A Couple Daytripping

In my last post I said some announcements would be happening soon.

Tracy and I decided that since most of the areas we wanted to visit within a two hour drive we have seen.  Traveling more than two hours away diminishes our time to visit and return the same day. We needed to make some changes in order for us to take longer trips.

With my business I do travel some. When I do I spend weeks at a time on these projects away from home. That forces me to stay in hotels. In the past Tracy has traveled for business and spent a good amount of time in hotels. We both reached to the point of not enjoying them. Especially this pandemic has really screwed up our experiences.

So Tracy and I decided to bite the bullet and make a major purchase. After much research , on site visits, negotiations, we finally made our decision and placed the order last April.

Everyone, meet Becky.

She is a Beacon made by Vanleigh. 39 feet long. She has a king size bed, full living, kitchen, dining for four, and a washer & dryer. Everything we need to enjoy our trips. A home on wheels.

We ordered a 2021 model, but they built the 2022 model. A little different than what we wanted. The shower is smaller than the 2021. That is a small issue for me since I am taller than the shower. Luckily they installed a skylight above the shower. We will see how well I can adjust to the small shower.

When we ordered the RV, we also purchased a new truck. I wanted something strong enough to pull and handle the road with Becky. Besides, my old truck has over 240k miles on it.

Meet LJ and Becky

This photo is at the dealership with LJ picking up Becky.

Yes we named them. LJ is short for Lucy Jane. And we thought the name Becky fit.

Our trip home went much better than expected. I had never pulled something this long or heavy before. We live about 100 miles from the RV dealership.

LJ did a great job pulling and Becky was a good girl. She didn’t sway with the cross winds, being behind semis, or anything.

Now its time to personalize Becky for her maiden voyage.

Will keep you posted

What a summer it has been! This has been our busiest year with our business. So much so that I have been working six days a week for most of the year. That left Sunday to my household chores. No time for play time.

But soon we will be announcing some changes and I think many of you will be excited about it.

The first week of October Tracy and I decided to take a day off. We grabbed a couple of friends and headed to Fredericksburg Texas. We have been there many times and I have worked on many building throughout the area. I posted about this area a couple of years ago. Tons of history, I mean tons.

We just needed a break and since Tracy LOVES wine I thought it would be a good idea to head to wine country. Yes, Fredericksburg has many wineries. I have been told the soil is like Spain. if you enjoy Spanish wines, you will enjoy the wineries here. It is a great area to spend a vacation or at least a weekend.

When we arrived, it was hard to find a place to park. Couldn’t figure out what was going on until my friend says, “Octoberfest Duh!” Dummy me, never even thought about it. Found a spot on the west side of town and took a little stroll down Main Street (Highway 290)

We stopped at a few shops and decided since we arrived late, time for some authentic German food. We found a place called Altdorfs.  The building has been remodeled with inside and outdoor dining. We decided to sit inside facing Main Street. Good thing we did, the costumes walking by were fantastic. We were focused on the passing people I forgot to take pictures. The only picture I took was the sign when we walked in.

Very good food. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Great atmosphere.

The restaurant is just a block away from the park. That area was bustling with music and other festival activities. We did not want to be around a ton of people that weekend, so we did not join in on the fun. Maybe next year. It sure seemed like a lot of fun.

My goal of this trip was wineries for Tracy and her friend to sample. I just wanted to relax and enjoy the day. Off we went and our first stop was Safari Winery. Very busy place! . We were kind of overwhelmed on how crowded it was, but we did the tasting anyway. Good thing we did. They have a few very good wines.

Off to the next stop

Decided to do something different. Next stop was Garrison Brothers Distillery.

I thought this sign was funny.

We should have made this stop our lunch stop. When we arrived, we were being serenaded by a blue grass honky talk band. Music was excellent. When reached the lounge area, the band took a lunch break. The facility has wide open spaces. Huge rocking chairs for people to sit, relax and enjoy. It was very relaxing, beautiful views and atmosphere.  We did a tasting.

Now I am not a fan of bourbon, but Tracy said they each had a unique flavor. She did enjoy them. Take a look at their web site. When you arrive, you are instructed to visit their site to place your order. The tables and seating areas are labeled with numbers. You just sit back, order your drinks and food. Just enjoy the music,  atmosphere and everything is brought to you. Looking at the menu again, I commented many times.  Note to self, this place is a do over for lunch! It was a very enjoyable experience.

