browns. Very good and I would definitely go back.

We all know that New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras and the amount of partying that goes on there. You can understand when I say I almost got sick at the stench of party-goers that lingers, along with the heat..it can make you not want to roam the streets of the French Quarter. I have a HUGE smeller!! We stayed at the Hilton on Riverside and it was absolutely wonderful. Very clean and very nice. The best part about it is, it's right at the Riverwalk Marketplace and next door to the Aquarium. We should take the kids back soon.

I must add that I could not help but think of how people suffered and even died, esp. babies after hurricane Katrina. I mean, it was HOT and muggy there and as I had the luxury of buying a cold bottle of water and returning to my cool hotel room... those that were trapped in New Orleans had none of that. Can you imagine?

Here are pics to share from the weekend: