Geaux Saints

In honor of the New Orleans Saints kicking off this year's football season tonight against the Vikings, I was inspired to post a few of my favorites photos. These were taken on a recent trip (as in three years ago) to New Orleans. We were mid-move between Little Rock and Texas, and there was no better place to stop for an overnight. We were only in the city a short 48 hours, but I fell completely head over hills with the essence of this purely southern city.

Here's a few reasons why...

the drinks

the food

Beignets, chicory coffee, muffalettas, turtle soup, Emeril...hungry yet?

the architecture

We loved the ferns, flags, wrought iron, the beadboard porch ceilings (painted blue, of course) and especially the music, which seems to be constantly soaring through the breezes.

the soul

the drinks

Oh yeah, I mentioned that one. But the place that invented the Hurricane deserves a second mention. Anybody from the coast knows how destructive those can be.

bourbon street

When I overheard these ladies asking this man if they could touch his pet snake...I mean, come on!!! ReaLLY!? I HAD to take a picture of THAT!!

horse-drawn carriages

I've seen many cities try to re-create the the horse-drawn carriage...but very few pull it off so well!

authenticity

I love this picture. It's one of my favorites. To me, it's like the yellow building is giving that large looming skyscraper in the back the bird. It's saying, "To hell with ya, I was here first!" I love a southern city that may embrace all the good things of a modern world, but not at the expense of its own true originality.

beauty

character

When booking our hotel, Mike asked me where I wanted to stay. My reply was, "Anywhere except a Hilton, Hyatt", etc. You get the picture, I wanted no part of the chain hotels. I told him just to make sure to book a place with lots of character and old brick walls...and he did.

Then, we realized what "character" really means when we printed our picture at home...

A photo of the lobby of our hotel. See our little "ghost"? I guess he was a friendly instead of a foe, because we had a great night's sleep!

...and this

Again, an absolute favorite photo from our trip. I loved this moment, and I love, love, love this picture. We were walking toward Bourbon street when I glanced behind my shoulder. I am so glad I had my camera in my hand, because I quickly snapped this. I don't know where they were going, and that's partly why this photograph is so romantic to me. I like to imagine they were off to a wedding, or a fancy dinner party, or on their way to celebrate a birthday. I love how they might just be out for a genteel southern stroll. I love the way the man leans in for the lady to take his arm, like any gentleman should do. I love that it was 100 degrees outside, yet she wore her best silk suit...and her heels, and doesn't dye her hair to hide her age. Add in the bow tie and seersucker, and well...I'm in love!

FYI: This trip was planned less than 12 hours before we went. We were only there one night. We only had one or two changes of clothes. We had moving trucks arriving at our house (8 hours away, the very next day). It cost us less than $500 and ALL of these pictures were taken with a point and shoot camera that I just happened to have in the bottom of my purse. Lesson being...don't wait for everything to be perfect to go on a little adventure. Just make up your mind, get out there and GO!!! You'll never regret it.

Geaux Saints!!