When we left, we found a new winery, French Connection Wines down the road. Incredible views during your tasting. You can see for miles.

We did not stay there long. Our focus was figuring out what to do for dinner plans. We wanted something different than what you typically find in town.

Heading back to Johnson City while trying to decide what to do for dinner we found a place called Carter Creek Winery Resort and Spa. Also known as Old 290 Brewery.

Wow, hidden gem. It is new, maybe a couple of years. They have a winery, craft beer, restaurant, music stage, wedding venue, cabins, and spa. And we were told it is still growing. Very unique facility.

When we arrived, we went directly to wine tasting (what else do you expect). We tasted five wines and bought a couple. My buddy and I tried a couple of their craft beers, pretty good also. It was getting dinner time and we started discussing what to do. The gentleman doing the tasting suggested we dine there. You have a restaurant we asked? Yep, reservations only and very good food. He made reservations for us.

We were glad we took his advice. The waiter we had was fantastic, a ton of fun.

We tried their brisket flat bread for an appetizer. I thought it of a brisket pizza, worked for me!. I decided to try their tomato bisque. Amazing flavor.

It was suggested we try the prime rib. Yes, they had prime rib, a rarity these days.

A few more of their craft beers, and wines. Dinner was awesome. We spent about two hours relaxing and enjoying ourselves. Then we heard music from outside.

As we were walking out, we found a stage with a live band. Huge grass area with people were playing bean bag  and other yard games, enjoying their drinks. Other people were sitting at tables enjoying dinner, drinks, and the band.

We wanted to stay, but it was getting dark and our dogs had been cooped up all day in the house.

I highly recommend a trip there. Doesn’t matter what you do, taste wine, taste craft beer, have dinner, enjoy the music, and take advantage of the spa. Well worth the trip.

Stay tuned for changes happening!

Wow, what the past 12 months have been! Our business doubled making it exceedingly difficult to make time to travel. And we also had the restrictions not allowing you to go anywhere.

We decided it was baby time again. We have been with them in the past, but we drove each time. When you drive that long distance, you lose days of quality time. We decided it was time to take a flight to Florida. We made the arrangements a month in advance.

Within 10 days before it was time to leave, Miss Elsa popped up in the Atlantic. Because this is our busy season, we are booked two to three weeks out. Changing flight days would have been hell changing our customer’s dates, so we decided to make the trip anyway. After all, this trip was mainly grandbaby time.

We arrived at the airport three hours ahead of departure time, recommended by the news media. From the time we dropped off our vehicle in the parking lot, check in, and went through security, we had two hours to spare. Boring!

First thing I noticed at the airport, about half of the businesses were not open. We got there in the afternoon, more than half of the restaurants closed their gates. I am assuming it is the lack of employees. Most of the companies stay open just past lunch time. Since we were hungry, we went on an adventure and walked most of the airport. Finally stopped at a BBQ place we have eaten before. Unfortunately, the quality was not there like before. And they messed up our order.

Flight was noneventful. I slept most of the way. It is boring to fly! So I sleep.

We arrived at our friend’s house just past midnight. We stay with them because there is no room with the grandbabies.

A reminder, Elsa is heading our way.

Our friend is a retired police officer who volunteered for hurricane awareness for many years. When hurricanes are about, he is fixed on that sucker until it goes away. We spent Sunday and Monday preparing for this little girl. Food was not the issue; it was making sure everything was secured outside to keep from being missiles. All that preparation to the two homes and she fizzles out as she reaches us. Better to be prepared verses not being prepared.

Every day we had rain, lots of rain. Unfortunately, our baby time was not spent at the beach or any other place. But we had a bunch of quality time. Playing hide and go seek with a four- and two-year-old is priceless.

Florida changed their fireworks laws. We kind of blew stuff up for 4^th of July. We have a video of all the huge fireworks, need to figure out how to upload without it taking days. Half of the neighborhood sat in the street watching everything. Only took four hours the next morning to clean up the street.

