Hurrication Day Four....Still in NO

On Sunday morning the news from home was that there wouldn't be any power for quite a long time. In fact, we found out later Sunday afternoon that we wouldn't have to return to school/work for an entire week. It was pretty obvious that this would be a great time to take the summer vacation we missed since Greg worked too much and couldn't get away. New Orleans was interesting and new, but not the kind of place to stay a week with the kids.

But before we left good 'ole NO we knew there were places we needed to take the boys to see. So Sunday morning, or more like around lunch time we caught the trolley as close as we could get to the French Quarter. We only had to walk about 3 blocks to find the famous Cafe' DuMonde were we introduced the boys to Coffee Au Lait and Beignets. Yummy! I think we found a new favorite! Then we took a stroll around Jackson Square and tried to inject some history lessons into the day.

Just behind the square the mighty Mississippi River was cresting pretty high but beautiful to watch and we walked along the banks through the parks down to the Aquarium. I remember the New Orleans Aquarium as one of the best I've ever been to but it seems to have been downsized a bit maybe after reconstruction from Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless, it was full of great exhibits and history about the native waters as well as others. Our favorite was the White Alligator (not albino as you would think). The Aquarium employee in charge of the exhibit was gracious enough to tell us all about this incredible creature while we posed for pictures. The alligator came right up to the glass and let us get a closeup.

Greg, Craig & Clayton walked back to the hotel after our visit to the Aquarium. Christian and I spent about an hour walking through the mall in downtown New Orleans. It was a very nice upscale mall and I managed to find a cute pair of sandals and some school clothes. Later that evening we took a Trolley ride down to the Garden District and had ice cream sundaes and Apple Walnut Cobbler at Houstons. Then back to the hotel to wash a couple loads of clothes. The boys amused themselves in the workout room while I washed clothes and cut coupons.

Time to make plans for the rest of the week..........