Who Dat

After Christmas we headed to Austin, Texas to spend a few days with family. It is a long drive to Texas and we needed a place to spend the night on the road and guess what city just happens to be located right in between Montgomery and Austin?

Okay, twist my arm. I suppose I can be okay with spending a night in the Big Easy.

We were there for less than 24 hours but we made the most of our trip. We rolled in around 5:00 in the evening and headed straight for the French Quarter.

Rob wanted oysters so his wish was our command.

We were tired from a long day of driving so we didn't really "laissez le bon temps rouler" that night. Instead we just went to our hotel. An awesome hotel right on the street with gorgeous Boston ferns and carriage lamps. I love this city! Can I just say that I love boutique hotels in the middle of big cities so much? So much better than pulling up to a Hampton Inn off of the Interstate.

We woke up the next morning and knew that we still had a 8 hour drive in front of us. Instead of getting on the road like most sane people with 3 children ages 5 and under, we decided to stay in the city as long as possible. Who needs sleep, right? We started off our morning at the most wonderful restaurant where we ate this-

Yeah....ummm.... it was good. You can't go wrong with Bananas Foster french toast. Ever. That should be my new motto in life. Anyhoo, I love this next shot. I am such a city girl. I just am. I love counters at cafe's for some reason. And this one was so sleepy and expectant like it was waiting for the hustle and bustle of the day.

Loved this sign too.

The kids really wanted to ride the street car next. Okay, okay.... maybe I did too. So we did.

And we headed over to Jackson Square where we found this place. It's kind of famous. And kind of delicious.

We spent awhile just walking around and taking in the sights. I must say that as much as I enjoyed staying in Port Orleans last year at Disney World, being in the real thing was a whole lot better. J'adore the horse drawn carriages and the wrought iron balconies.

And we got to go inside the beautiful St. Louis cathedral. Absolutely breathtaking. I love seeing in person things I have only seen in pictures.

And we found the requisite jazz band. I really could have stayed and listened to them all day.

One of my favorite pictures ever.

Walking around N'awlins with my babies.

We then hopped on another street car and headed to the garden district to look at some of the older historical homes. Yes, my children are holding/wearing beads that they found on the ground. Hey, I would much prefer that they get them that way.

It then occurred to us then that yes, we did still have a 8 hour drive ahead of us. So we sadly left but we enjoyed our little whirlwind trip and can't wait to go back again. Off to Texas. Yee-haw!