Our ventures outside the house were to restaurants. Our trips:

Most of our mornings breakfast was at Toast in New Port Richey They serve breakfast and lunch. Not fancy, small place, great food. Smiling faces, and the coffee flows. There are two locations, the other is towards Oldsmar. I met the owners a while back. Great people. A great suggestion to visit if you are in the area.

Yes I consumed Greek food, lots of Greek food

Louis Pappas Fresh Greek in my opinion has the BEST Greek salad. Suggestion, one order feeds two people. We mainly went there for lunch, ordered a salad and gyro. Left full and happy.

Hellas Bakery is located in the Sponge Docks. We have been going to this place since high school. If you enjoy lamb shank, you will be singing a happy tune. When it arrives, grab the bone, and the meat just slides off. Large portions and I have tried just about everything on the menu. Never disappointed. Order the flaming cheese for the appetizer. They are famous for their bakery. When you leave you need to venture to that side of the property. You will not be disappointed.

Mr Souvlaki is just outside the Sponge Docks on Tarpon Avenue. They have the best pickled octopus according to our friends. Got to order the flaming cheese here as well! This restaurant is the original Greek Chow Mein. Order the small portion unless you want lunch tomorrow.

Both Greek restaurants are family owned. If you order the same dich as each restaurant, they will be different. Delicious, but different.

Palm Harbor has made great effort in revitalizing their downtown. One evening we went there for Mexican food.  Salted Lime Cantina  was recommended. A definite do over. It is more like an island Mexican place. We ordered multiple appetizers for everyone. Plantains were out of this world. Tracy had pork belly tacos and I had the Tango enchiladas. Sadly, they don’t open until 3 because we would have gone there for lunch the next day. After dinner Tracy and I went for a walk to see what else was there. Our next trip will be investigating all the other restaurants downtown. And dummy me, I forgot to take pictures.

Off to Saint Petersburg to celebrate a friend’s birthday. O’Maddys was the place to go! It faces the bay in the gulf. Excellent entertainment and the food were fantastic. It is extremely popular compared to the other bars on the street. When we left, I noticed the other bars barely had half the population inside. Again, great atmosphere with great prices.

You saw our great experiences, unfortunately we did have one lousy experience.

One night it was decided on Italian, and we made reservations for 8 hours in advance. When we arrived at Carrabba’s in Lutz, it was recommended.  We arrived on time and the staff walked around like they were lost. We were one of three reservations of eight people for six o clock. It took the staff 20 minutes to figure out how to set up three tables to fit eight people. Trust me, there was plenty of room with empty tables. The service was adequate, not great. The food at best was mediocre. Mine was cold or room temp. The premade chicken was ice cold. Extraordinarily little flavor. I wrote a review, and their management did a standard reply with no apology and requested I fill out a survey form. Did not waste my time.

All in all, had a fantastic time. The only complaint, too much rain. But you smile, enjoy the liquid sunshine, and have fun anyway.

It seems like it has been decades since I wrote about a trip. We have been making trips, but with all this stuff going on, we have slowed down our travels. Tracy works at home now. My business, I travel at least three counties every week.

A couple of weeks ago Tracy said, “I think I have had enough of staying at home. We need to make a day trip.” “where do you want to go, I ask.” She replied, “Surprise me.”

Business for me has been overwhelming. I have been working at least six days a week. Lately I have been doing 14-hour days.

Saturday, I woke up early. Made coffee and woke Tracy. Let’s go have breakfast at Dahlia’s in Liberty Hill I said. They have incredible breakfast. Like over the top.

With coffee in hand, the top down on the car, off we went. Tracy made a call to see how busy they were. Sadly, with this stuff going on they are not open for breakfast yet. Only dinners currently.

Did a quick turn around and headed west. We looked around Burnet and all we could find was The Highlander. I can tell you their smorgasbord is awesome for lunch and dinner. Breakfast, not so much. It is not bad, just not something we would go to. Quick bite and saw some friends.

Back in the car, top back down and westward we go. Our original thought was to go to Mason. As we were driving, we did some research to make sure there were places open.

We made it to Llano. Took a little tour around to show Tracy the recent work I had done. By this time we determined Mason was not the place to go. All the planned activities had been cancelled. And we were worried making that trip would be frustrating if most of the places of interest were closed. We decided to head north on 16 toward San Saba.

