Day Two New Orleans

We began our first day of touring with breakfast in the executive lounge. While this breakfast did not suit Guille and Jim, everyone else loved making bagels, eating yogurt and cereal, and watching ships go by on the Mississippi!

Daddy demonstrating how to use binoculars.

Breakfast was so good they needed a rest before heading out for the day.

As sson as we walked out the door, a sunglass vendor attracted everyone's attention. I believe the lady could have closed up shop when we left her!

We loaded the tour bus for a 2 and half hour bus ride showing us the city and the 9th Ward...which is the most damage occurred from Hurricane Katrina.

Daddy was a little hot from walking along the riverfront to get to the bus!

One of the stops on the tour was the City Cemetery. Everyone is buried above ground in this town! Once the bodies decompose enough...they slide the remains to the back of the tomb and put some more bodies in there. Hmph...not so sure about that!

Boo was not impressed by all this~

We decided to go eat lunch after the tour...and Gail, you would have loved it! Delicious food~ crab cake po boy for me, shrimp po boys for lots of the others, and Daddy got fried shrimp....THE BEST!

This picture is taken outside the restaurant... notice the signs say "do not touch".... guess who loves to break the rules.

Christie LOVED her crab cake sandwich too!

After lunch we debated about what everyone wanted to do. Jim, Cole, and Daddy wanted to take a nap. I wanted to let the children experience Bourbon Street (only in the daytime though). The children wanted to Bungee jump....so everyone got their wishes.

Jim's belly was so full he almost fell asleep standing up.

I had only been to Bourbon Street one other time in my life. Needless to say, I don't think this is where I want to be when Jesus comes back... it was awful. We were tempted to put blinders on the children to get off the street. It is all out there ~ literally and figuratively.

Bungee jumping...He loved it... even though I don't think this is really "bungee" jumping!

She loved it too!

This is what I get when I say look at me for a picture...Can you see the thrill~ tough people to work with for photos...

Posing!

When we got back to the hotel, Daddy had registered for the conference and there were "do rags" with Huddle House on the them. Of course Cole had to fix Ben one!

Cool huh? And take note of the background... Guille claims he didn't have a nap yesterday, but I have proof~ Looks like he is sleeping to me!

Daddy looks like Howard Cunningham on "Happy Days" at one of his meetings... or Andy Griffith and Howard~ The Grand Mattison Daddy!

To end our night... we decided to go for a swim... of course they end up in the hot tub!

JuJu was having a spell ~ they decided to throw her in the pool to make her happy!

I didn't take pictures, but at 8:00 they decided they were hungry again. We "busted" up in the welcome reception with wet heads and cleaned them out on the appetizers they were serving. I feel sure there will be new rules next year about how many people Mama and Daddy get to take with them to the parties!

New Orleans Day One

We started the day at Jane and Butch's. We were SUPPOSED to leave at 7:00... but you know how that goes! Anyway, while we were waiting Ben decided to get into the lemon squares (which are really circles) for a little before breakfast snack.
We stopped two or three times before lunch, but we decided to stop right outside Montgomery for lunch. Butch wanted Burger King for lunch...so we let him decide~ Gail, you would not be jealous of our meals today! These are the candid shots we took while eating lunch.

One of the goals of this trip was for us to go visit all the homes we lived in growing up. Some of you may not realize this, but I went to five different schools by the time I ended back up in Lincolnton. This was our house in Montgomery. I was in the 2nd grade when we lived here. We started school in Lincolnton and then moved in October when this house was finished being built. I had pneumonia while we lived there so I missed a lot of school. I always say my lack of reading comprehension skills was due to this spell of sickness. Anyway, Mama and Daddy let Jim live with Boo-ma and Har to finish out football season for his 9th grade year. When we came home for Christmas Murray offered the insurance agency to Mama and Daddy and they decided on the way back home to Montgomery that we would move back to LC. Needless to say, Jim never enrolled in the schools in Alabama and sat on the couch for two weeks while we waited to move back home.

We never knew the impact this would make on our lives. I went from growing up in a home with a stay-at-home mama who had homemade cookies cooked for us every afternoon to riding a school bus in Lincolnton and being dropped off at my grandmother's house for Mary to keep me. I thought it would be bad, but getting off the bus to a meat and three every afternoon at 3:00 sure was nice. Those were some of the best days of my life. My grandfather, Har, died when I was in elementary school, but I remember spending from 4:30 until 5:00 every afternoon with him waiting on Mama and Daddy to get home. I HATED watching the news with him, but now I am just like him. I love to know what is going on and think of him often when I see the WJBF logo. Sorry for the sidenote, but one day I want my children to know about my childhood memories.

One more sidenote... this house was red...the color of Mama and Daddy's now when we lived in it. I also thought it was the biggest house I had ever been in when I lived there.

After riding in the car from 7:30 to 5:00, we rode past the Superdome. This was in bumper to bumper traffic, but I hope to get a better picture tomorrow.

We were lucky enough to be on the "executive" floor and gained access to the club lounge. We ate appetizers and watched ships come while snacking.

