Slept in a little bit (till maybe 8:30) while Dan explored the hotel and went up to get coffee and a croissant from the free breakfast. The morning we spend walking the lengths of the French Quarter and enjoying the buildings/sights. We both loved the architecture and the greenery that people had up on their balconies. Another thing that was prevalent and awesome was the saints spirit EVERYWHERE! Lots of people behind them who must have been pretty excited a few months ago. After the superbowl would have been a great time to be in New Orleans! We brunched at the Court of Two Sisters which is another place that was recommended. The seating was in a courtyard out back which was filled with fountains and little tables and greenery around and overhead. There was a jazz trio that played from one corner and it was a buffet, so we went up quite a few times to try different things. I really wish I could have eaten more as there were some things left untried. Some of the highlights were turtle soup, crawdads, pecan pie, the music, and the bread pudding. Everything was great, though and at the moment I’m pretty hungry so being back there would be amazing.
The nice thing about the place that we stayed is it was close to everything. We went back a few times during the day and it was always convenient. At one point we spent some time planning our next few days and booking accommodation where needed. That afternoon we took a trolley ride to see other parts of the city. For $1.25 we rode to the end of the line then got on another trolley and rode back.
Next stop Café du Monde for some beneights and coffee. We sat at a table but weren’t getting attention so decided to get them to go and sit in the park to eat. While standing in the takeaway line one of the servers came up and asked us if we’d like to sit down instead of waiting. We said we had been sitting down but hadn’t had attention so had decided to get in line and he promised us that this was his table and he wasn’t lying. So we sat and got them to-go and he quickly came back with the food and drink. He introduced himself as Ira and tried to guess our accents, I guess that’s something he’s working on. He had some interesting ideas about New Orleans and life in general that he shared with us. We talked for a little while before heading to the park to eat. One thing that’s stuck with us is something his grandfather used to say. “It ain’t no fun when a rabbit’s got a gun.”
The beneights were delicious and we got powdered sugar everywere. We got a beer to go and wandered around some more until dinnertime. Dinner was at Pat O’ Brien’s in their courtyard which was pretty cool. Still Bourbon St but not as crazy. The fountains had fire in the top that the water was coming out of. Got some red beans and rice and muffelata (delicious!) for dinner. That evening we retired to the hot tub at the hotel, packed everything up and were ready to leave bright and early the next morning
Just as a preface for the following posts: I wrote them in the car the earlier today but am posting as separate days to alleviate (hopefully) confusion
Written from the road between Oklahoma and Arizona.
New Orleans. Amazing. Let’s start with the hotel. When we walked in the front door we were greeted by the smell of fresh flowers that filled the entryway. Check-in was upstairs in this huge old house that dated back to the early 1800’s. Our room was in a separate building in the courtyard on the other side of the pool. We didn’t know what to expect but were very pleasantly surprised by the place. It was well-kept and had a charm to it and a relaxing vibe. “It felt old and exciting at the same time” –Dan. Our room was full of large tasteful antique furniture. Huge kingsize bed that would have taken many people to move.
We took a few minutes to get our bearing and talk to David (our New Orleans expert). I took the computer out and we had free internet (thanks kenellen). We were starving so first stop, Coop’s place. We got one deluxe jambalaya and one seafood gumbo with extra seafood. Both delicious. It seemed fitting that our first food in New Orleans was something authentic. We enjoyed some Abitas beers while taking in the atmosphere of the place. The servers were tatood, pierced and filled with character.
After dinner we wandered. We went over to Frenchman’s street in search of music. We were there pretty early (at first didn’t realize the time change and had eaten dinner around 5:30 b/c like I said… we were starving). The bar closest to our hotel had some music going so we passed it at first but then came back to it. Nice jazz quartet with 2 guitars, bass and washboard. The washboard was something that I really enjoyed about all of the music.
We wandered through the streets and over to Bourbon St to see what we could see. Not sure what to make of Bourbon St. It was definitely a spectacle, but not somewhere we wanted to spend a ton of time. We walked down the length of it to take in the sights, sounds and smells and then headed back for the night.
Just a quick update saying that we got to New Orleans safe and sound. Long day of driving today during which we realized that we should be thinking about time zones and we lost an hour on our way here (and therefore ended up driving an hour longer than anticipated). We just checked into the Lamothe House which was built in the mid 1800's and is beautiful. Again, there will be pictures! Our room is amazing with a king size bed and lots of style. We are yet to explore the rest of it, pool, main building, etc.
From Pigeon Forge, TN. So we’ve finally done it! The trip has begun and so far it has been amazing. Dan has proven himself to be our primary driver which, honestly, we’re both surprised about.
Sunday morning started early. We got up at 6:30 hoping for a 7am start that ended up being more like 7:30. Dan started as our driver and ended up driving straight through to somewhere in Maryland where we stopped because we needed gas. There we swapped and I drove through to Manassas, VA where we stopped for breakfast/lunch/dinner at Backyard Grill which Dan has seen in an ad on a plane somewhere.
The driving continued into Shenandoah, along skyline drive to the campground which was 51 miles into the 105 mile drive. The drive was beautiful and we stopped a few times to check out the overlooks and take pictures. The most prolific wildlife we saw were deer, and lots of them. They were in the road, by the side of the road and in the campground. We picked our site because A) it looked nice and B) it had a lot of deer in it (who I think came back in the middle of the night to eat grass). Dan is also convinced he heard a bear snuffling around, luckily cuz we ate restaurant food we didn’t have any out at the campsite.