We arrived in San Saba and decided to visit a few establishments we went to previously.

First stop. San Saba Olive oil Company . We met Renee who is the new owner. The previous owner who we had a wonderful time before decided to retire. We had a great time chatting with her. She is a wealth of information about San Saba. If you ever get the chance to drive in the area, please stop there. She has gallons and gallons of infused oils and balsamic to taste. We ended up buying 12 bottles.  Yum

Walked a block down the road and stopped in Harry’s Boots. Huge place with everything western. And upstairs is the place to go to buy a cowboy hat.  Our trip there was for a purpose. Last time we found baby chaps and vests. But we did not buy them. We did this time!

Last weekend we did a video chat with the grand babies and watched them open and wear them. Yahoo was said many times!

When we were talking to Renee, she suggested a place called Bad Bob’s General Store in Bend. At first, I thought she was pulling my leg while she was describing the place. But we thought we would give it a try. We were hungry and she said they have great food.

We followed her directions to turn at the sign that said Bend. She said we could not miss it. Well we are driving along, top down, having a great conversation, in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, we saw about 30 cars parked, and a huge amount of 4 wheelers. We pulled in.

First impression, yep a hole in the wall. The place seemed incredibly old and tired. To the right of the building there is a picnic area and a food trailer. We walked to the trailer and the sign said to place the food order inside. We looked around to see where inside was. A gentleman wearing a huge straw hat asked if we were lost. Restroom and lunch. He pointed to the construction outhouse and said to go into the main building to order lunch. He also said in an hour this place will get busy with the band playing.

We went inside and I would guess this building was built in the 30’s. General store is a good word. Fish bait, swimming suits, clothes, beer, hardware, and anything else you would find in an old general store. We ordered two types of hamburgers and fries. Took the sales slip to the food trailer and waited at the picnic tables. While waiting we had conversations with mother hen and her chicks. Yes Tracy fed them.

Went to the bar and ordered drinks. Hamburgers were ready. I can tell you these were one of the top 10 burgers I have had. Jalapeno cheeseburger on jalapeno bread. Just enough kick to say hello!

The owner stopped by and suggested we get another drink and head to the stage. He said we would enjoy the band. So we did.

Well three hours later listening to an awesome band, playing with the local dog, talking to people, it was time to force ourselves to head back home. We still had an hour and a half drive home.

I can tell you Google Maps was wrong on how to get home. We drove for about 10 miles and all of a sudden there is a fence with a home-made stop sign. When we stopped a lady walked up and we told her about Maps. She laughed and said the road is private property and they are renting out RV sites. She also said when we turned around to look for Big Jack. If we saw him tell him Happy Birthday. He is the owner of the ranch. We did not see him, but we saw this.

It was a good day Much needed with this lock down. Tracy felt much better after the day long drive in the sun. I must admit, I had fun also.

It has been quite a few years since I attended the SEMA/ APEX show in Las Vegas. It is an annual convention that is incredibly huge. This year it was estimated that over 400,000 people would attend this week long event.

When Tracy and I had our company in Indianapolis, we attended every year. Our business was automotive aftermarket products and services. Every year we came back with something new. Attendees get access to hundreds of manufacturers throughout the world that produce automotive related products. Hot rods, new cars, vintage cars, race cars, dragsters, you name it they were there.

When I told Tracy I wanted to attend, she suggested we celebrate our anniversary a month early. When we attended in the past it was two to three days of nothing but viewing, negotiating, and meetings. Then leave with something new for our company.

View from our hotel room

We arrived Sunday morning pretty early in the morning.  . We checked in the Bellagio at 8:30, left our luggage with the valet, and decided to find brunch. We went to Denny’s of all places. Breakfast was nice. Place was packed and we had a very nice waiter

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Their display outside the main lobby. Everything is made from flowers.

We decided to just explore that day.  We walked a ton. Visited MGM, Mirage, and The Venetian. It was fun to just walk, explore, and watch people. Ok I admit it, we did gamble a little

Tuesday was all about SEMA. We got up early for breakfast and wanted to go to their little restaurant, Sadelle’s Café  , but the line was huge. So we decided on their buffet. Belly up to the bar folks. Tons and tons of delicious food. I ended up creating the classic breakfast with the chef making an omelet for me. I tried to stay away from the breads, doughnuts, and other pasties. Believe me it was hard!

