Beauty and the Beard:
Bound to Wander

Hey guys, its been a hot second since this last post. Sorry about that. We've been pretty non-stop, back-to-back, action-packed busy. Day 6 was a pretty long-haul day of driving. We woke up early, packed, and were on the road by 8:30 a.m. What? Out of bed before 10?? It hurt. It really did. We hopped on I-10 out of NOLA and jumped onto I-90 shortly after. This route added an extra hour to our trip, but we wanted a nice coastal drive. Disappointingly, it rained the entire time we were on I-90 all the way to Biloxi. Kaylea was wanting to get out and have lunch on one of the white, sandy beaches, but that wasn't really an option. We did get to see all of the spectacular beach-front houses with their giant grandiose staircases and thick Victorian columns (Aaron loves columns).  We stopped at a Starbucks for a late breakfast, and then again at a Panera for a late lunch. Nothing too interesting. At Panera we had a good long chat about postmortem cryogenics and designer babies. W...

The only real thing we had on our agenda for our final day was the Insectarium. Beyond that we were just planning on winging it. We started off with some brunch.  There's a nice place on St Peter street called the Old Coffee Pot. We had tried to go there two nights before, but we showed up about 20 minutes before they closed. Well we made it this time and the food was, like most food we've had in New Orleans, amazing. Aaron had steak and eggs, and Kaylea had some blintes. They're basically crepes with cream in the middle. Kaylea's came out first, and Aaron got a small bowl of gumbo for the wait. It was on the house. Five star reviews were given. We talked about how a New Orleans restaurant would clean up in a place like Dallas. Every meal we've had has been on point. That includes the street vendors. We just can't think of a place where we've had better food. From there, it was a short walk to the Insectarium. On the way, we decided to stop at a Wal...

OH BOY. This might be long. Sorry in advance and happy reading. So we've learned that waking up late is just a part of how we vacay. So, from now on, just assume we didn't get out of the hotel until mid to late morning. We hit the street with in intention of food and the garden district. We knew we had to walk to Canal Street and, according to google maps and other internet sources, hop on a street car that would take us to a quiet district filled with picturesque mansions and unattainable dreams. Getting to Canal Street was easy. It was finding the correct stop that proved difficult. We stopped in a Starbucks for a quick breakfast and (second) cup of coffee while we tried to figure out where to buy tickets. Once we figured out we could buy single day passes directly from the streetcar conductor, we headed to our stop. It was the wrong stop. So we headed to our correct stop. That was the wrong stop. We walked two blocks down Bourbon street, and there was no stop. Back to ...

Day 3 began much like day 2. The original plan was to wake up early and beat the rush to Cafe Du Monde, which is the Quarter's famous coffee and beignets cafe. However, we were too cozy to get up before 9. We made it to the cafe around 10:30. We stood in line for about 10 minutes, which was much shorter than expected. We were ushered past the crowds inside to a small table that was surrounded by powdered sugar. We were hoping for a real breakfast, but apparently the place that's famous for beignets and coffee only sells beignets and coffee. It was fine. It wasn't the healthiest of breakfasts, but it was tasty.  We also got to watch the service line that the waitresses picked up the food from. It was interesting and made for a quick turn around. It was no wonder the long line only took 10 minutes. After a quick run through the french market, we had to rush back to the hotel to get ready for our Swamp Tour. The website for the tour told us to meet behind a sketchy bar...

It took us a little longer than we might have liked to get out of our hotel room. The drive from the night before was a bit too long, and the breakfast in bed was a bit too delicious. The Omni Royal does not skimp on the bacon. Once we were able to get out of our hotel, we made our way down to Jackson Square, and the French Market. We didn't have too much time in the French Market. We booked a cemetery tour that morning, and it was a good walk from where we were. However, we did have time to make a quick stop for some sea food quesadillas. The place was called J's Sea Food Dock, and these quesadillas were amazing. Kaylea had some second thoughts about this place's adherence to health codes, but even she had to admit that it was some good sea food. We were supposed to meet our tour guide at a church just outside the French Quarter. As soon as we got out of the French Quarter, it became obvious how big of a poverty problem New Orleans has. Our tour guide was la...

WE'RE BACK. After two years we've decided to pick the blog back up for our latest trip! We've been on a few small trips since our two month Euro trip, including our wedding in Yosemite! ( Check out Kaylea's pinterest for pictures ) That trip was such a whirlwind that we didn't have time to blog. Just a summary: We drove from Dallas to Yosemite, married at Tenaya Lodge, honeymooned in Yosemite with climbing and hiking adventures, drove to Zion and hiked the narrows, drove to the Grand Canyon to sight see, and then back home to Dallas. Now that you've been caught up since last we blogged - our current trip is dun, dada, dun: BIRTHA-GRADUH-VERSARY. Basically, Kaylea graduated with her Masters on May 13th, turned 25 on May 15th, and our 1 year anniversary is May 21st. So we decided to wander across the southern states in search of fun, adventure, and romance (trill the r). We just arrived at our hotel in New Orleans, where we will be staying for 5 nights. Aa...