New Orleans 2012: Part 1 = PARADES

From February 2012 - July 2012 I was fortunate enough to live and work in New Orleans, LA.  I tried to do and see as much as I could in the 5 months I was in the other LA.  I had so many amazing experiences that I am going to have to break this up into multiple posts.  Enjoy.

MARDI GRAS 2012

         Mardi Gras was nothing like what I expected.   The floats are incredible.  Serious works of art.  It is amazing when people on the floats start throwing beads.

I arrived at my first parade thinking - I don't need any beads.  But within seconds my hand was in the air and I was reaching for them.  Excited to see what color I would get and then hoping I would get one of the "fancy" beads.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of kids at the parades.  I was not surrounded by  women taking off their tops for beads (as I was expecting based on the rumors I have heard of Mardi Gras).  Instead I was surrounded by families.  On the side of the street there were wooden seats for the kids to sit - just above their parents heads.  Kids could watch and not have to worry about not being able to see and their parents didn't have to worry about the kids running in front of the floats.  Win Win for All!

ST. JOSEPH'S PARADE 2012 

The New Orleans Italian American Marching Club St. Joseph's Parade might have been my favorite parade in NOLA.  The crowd wasn't as big in the French Quarter for the parade - which might have been part of the appeal.  My friend Tracy & I got a drink to-go from a local bar and followed the parade (that's right - you can order drinks to go in New Orleans and they put the tasty booze drinks in a fun plastic cup and off you go).

The men in the parade carry (fake) roses and give them to girls in exchange for a kiss on the cheek.  It is a totally harmless but fun fun fun parade.  Tracy & I collected lots of (fake) roses and a few beads while listening to the various bands marching along next to the floats.  Our favorite marching group were these middle-aged men who dressed up like Will Ferrell from "Semi Pro" and attempted to perform a dance routine.  It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was fabulous to watch!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE 2012

St. Patty's Day Parade in New Orleans - you expect that to be a crazy, fun parade... and it was!  Before the parade I heard stories of people on the floats throwing cabbage and corn beef at people - I didn't believe it was true (I hoped, but dare I dream?).  

And let me tell you my friends, they threw that and so much more.  Boxes of lucky charms, bags of carrots, beads, beads and more beads, green colored thongs (which were exciting to catch but later trashed - don't worry), fake flowers and then more beads.

One thing that really impressed me about New Orleans was how quickly the town recovers from a parade.  The streets are absolutely TRASHED after each parade.  Beads are everywhere.  But they have so many parades in NOLA they have the cleanup process down to a science.  The morning after a parade - the streets are completely clean.  There might be some beads left in the trees (well, for weeks) but the streets are clean.

New Jersey / New York ~ April 2012

My sister Jill, brother-in-law Mike and niece Annabelle moved to New Jersey in late 2011.  I have never been to New York City ~ so Easter weekend Sherman and I headed east to spend time with the family and see NYC.

 

The family:  Brother-in-law Mike, Sister Jill, Me, Niece Annabelle, Boyfriend Sherman

 

 BROOKLYN BRIDGE

 

CENTRAL PARK

Does this make anyone else think of "30 Rock?"  I was bummed that we didn't run into Liz Lemon outside trying to buy a hot dog.

TIMES SQUARE

Highlights of the trip: 

We went "off Broadway" and saw "Avenue Q" ~ which was awesome!  If you are in NY and want to see a hilarious play - "Avenue Q" is a must.  NOTE: despite the fact that there are puppets in the play, this is not for children.  Good fun entertainment for the adults.

http://www.avenueq.com/?gclid=COr78J3V_LICFQkFnQodt1YA4w

Central Park is pretty remarkable.  I knew it would be but despite everything I saw on TV and read in books and magazines ~ it was much larger and more grandiose than I was expecting (843 acres - who knew?).  There is so much to do at Central Park (roller blade, ice skate, listen to the street musicians, shop, picnic, read by the water, you name it) that you can easily spend an entire day there.  Central Park is definitely worth going to NYC for!  Add it to your bucket list if you haven't been there! 

Sherman & I are big "Project Runway" fans - so it was pretty cool to go to Bryant Park - where the 3 finalist show their collections at Fashion Week each season.  We both work on big budget features but seeing where the finale of Project Runway is finale was very exciting!

 

I was not so impressed by Times Square.  I have been to many big cities and I just don't need to be surrounded by that many people.  The Naked Cowboy was fun to see but I could have done with about 10,000 less people on the streets.  

FINAL NOTES:  I am definitely looking forward to going back to NY in the near future.  There is still SO MUCH that I need to do and see there.  As much as I miss living closer to my sister, it is fun having her live in NJ so I have an excuse to get out to NY and cross more off my travel list.  So look for an updated NY / NJ blog in the near future.

Catalina ~ February 2012

Long Beach Ferry

We stayed at a cute little hotel, Casa Mariquita.  Walking distance from everything.  We liked the hotel - until the police showed up in the middle of the night to arrest the guy in the room across from us.  Good times.

Walking up Avalon Canyon Road on our way to...

WRIGLEY MEMORIAL & GARDEN

Catalina Casino

Catalina Island is worthy of being on the Things to Do Before You Die list.  You can walk around the waterfront, rent bikes, hike, shop, eat at cute restaurants, see a show at the Catalina Casino... the list goes on and on.  Between walking along the waterfront and up to Wrigley Memorial I suggest spending the night.  There are plenty of hotel options and a huge campground to choose from.  While you do need to pay for the ferry ride to the island, you don't need to spend a lot of $$ once you are there.

MEXICO CITY ~ 2011

My sister, brother-in-law and niece briefly lived in Mexico City.  My brother-in-law took a job transfer to New Jersey... which meant as soon as I was home from Austin I needed to head south to Mexico.

My primary reason for heading to Mexico was to hang out with my family and see the life my sister was living before she moved again.  I wanted to see the school my niece attended, my sister's favorite walking path, the local park, etc.  Mike was in NJ on a business trip - so it was just us girls the first few days of my trip.

While Annabelle was at school, Jill and I went to the National Museum of Anthropology.  

 

I was in Mexico City just before Halloween.  I got to see Annabelle dressed up as Jessie. We went to a Halloween Party with Annie's Playgroup ~ it was so cute to see her with her friends!

When Mike returned from his trip - he and I ventured out to Las Mananitas. Located in Cuernavaca, it was hard to believe that we were headed to such a beautiful, serene location while we were sitting in traffic blocks from this hotel.  We passed by the hotel a few times, looking for a big hotel with luscious gardens surrounding the property.  Instead we pulled up near the hotel sign to valet the car and were quite surprised that the sound of cars buzzing by immediately disappeared the minute we exited the lobby, into the gardens. 

We sat in the gardens and had some wine and appetizers before moving over to the restaurant for lunch.  I had never seen peacocks roaming around outside of a zoo before, so that was a fun surprise.

I had a great time in Mexico City.  While I enjoyed the museum, I don't believe it is a place you need to see before you die.  Las Mananitas, on the other hand, deserves to be on the list!  So the next time you are in Mexico City - make your way to Cuernavaca... it is worth the trip!