What shock to see this amount of people at SEMA. It is estimated 500,000 people attended the event. It is quite overwhelming for someone like me who really does not like large crowds. It has changed a good amount since my last visit.

When we arrived, we went to the north entry. As you get closer to the event, there must have been 100 classic cars and hot rods lined up along the street. Getting through security was easier than I expected Spent most of the time in the building where my industry suppliers are. Outdoors there were many other vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Classics vehicles, performance vehicles, and what I call fantasy vehicles. We even saw Eric Estrada there.

That night we went to Giordano’s. It is a Chicago style pizza place. That is some super thick pizza. When we lived in Indianapolis, we made many trips to Chicago and had this style of pizza. We met up with some very good friends of ours that was had not seen in some time. We had a great time there. Awesome pizza, beer and atmosphere.

Wednesday was another trip to SEMA. But this time I went alone because I wore Tracy out the previous day. Before I left for my venture, I made arrangements for breakfast room service, and a spa treatment. When I woke her up to leave, I gave her the itinerary for the morning.

Suggestion here guys. Happy wife, happy life. I found out many years ago while traveling that room service most times are without additional cost or minimal fees. Some days you really just don’t want to spend time around other people.

My trip to SEMA today was to explore the rest of the event. Did I say this place is huge? Well it really is overwhelming. Tons of people. Tons of media. All trying to get to the same viewing place you are. It is almost chaos but in a good way. I went through the main building which took me three hours. I did stop at a few of the suppliers that I use. Had some very good meetings. But I did not want to spend the entire day there.

Returned to the hotel to a very happy wife. Totally relaxed and was getting ready for the rest of the day. Tracy said the masseuse was incredible. She said the masseuse walked on her back and has never had a massage that great before. Her breakfast was perfect including a rose on the tray.

We decided to venture out to The Venetian and walk through the mall area. One thing about this place is you are bombarded with people trying to sell you perfumes. While in the magic store purchasing gifts, we were told all the perfume stores are owned by the same company. He said they hear complaints all the time.

Next, we went to the Mirage. We decided to visit the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. Very enjoyable and relaxing. We walked around and viewed white lions and tigers. The dolphin exhibits were very interesting and informative. One dolphin had a new baby about two months old. We watched them play with the baby.

For dinner we went with Italian. On one of our Lyft trips I asked the driver where he would take his wife. He said  Battista’s Hole in the Wall. Now with all the trips she and I have made to Las Vegas throughout the years, why didn’t we know about this? Our first trip to Vegas was a small hotel across the street from this place. Again, why in the world did we not know about this earlier! Old style baby. I think this place was established in 1970. it looks like some of the original decor is still there. Tons of photos of celebrities around the place. The menu is a chalk board on the wall. There are about 15 items available. With your entree you receive wine, salads and more. Food is excellent. If you want to go, only reservations in order to get in.

That night we went to see Cirque Du Soleil Mystie’re in Treasure Island. Incredible!  What a performance. We went to the 9:30 show. Did I say it was great?

Yes we gambled that night. Not too bad. We played until 3 AM and only spent $80.00.

Thursday morning we decided on room service. Was very nice and relaxing morning.  And they sent me Tabasco.

The rest of the day we spent with my cousin we have not seen in 12 years. He has been living in Australia and is moving back to Las Vegas with his family who I have never met.. We had a great time with him. We went to the Elephant Bar.   The atmosphere was great, food was good also. it was really good seeing him again

That night we attended a party with one of my suppliers. We went to Virgil’s Real BBQ at the Linq Hotel.    Now don’t get me wrong, the BBQ was good. I was told this was Texas BBQ, close but no cigar. We had a blast there. Our party took over the second floor. The restaurant had their own country dancers and they kept the party goers involved with the dancing. We did have a great time.

Oh, guys if you have to pee they have kegs made into urinals.

Now for the hard part. The party ended at 12:30. We needed to be at the airport at 3:30 AM for the required two hour check in. We made the decision not to tap an hour nap. Wish we did! We arrived at the airport, eyes barely open. Flight was on time, direct to Austin.

