New Orleans

I have a ton to say about my trip to New Orleans!!! So of course I've been putting it off because I knew it would take a long time to write this post. But I am going to take a few minutes each day and write a few things, and it should be ready to post soon.

First, I had some mixed feelings about this trip. Dave and I have never spent large amounts of time apart from each (like, never more than a long day of working during the day) other ever since we got married. That is, we never had until this semester. We had never spent a night apart until Dave's trip to California in February. He went for a school competition and spent 4 days away from me! And then this trip that I took in March was 5 days.

By the time the trip came up, I was actually feeling pretty good about it, since it was a good professional development opportunity, I was going to be traveling to a fun city (or so I had heard), and I was going to get to attend presentations at TESOL by some really famous TESOL experts (more on that in this post). Also, while it had been hard to be apart from Dave the first time (okay, don't worry, this whole post isn't going to be this cheesy), I thought that it wouldn't be so bad this time since I would be having fun, and that it wouldn't be so hard the second time.

Then, on the day that I left to go to New Orleans, Dave was offered this job in Nevada. We knew that he would be leaving as soon as he could to start working down there. And we knew that I would have to stay in Utah to finish my master's degree and work. Suddenly, all of our days left together before the move started seeming pretty precious! So it was a little harder than I thought to go spend 5 days in New Orleans.

However, there in New Orleans, I had a lot of fun! So even though I was a little sad, I was able to have a great time and learn a lot, too. Here are some pictures (okay, a lot of pictures) of my trip.

We did a lot of things to get into the New Orleans culture while we were down there.

Walked on the riverwalk a couple of times

Hehe!

I look like a missionary with my convention nametag on!

Visited the French Quarter (We visited it every day we were in New Orleans! We did a lot of walking.)

I loved the architecture in this part of town.

The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.

Fun hotel/shopping mall!

Took a Ferry Ride (I love the Mississippi!)

Our boat.

This was the day we left sunny New Orleans.

A view of the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square from the ferry.

Went to the French Market

This is supposed to represent what the French Market started out as.

Heard live music everywhere! It really is the city of jazz.

This is in a restaurant we went to on our first day.

This is in the food court of the mall next to the convention center.

Saw this fun advertisement for Zatarain's! The night we arrived, we drove by this, and I knew I had to come back to it and take some pictures.

Saw a really good street performer. He was acting like a robot.

Yes, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Dave was jealous.

Took the trolley (I forgot to get a picture of this!)

Watched the St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Got Mardi Gras beads - From people throwing them from parade vehicles, but also I just found them all over New Orleans, since Mardi Gras was the week before we came.

Took Flor de Lis pictures - It is everywhere! I am going to do a separate post of all of the pictures that I took of the Flor de Lis.

And last, but not least, went to the TESOL Conference.

Dr. Bill Grabe and Dr. Fredricka Stoller.

And of course we did a lot of eating! It was a lot of fun to try out new foods and to try Cajun cuisine, which I had heard about. I don't have pictures for most of them, but here are some things that I ate:

Beignet - These are super delicious pastries that are like doughnuts/scones. The Cafe du Monde in New Orleans is famous for their beignet.

Hot chocolate - This went so well with the Beignet, even though it really wasn't cold enough for hot chocolate

Pralines - These are pecans covered in a creamy confection similar to fudge. Yummy!

Muffaletta - This was my absolute favorite! It was a really tasty sandwich made on a crusty Sicilian bread. The toppings are salami, pepperoni, and similar meats, with an olive salad on top. Lots of olive oil. So tasty!
Po Boy - It is a sub sandwich served on French bread. I had shrimp po boy, and it was good!
Gumbo - A thick stew from Lousiana, pretty good.

Shrimp Etouffee - Similar to gumbo, but served over rice, and with shrimp!

Jambalaya - Another Lousiana dish made of meat, vegetables, stock and rice. Pretty good!

Red beans and rice - A traditional Lousiana dish. I got all of these last 4 in one order at a restaurant. The order was "A Taste of New Orleans" and it was pretty fun to try all of these dishes together.

Bread pudding - I've had better bread puddings than the two I tried in New Orleans. But it was good.

All in all, it was a great trip. I would love to go back to the Big Easy with Dave some time.