NOLA Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things...we did in New Orleans.

My sister wanted to go on this bicycle tour for her birthday and I am so glad we did. It was just Sarah, Josh and me plus a cute Australian couple. We biked all through New Orleans and we had the BEST tour guide. It was so much fun, I am now shopping for a bike.

The tour was by Confederacy of Cruisers (website)

Our tour guide with NOCCA in the background. The school of performing arts.

The bike tour stopped at the house my grandmother grew up in on Royal St. It was flooded during Katrina but survived.

I just love how the asphalt crumbles away to reveal an old brick road, sometimes cobblestones. 

I love my great Aunt Dot. She reminds me so much of my grandmother. So smart, witty and hilarious. We are constantly laughing. I can't wait to visit again.

Max watching football with Uncle John. Geaux Saints!!

We visited William Faulkner's old house and now the front room is a book store. The current owners who live there told us sometimes you can smell fresh pipe tobacco, maybe Williams ghost.

I will own this Jane Austen set one day.

I ended up purchasing this copy of Great Expectations. This was my first book love affair, I read it three times as a child.

Sister slumber parties and our lovely pineapple hair. (another joy of having curly hair)

Jackson square. Such a cool place with palm readers, tarot cards and art galleries right in front of Saint Louis Cathedral.

We went to the hurricane Katrina museum. It is definitely a must see. I was in boarding school at the time of the hurricane and we didn't have cable, newspapers, magazines or internet so I actually missed the whole thing. My cousins who live in New Orleans, were there through everything. Their house was completely destroyed and they took refuge in the superdome trudging through the raw sewage. I will have to share their unbelievable story sometime.

Dinner at Irene's! (twice) I literally cried the food was so good. On my sisters birthday we had a giant three course dinner at 11 pm. The restaurant had closed and we had the whole place to ourselves. All the waiters sang to her and we had such a good time. If you go, you have to get the bananas foster bread pudding. It is to die for.

Birthday kiss

Shopping

Stop taking pictures of us mom.

Another highlight of our trip was Dr Bob's art studio. Dr Bob used to be homeless and salvaged old wood and bottle caps to make art that he displayed and sold around New Orleans. Most of his art features his slogan "Be Nice or Leave". Now he is a famous folk artist and one of his pieces will be featured in the White House library in DC. Bob told us the secret service came picked the worst piece of art he had.

Dr Bob and his dog George. He is such a cool and quirky guy. He even gave Max a lagniappe, which means a little something extra. Sort of a gift from store owners, Bob picked out a piece of art and gave it to Max.

And of course I could not list my favorite things without beignets :-)

The Cure

So far this semester, school seems to be sucking the life out of me. Everyday I feel like I'm treading water, just trying to stay afloat. This past weekend I went to New Orleans with my family to celebrate my sister's birthday. It was only a matter of hours before I was feeling like myself again. This city is definitely one of my favorites. It has such a unique life of it's own, an internal rhythm, a heartbeat. The history, the culture, the music, the food, the art. It is a place I could run away to. I could completely abandon my left brain and embrace creativity. I would read, write and make music. I could trade in my classical piano training for some jazz. So if life is ever getting you down, try visiting New Orleans for a cure.

A daily dose of beignets (that's 4 times in 4 days)

Preservation Hall was an amazing jazz club. As good as it gets. 

I love the street music. It's not just the brass instruments but I watched a violinist, an electric guitar player, I even saw someone playing a kora (African harp) There was also an occopelo group and I loved watching/listening to two guys tap dancing on drain covers in the street.

I was sitting in Cafe du Monde eating beignets and listening to this saxophone player. Total bliss.

This was after a day of biking around New Orleans (more to come)

Gathering around my great aunt and uncle to hear their incredible stories.

There are not very many tourists in New Orleans in August (supposed to be 1000 degrees) And along with the rain, the streets were mostly empty during the day. We felt like we were walking on a movie set.

Bourbon St was still packed at night.

Louisiana Sunset

Plan B

I am only starting the fourth week of this semester and I am not sure how I am going to survive. I have already had two midterms and one final. I have already forgotten to turn in a homework assignment (which has never ever happened to me) I have already lost five pounds due to stress. I think it might be a good time to evaluate my plan B.

A few weeks ago I was talking with some friends at school about what we would be doing if we weren't in PA school. I said I would join whale wars. I have been thinking about it and I think I can make a pretty good case. First, I LOVE whales, specifically humpback whales. I think most people feel a strong connection with a particular animal and this one is mine. Their size alone is enough to take your breath away. They are such gentle creatures, they just eat small fish and plankton. They jump. They sing!  The first rule of being on whale wars is to agree that you would give your life to save one whale. I think I can handle that. I don't think I would want to be on THE whale wars, just a similar, more effective, expedition. The main obvious problem is that I hate the cold, but I think in Antarctica, I would get used to it.

Before PA school, my back up plan was to get a masters degree in toxicology and maybe a phd. I would love to study environmental toxins. But if I failed out of grad school, I think I would like to take a sabbatical from academia and go on an adventure.


Last year when the mother and baby gray whales got trapped in the Klamath River in California I cried. If you don't remember, the baby escaped but the mother died. The following pics are from the event. 

Here is a humpback whale. No one is sure why they jump.

 

Nature's Art

I recently finished a book, Peony in Love by Lisa See, that takes place in Hangzhou, China. Hangzhou is one of the cities Taylor and I visited on our tour. In the book, the main character describes this art that is just sliced marble and the product is what looks like a landscape. I actually took a picture of one while we there.

If you look closely it's a moon above the mountains and then the bottom is a reflection of the mountains in water.

The main character in the book lived right on the shore of West Lake in Hangzhou. They pulled these giant rocks out of the bottom of the lake and used them to decorate the gardens. They look like sculptures. No one could tell me how they got them off the bottom of the lake hundreds of years ago.

West Lake

This was my favorite rock. I think it looks like two people embracing.