A Saturday in New Orleans

So Saturday didn't bring anything quite as exciting as a marriage proposal, but we all had such a great day. 

We stood in line at Cafe Du Monte. This line looks long, but moves pretty fast.

 I clearly wasn't aware I was in this photo. I promise I wasn't as skeptical as I appear.

We're at the front of the line already!

Some of the ladies at breakfast. Fried dough and coffee really gets you going in the morning. 

Chris took this really pretty picture, and now it looks almost like Disney World to me.

After some fried dough and coffee. 

 There was a cat in one of the shops we perused. Chris made friends.

Good looking cat, and well positioned for some love. 

This is real. Seriously, I would never make this up. It's a snow globe in remembrance of Katrina. It's a house. In dirty water. With chairs, green stuff and glitter swirling around it. Thank God for the glitter. 

My cute husband.

Matt performing his new trick. 

Jenny and Darrin being all cute and engaged. Sorry about that pole Darrin.

Being cute again.

Matt being a photographer with his (Laura's) real camera. 

A stranger offered to take a photo of all of us. It does prove we were all there at least. 

Sarah and Charlie enjoying the city. 

We made Sarah try on these Harry Potter glasses. Notice the note on the mirror. We're rule breakers. 

Laura got some super cute, non-Harry-Potter glasses.

"I got your ear."

There was a street fair and I had to take a photo with this guy. Awesome!

The self portrait. 

Still engaged!

Me and some good-looking dudes.

Laura being all professional.

This truly happened. We went into a restaurant and found this guy. Note the shirt. He's ready to party. (And yes, I'm good at the secret photos.)

Cute!

Having a snack. 

I made her do it!

But the ring is pretty!

Just kidding, we're in love.

Who knew I looked so cute on the street? No comments needed.

 And then there was this guy. We walked passed a bar, and there he was. At the bar. With a drink. And asleep. Oh, New Orleans. (p.s. It wasn't that late. Seriously. We're boring adults, and we weren't out that late.)

We popped in a pizzeria and had a snack. I think we're all still looking pretty cute! What a great night with friends!

But, maybe the highlight of the night was that Chris got a room key. From a group of bachelorettes. I went to the bathroom for two minutes and the man has a room key. Thankfully for me there were several Hiltons in the area so he could never have found them again. But they were in room 423...just in case. 

Oh, New Orleans. 

New Orleans, Part II: Still Friday

So to recap: we had a parade with this guy upon our arrival.

What could be better than that??

Ummm, maybe these two getting ENGAGED!

Just think, when we were in Hammond, they were only boyfriend and girlfriend, but by that night, they were ENGAGED!

This is Jenny's first photo as an engaged lady: 

We all toasted the happily engaged couple at dinner.

Laura and Jenny celebrating and smiling:

All the gals, who played 20 (okay a million) wedding questions with Jenny the remainder of the trip.

Poor Darrin kept all the engaged excitement all to himself in Hammond. 

But now he's so happy!!!

Friday, you were awesome! Hammond was fun, the parade was hilarious, and Jenny and Darrin GOT ENGAGED!

Could Saturday be better?? As good? Just cool?

To be continued...

New Orleans, Part I: Hammond, LA

So this weekend, we got together a group of friends and decided to travel to Hammond, LA. 

Okay, not really. We decided to travel to New Orleans, LA, but ended up spending some quality time in Hammond. Here's what happened:

We met at the train station bright and early. 

Sarah had the goods.

And on to the train we went! This was Christopher's and my first ride on good ole' Amtrak. I enjoyed the comfy seats.

So did Charlie and Sarah.

And Darrin and Jenny.

And Matt...and especially Laura.

It was a little dreary, but interesting to see the country side.

Then, the train stopped. Not slowed down, but stopped. We waited for the "smoke break" to be over. And, we waited some more. Finally, we were told that the bridge we needed to cross was broken....in the 'up' position. Not good.

So we were able to get off the train and enjoy Hammond, LA. Well, enjoy the train station and grounds. Thankfully, it was a pretty day, and we were all in good spirits.

See: love and good spirits:

Love, good spirits and laughter!

Love, trains and flowers:

Even the guys had some love for Hammond.

And each other.

 Have I mentioned that I love the self portrait? Maybe a few times?

Laura is a real photographer. See her real camera?

Thankfully it was sunny, and we got to enjoy Hammond. We even looked cute doing it!

Three hours later, the bridge was fixed and we were on our way! We arrived in New Orleans to a welcoming parade.

Seriously, we stepped out of our taxi at our hotel, and this parade turns the corner immediately behind us. Thankfully, we were all able to grab our luggage and get out of the taxi before it got run over. Such a nice touch to be recognized for the famous and important people we are, but really New Orleans, we don't need a welcoming parade every time we visit....maybe just the next several. 

And there was this guy!

What could be more exciting than that?

To be continued...