So early night camping of which Dan slept very little, I guess he wasn’t very comfortable, and then a walk around in the morning. Dan drove out of the park because I had driven in the day before and the road is so windy you can’t easily see the view and stay on the road. He drove all the way down to our hotel here in Pigeon Forge. We stopped along the way to fill up the tank again and get some fried chicken from Dodge Chicken (at the gas station). Of course we got way too much so it looks like that will be breakfast tomorrow.
Pigeon Forge is ridiculous. It’s a little ways out of Knoxville and just an arbitrary point where the had a cheap hotel room. This town has every type of tacky shop, dinner show, gimmicky hotel and “family entertainment” you can imagine. It’s is 100% cheesy and completely unexpected. “It’s like an amusement part without rides” says Dan. There will be a few pictures to come. As we drove slowly through the trafficky main street to get to our hotel (the second to last building before you get to Gatlinburg) I was amazed at the things that they had. It reminded me of Disney World crosses with South of the Border.
We checked in and then decided to check out Great Smoky Mountains National park. We’re so glad we did. Immediately after our hotel the road changed to a beautiful tree-lined two-lane drive with a river in the middle. We drove through Gatlinburg which is styled as a wild-west/Bavarian village. Very cute, also a little strange. We drove straight through while keeping an eye out for somewhere that we might like to stop for dinner on the way back. There weren’t as many non-chain restaurants as we had thought/hoped there would be. Now on to the park:
The drive through the National Park was beautiful. I found this one even more amazing than Shenandoah. There were a few vistas but the 13 miles that we drove through were mostly road going uphill and winding through the tall leafy tress and then along a beautiful river. We stopped a few times to sit by the river or enjoy a view and of course take pictures. The first time we both agreed that we were sooo glad we had decided to go the little bit extra and see this beautiful place. Our destination was the Gap at the top where we enjoyed the view, checked out some historical plaques and information signs and went for a little walk on part of the Appalachian Trail.
As we had turned back and were coming off the AT someone came up to us and asked us where the trail went. We showed him the part that we had just been on and he asked Dan if he was Australian. Dan said yes and he said “G’day Mate!” We talked with him for a little while which was pretty cool. It turns out he is from Geelong, Victoria but knows someone in Lismore. (Bruce, short guy who lives on Little Keen Street). Dan’s uncle used to live on that street possibly in the same house. Very small world! So Trevor is driving around in his turbo diesel Mercedes which he has fixed up to run on vegetable oil. I’ve heard of people changing cars around to do this because it’s a free fuel source (restaurants otherwise have to pay to get rid of their old oil) and the car loves it! This is one of many of Dan’s pipe dreams but we didn’t get to talking about that too much because we were ready to go back down into town and find some dinner.
We went to a place just before the state park and had a pitcher of Fat Tire and an AMAZING pizza. It was a TNT taco pizza. Possibly the most delicious I have ever had. It was a salsa base with jalapeños, ground beef, cheese and after it was cooked it had lettuce on top with sour cream drizzled over it. Fresh and delicious!! We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and afterwards asked if we could leave our car there while we walked around Gatlinburg.
As I said before Gatlinburg was really cool. Sooo much to see. Some of it really cute with it’s quazi-european architecture, some of it really tacky, and lots of t-shirt shops, indoor mini golf and adventure tours. We wandered into a little “village” full of little shops most of which were closed while looking for a bathroom and a hot sauce place that Caleb had told us about. We found the bathroom but also found lot of fountains and benches and a really really nice atmosphere. There was a little doughnut and coffee shop that was still open so Dan got a coffee and we both go doughnuts. The woman in there making the coffees was probably in her 80’s but very sharp and good to talk to. We started talking about Germany because I was wearing my Hoffbrauhaus sweatshirt. She had been and I reminisced with her about the short time that I had spent there. She made a great latte (flat white), which we enjoyed outside by the fountain. Seeing that as a fitting end to a great unplanned portion of our day we walked back to the car and returned to the hotel to try to post pictures or at least update our progress J Hope it’s at least partially as enjoyable reading about this as it is for us living it. Next stop tomorrow, New Orleans! A slightly shorter drive than yesterday’s and then 2 nights there! Wish us luck and we’ll keep you posted!
Love,
Jess and Dan
PS Pictures to come, the internet is really slow here, and it's late
So here it is, the beginning of one of (if not THE) biggest journey that either of us has ever embarked upon. Today will be a Huuuuuge day of preparation. Somehow it has come down to the last day before we leave and I feel like there is still a whole lot to be done. We pick up the car (economy car, Hyundai Accent or similar) around noon. Then we will have this afternoon to pack it and shop for whatever else we think we may need. I called yesterday to see if they would tell me what kind of car we were getting but they wouldn't promise me anything. Nothing wrong with surprises... as long as they're good ones!
Time to go and start the packing as Dan cooks everyone breakfast. Lots to do wish us luck!!!! Added later on, but here's the packed car!
uld have eaten more as there were some things left untried. Some of the highlights were turtle soup, crawdads, pecan pie, the music, and the bread pudding. Everything was great, though and at the moment I’m pretty hungry so being back there would be amazing.
“It ain’t no fun when a rabbit’s got a gun.”
