Grateful Friday

I am grateful today to be spending extra time with Adam in a new and interesting place.  Also it is warm and humid and my cracked fingers have healed and I haven't used lotion once.  It's amazing.

Here was our day yesterday:

After a very chaotic breakfast situation at the hotel, we finally figured it out.  Confusion won't reign so supremely next time.

We went for a walk around the French Quarter.  Everything is picturesque, so pardon the photo dump.

Like New Orleans Square at Disneyland except not as clean and no Pirates of the Caribbean

This was inside a shop where they make these gas burning lanterns.  I can't imagine the amount of propane we could go through at Pleasant Hill!

This church borders Jackson Square, where the Louisiana Purchase took place (that's Jackson Square in the foreground).

I love a good cathedral...

especially if there's a statue of my girl, Joan of Arc!

I met some of Adam's co-workers.  One woman remembered me from a Salt Lake Bees game (and I remembered her--super recognizers unite).  Another woman told me she adored Adam.  I said I did too.  A guy he works with said, "I think Adam's...OK."

We went to a deli we heard about on Somebody Feed Phil, making that Netflix subscription pay for itself.  It was the kind of place Adam loves.  And the sandwiches were good too.  

We walked a bit around the Garden District, and drove around it a bit more.  We saw some amazingly opulent houses and the Mississippi River, which feels strange being higher than the city.  We saw a lot of schools, but each one was associated with a huge church.

I loved watching the tugboats churn along.

It started raining really hard and then minutes later the sky was blue.

It's a lot of water for a girl from the high desert.

Since Mardi Gras was last week, there were still platforms along parade routes.  A lot of houses were decorated with beads.

And the trees had beads and these ribbons/confetti/I don't know what in them.

Adam had to be in a virtual meeting, so we came back to our hotel room and he did that and I did my own thing, including but not limited to reading the notes from a meeting Janelle went to in my stead.  Things they are a changing in the Alpine School District so I called her to get the skinny.  She said that she couldn't believe I was thinking about work while I was on vacation.  I can't help it; I am a thinker of all the things.  She gave me a report on my sub and it seems like things are going OK.

Adam and I went to Lake Pontchartrain. I already knew the city is below sea level, but it is so striking.  We walked up this berm to get to the lake.

The lake was pretty in the dusky light.

From there, we met up with three guys that are on Adam's team for dinner.  He said he needed to take them to dinner at least once while we are here.  I said, "Doesn't the company pay for dinner anyway?"  He said yes.  I don't know.  I guess I need to just stay in my lane. 

They said that I should feel right at home with them since I teach 3rd grade.  One of them served his mission in New Orleans about ten years ago.  So I had questions.  One of them is so earnest it was endearing to me.  I asked Adam later how old he is and Adam didn't know.  He's young.  It's hard to know how old people are.  Just young.

I first googled it to see what it even was, then I ordered stuffed mirliton.  I also asked the waiter how to pronounce it.

Mirliton is, according to google, the unofficial squash of New Orleans.  Do other cities have unofficial (or even official) squashes?

It was stuffed with shrimp and crab and I think cornbread.  It was good.

I am loving my trip so far.  I don't love this picture of me, but I love this guy.  

He's funny and pleasant and up for anything and amazing with directions.  Those are great qualities to have in a travel companion.

I have not had a beignet yet, but I keep reminding Adam of that, so I'm hopeful.