ENJOY LIFE NOW: Road Trip to the Bayou

Last week Molly, Cara, and I headed south to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I blogged about gameday and the game already.

We left after everyone got off work on Tuesday and drove to Birmingham. We all took a 2.5 shift of driving and it didn't seem to take long at all. About an hour outside of Birmingham we got on Priceline and found a good price on a nice hotel and headed that way. It was a Hilton. I just rolled in in my sweatpants and tennis shoes. No big deal.

We got up early the next morning, which was NYE and headed more south. Molly had her GoPro going and we were filming the drive down out of the front window. She also turned it around at some points and we filmed videos to Love is an Open Door (from Frozen) and Shake It Off. It was definitely a girl's road trip soundtrack. But we did break out the early 2000's rap CD's and spit out some lyrics. #wesoghetto

Roll Tide

Go Bucks!

Thank you for making houndstooth stylish on men! :)

We also stopped in Tuscaloosa, which is where the University of Alabama is. It was pretty. Not what I expected, but we didn't drive around long. We just got a few photos with the stadium in the background, cruised thru Greek Row - holy giant houses! - and got back on the road.

We arrived in NOLA and rested and then got ready for dinner. We had reservations at a restaurant in the Garden District and then planned to meet up with some friends after dinner. Before dinner Molly started to get a migrane, so we had to take her back to the hotel after dinner. By the time we got back downtown, it was 10pm, cold, parking was super expensive and we couldn't find our friends to meet up with. Total Fail. So we ended up doing a night cap at the Roosevelt Hotel, then heading back to our tiny hotel in the suburbs. We listened to Auld Lang Syne on the radio while driving on the freeway and watching hundreds of fireworks go off around NOLA.

NYE selfie

Sisters

sisters for the weekend - on bourbon

Roosevelt Hotel

Game day started out much better. Molly's migraine had passed and we were downtown by noonish. We got a great parking spot and headed to the French Quarter to walk around. We went in a few shops, but them made our way back to Bourbon Street and met up with our groups of friends. It was great to have an Ohio State tailgate experience in another state. So much fun!

Then we went to the game.

On Friday, we checked out of our hotel and picked up Abra. We went to the French Quarter got beignets from Cafe Du Monde. I didn't know what they were or if I'd like them but they were pretty tastey. Then we went to a few other shops before hopping on our carriage tour. Our tour was an hour long and took us around the French Quarter. We went to see a cemetery. Those things are weird! I cannot believe that after a year, you go back in and collect their bones and just shove them in the back of the tomb. That seems so disrespectful!

Carriage Ride

After the tour we ate at a local little place called The Market in the Garden District, we took Abra back to her hotel and then we drove around a bit more. It was raining and dark. We didn't know if we wanted to stay another night or get on the road. I was leaning more toward getting on the road, so we agreed to head to Birmingham and then stop in Nashville the next day and visit the Belle Meade Plantation there. I would have loved to go to Oaks Alley, but I was also itching to get home to have a rest day before heading back to work!

We stopped for lunch in Nashville on Saturday and then headed to the Belle Meade Plantation for a tour. It was raining, so it wasn't ideal, but it was cool to see the inside of the house and the history. We were insulted as 'Yankees' on the trip by another tourist. Ugh. But for the most part it was educational and makes me again want a giant old house to fix up and live in one day.