After snacking, we decided to go for a walk around the River Walk area. This is in front of some fountain that I didn't read the fine print about. Doesn't Jamesy look thrilled to be here?

Cole and Boo watching the boats go by on the river.

Boo, Ju, Cole, and Sis were starving, so we stopped by Time Out for a snack!

We are settled in, ready for a long winter's nap, and a restful night. Good night New Orleans!

Coming Home from Savannah!

I have no pictures for this post, but we left Savannah around 11:00. Sis HAD to run back to Riverstreet for a pair of Toms and Boo wanted one more Weak Willie before leaving. We ended up in Statesboro for lunch at RJs... that used to be my favorite restaurant in college. By the time we got to Waynesboro, we all had to potty so we stopped at the Menonite bakery. OH MY GOODNESS... good food! We had a sampling of some great stuff.
Finally, I just wanted to let Gail know that according to your standards... we had a great time on this trip. I love that you measure a trip by the food you eat... if so... this one was one of the best! Needless to say... I am dieting again!

Day Three

We started Day Three by going to the highly recommended bakery "Two Smart Cookies"... Velda had told Mama about it. It was good and having cookies for breakfast on vacation was okay!

We shopped all day long at the both malls, Bass Pro Shop, and ended up back in downtown Savannah to pick up some things that the mall didn't have. And of course...we had to swim when we got back!

Mark had a dinner to go to, so the children went to eat with Mama and Daddy at Tubby's while we were gone.

More ships!

Mark and I ended up going to Savannah Smiles to end the night! It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back!

Savannah Day Two

We set out on day two headed to The Lady and Sons. We had reservations for noon and skipped breakfast in hopes of enjoying the buffet. I had heard many stories about the restaurant and thought there was no way that the food could be as good as my mama's or Mary's cooking... well... I will have to say that it was DELICIOUS!
To get started we had to ride the ferry over to Riverstreet to get on a trolley bus. We were excited to eat!

As we were riding the trolley, we noticed someone running to the trolley to stop us... none other than Forest Gump... he said he had some chocolates in his suitcase for us...but they had melted! He was great... better than Tom Hanks!

And when we arrived at the restaurant...we found out we had VIP seats. We were upstairs overlooking the streets of Savannah. Thanks Paula...and Mr. Earl!

This is my plate... I had the buffet... It wasn't like the normal buffet...you know where all the food tastes the same. This was GOOD! I started with the salad bar. Yummy! If you notice my plate... I had collards, creamed potatoes, sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, corn, butter beans, fried chicken, a garlic biscuit, a cornbread cake, and big old glass of MawMaw tea with lemon and mint! THE BEST food ever!

This is us in the elevator going back down to the street. We were as full as ticks! I ate so much I thought I was going to throw up! Daddy, Boo, and I headed back to the hotel while Mama and Sis went shopping!

Again, the heat index was about 111 so we had no choice but to go swimming. This is Daddy and Ben fighting in the pool.

Mama cooling off

Daddy was sore the next day... I can't imagine why!

Even though we were all miserable from lunch... we decided we still needed to go out to eat for dinner. We chose Huey's.

All my hearts walking on Riverstreet!

Sis and Boo making lemon wedge teeth! They learned how to do this last year in Savannah... so they had to remake the picture!

It was our 15th wedding anniversary, so we decided to smile for a picture!

Day One of Savannah

We left Lincolnton to tag along with Mark once again...this time to Savannah! We did this trip last year too and because the children loved it so much... we decided to go back again!
Our first stop was McDonalds for a potty break. When I came out of the bathroom, Boo had an Oreo flurry, Sis had a sweet tea, and I knew we were in for a long week of them getting everything they wanted!

Yep! We actually got Butch and Jane to leave the big town of LC to go with us! This first picture is us on the ferry that travels from the Westin to Riverstreet everyday. The ride takes about five minutes and it is always fun to see all the people who are on there.

Mark had to leave to go to Providence for the night, so we had to quickly find a spot for lunch before he headed out to the airport. This is Boo and Jane at Vic's... DELICIOUS!

Sis and I shared black and blue chips, Mark and Butch had Shrimp and Grits, Boo had a grilled cheese and Jane got Fried Green Tomatoes.

On the way back to the Westin and you can see one of the big boats coming down the river. We had to wait on it to come by before we could cross...these ships always amaze us!

It was SO hot while we were there... heat index of 111. Needless to say...we were sweating!

Daddy and the children watching the ships go by... this is where they stayed most of the time watching out the window.

We were so hot! We decided to stay at the hotel and eat dinner in the bar area. It was full with all the businessmen and cocktail hour...so we opted to sit outside under the play area. The children loved it!

And Jane loved relaxing...

Butch laughing at the group of "Yankee" men smoking their cigars and drinking wine. One of them almost fell and we just about wet our pants laughing at them!

While we were people watching the children started playing pool... they were struggling because they have never played before so the old pro got up and showed them!

We decided to go swimming after that! Always a good thing to tire them out before heading to bed!

Someone got in a little snooze before bedtime though!