Miami via New Orleans

That's what I'm calling this trip.

So...we (Jen, Lyda and I) lit out of Dallas on Friday evening en route to a tiny town in LousyAna (just kidding, ya'll!) called Alexandria. We knew we wouldn't be able to make it all the way to New Orleans, our first stop on the trip.

Free Advice, folks. Don't stay in the Econo Lodge on MacArthur. We did and we probably won't again. But we got some sleep.

The next day (we slept in until late morning) started the 3 hour trip to New Orleans. We arrived in the city late afternoon and walked around for a while, ogling the buildings and the interesting people! One dude had no pants on, literally! He had some sort of plastic loin cloth though. Praise God. We saw a couple silver guys (they spray painted themselves) and a gold one. Much, much more but we'll stop there! It was hilarious! We also went in St. Louis Cathedral and attended evening Mass. Okay, not really. Well, Mass was going on and we were in there soooo...maybe we did. :) We stopped at a restaurant on Bourbon Street (I think!) and had dinner. The gumbo was awesome but the rest of the food was so spicy that Lyda and I didn't really enjoy it. Dessert was a bread pudding. Which was ho hum. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed at my long awaited Cajun dinner. No worries, though. I'll be back to the city someday and hopefully have a better dining experience then! Who Dat?! Whatever.

French Quarter


So. After that we headed east on Highway 10. Entered Mississippi. Exited Mississippi. Entered Alabama. Exited Alabama. Entered Florida. Killed a poor possum trying to cross the highway. We found a rest stop and rested for about 4 hours before heading out again. We encountered some interesting people in central Florida...some not so friendly McDonald employees. Maybe they were just angry because they had to work on Sunday morning. Who knows?

We finally reached Plantation (which is about an hour north of Miami) at around 1pm. We met up with Dale, Jen's older sister and went to her house.

Welcoming us into her home were her 4 cats (they didn't really welcome us, they stared at us as if to say, "Who in the world are you people?" Then, "Why are ya'll just standing there?! Feed us!" And an obese (I kid not) dog named Moose. Quite fitting. He actually did the welcoming. He led us up the stairs and literally showed us to our rooms. Then went back downstairs and peed about a gallon and a half worth of doggie urine on the carpet.

After a long awaited nap, we got dressed and went to church at Bro. Johns'. It was a good service. Great message. Very timely as well! My favorite part of the sermon is where he told the young, single ladies that we need "a man with a lot of money". No kidding! He seriously said that! It's going to be fun telling Pastor that. :)

After church we visited one of Dale's friends for dinner. And I realized that I do not care for curried goat. But nevertheless, I ate what was set before me.

This morning we got up and headed south to Coral Gables. I had Googled (like a good tourist) local attractions and found a museum and gardens called Vizcaya. Oh. My. Word. It was gorgeous! I am so glad we went! I won't go into too much detail because I would probably quote everything the tour guide said! I was that much into it! The house was 1914 and was probably one of the most ornate homes in the state at that time. Mr. Robert Deering spared no expense in building his home. He incorporated antique pieces from all over Europe (Denmark, Greece, England and France) as well as locally made pieces to creat a home that looked as if it had been built over 4 centuries prior to when it actually was. The rooms were a blend of different times and eras but it all came together to form a grand home. Bravo to the three designers! Oh, and the gardens were lovely as well! :)

After that, we headed to South Beach. Fun times. We dipped our toes in the water but the beach was too crowded for our tastes so we walked down The Strip until we found a seafood joint and had some tasty blackened grouper. I had my mind set on Red Snapper but no luck. I don't think I will ever get some. I've been trying to eat some good Snapper for YEARS but no luck. Sigh. Miy camera died at Vizcaya so for pictures of South Beach, visit Jen's site! :)

People watching on The Strip was hilarious. Fun times. We did a bit of shopping and came back home. Ate some ice cream on the patio and now here I am. Blogging like a good little nerd. lol

Stay tuned!Tomorrow is Key West!