New Orleans, day 1

We arrived in New Orleans around lunch time on Monday. Naturally, we were all hungry, which is a good thing to be in New Orleans. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses are closed on Mondays here. So after trying to go to 3 restaurants, we finally found a Mexican place that was open. It wasn't really my first choice to eat Mexican food for my first meal in the Big Easy, but, Wow! It was fabulous! The kids and I had tacos (fish, chicken, and steak) and David had enchiladas. The only thing ordinary about any of the meals was the Spanish rice. The refried beans were out of this world. Before our food came, Nicholas entertained us with some dancing, and Megan videotaped him. Here they are looking at the video together.
This is my favorite part of family vacations. We all really do enjoy being together, and even the normal picking between brother and sister seems to be minimal. We have laughed at every meal we've had and we really have a good time.

After lunch, we walked around the French Quarter which is really all you need for entertainment here. There are street performers on every corner, artists displaying their wares around Jackson Square, the river to explore, not to mention the beautiful buildings and museums. We saw one guy who was riding a bicycle and he, AND the bicycle, were COMPLETELY silver. Including his skin. Wish I would have gotten a picture of that.... There's an area between Jackson Square and the river where there is often a performance going on. This guy had jazz playing marionettes.












We walked through St. Louis Cathedral, which is the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States.











We raced around (well, some of us did) the open areas and took photos of statues.









We took a carriage ride, pulled by a mule named Milky Way. We got a mini tour of the French Quarter, where we saw this house which is part Victorian mansion and part castle because the husband and wife couldn't agree on the style.









We saw the last bridge over the Mississippi River.









We saw the hotel where David and I spent our honeymoon over 17 years ago.












We got hustled by a very charming hat salesman, and we found ourselves willingly buying a hat without exactly knowing what had hit us. At least Nicholas has been wearing the hat continuously since the purchase!












And finally, we did what no visit to New Orleans is complete without: we ate beignets at Cafe du Monde. Beignets are squares of fried dough sprinkled with confectioners sugar and served at an open air restaurant adjacent to Jackson Square. The Cafe du Monde is open 24 hours a day except for Christmas Day, so you can get these hot, sweet treats (along with a hot chocolate or a cafe au lait) at any hour of the day or night. Clearly, Nicholas enjoyed his beignet thoroughly, although his Polamalu sweatshirt may never be the same!