We arrived in Austin very early and went to the Fairmont Hotel downtown. it is a new hotel next to the convention center. Very nice hotel and friendly staff.

This was our final stop for our anniversary celebration. I had purchased Doobie Brothers tickets months ago.

We were able to check in early and decided to take a much needed nap. We were asleep for about 45 minutes and there was a knock at the door. Room Service delivering a bottle of Champagne and handmade chocolates. It was a very nice of the hotel management. We slept past lunch.

Dinner was a quick walk up the street to  Fogo De Chao. This is a Brazilian style restaurant where they bring a ton of meats from the rotisserie.  The salad bar is huge. We had lamb, pork, chicken, and about five kinds of beef. The atmosphere was great, and everything was delicious. Yes that says 42nd annuversary.

We finished dinner a little too early to head to the concert so we walked back to the hotel to freshen up.

It was cold and rainy that night, we took an electric cab to the Moody Theater where they film Austin City Limits.   Let me tell you, there is not a bad seat in the house. This concert was a benefit concert for the Alzheimer Association. We watched the remaining 30 minutes of the auction prior to the show. At the end they were asking for $100 donations from the people attending the benefit. Sure wish they allowed the audience to donate because I would have offered.

The concert was the perfect ending of our celebration. It was extremely easy and fast to get in the auditorium, almost center seats, perfect view and sound. When we left we had the same cab driver back to the hotel.

This trip was very enjoyable for Tracy and I. Even though it was technically a business trip, we were able to do many fun things, meet up with long time friends, establish new relationships. And more importantly see my cousin. And the last night was a perfect ending of our anniversary celebration.

We were contacted by a very good friend of ours. We have known him since high school, and he was in our wedding party. He called to tell us his girlfriend accepted his marriage proposal. As a celebration they were going to New Orleans and they wanted us to go.

Tracy the person she is said yes and quickly made arrangements before I even knew about it.

Our original literary was to meet John and Stephanie Thursday night for dinner. Well it did not go as planned. Our flight was to leave at 2:55 and arrive at 4:50. While we were in the shuttle from the parking lot to terminal, we received a text the flight was delayed. It was delayed again telling us the plane was on its way. At 4:45 it was announced flight was cancelled and it never left Denver. We quickly headed to ticket counter to find the next flight to New Orleans. We were informed the next flight was not until Tuesday. Sigh

While waiting at the ticket line Tracy met a college student from Ohio that was to meet his girlfriend in New Orleans. Well you guessed it, we all loaded in my truck and off we were heading to New Orleans at 7 PM. We arrived at 3 AM bug eyed and ready for bed.

We stayed at Holiday in Express on St. Charles.  Construction was completed in January, so the place was up to date and very clean. Staff was fantastic. We never had breakfast there because our friends were at another hotel a few blocks away. But each morning there was a crowd in the dining area and there were some great smells as we walked by.

Our first breakfast was at Mothers Restaurant .There was a long line when we arrived, but within 30 minutes we were placing our order. You order first, find a table, and the staff will deliver your food. This place was established in 1938 and they are known for their ham. Breakfast was great! Yes, the ham is awesome also. We enjoyed it so much we went a 2^nd time.

We decided to spend the day at the WWII Museum . Once we purchased our tickets, we ran into Nick Mueller who is the founder of the museum. Was he full of information about the place! We were there for over five hours and I do not believe we saw half. The museum is divided into sections of the war. Europe, Germany, Japan, etc. Each section describes when and how it started in that area all the way to the end. We went through the aerospace section. Went up four floors to see the top of the planes. So much information on the Germany side. We also watched a 4D movie about the war. So much we did not know about the war.

Dinner time

We had reservations at Emeril’s Delmonico just around the corner from the hotel. /Quick shower and off we went. If I am understanding this correctly, Emeril purchased this place in 1997 and the building has been around since 1895. This restaurant is a place to go once or twice a year. I had Veal, Tracy and the rest had steak. Food was over the top. Our first trip to New Orleans many years ago we had Bananas Foster. I had to have it again. Our waiter was spot on with everything. When he found out we were celebrating the proposal, he brought champagne for all of us.

By the time we left, Tracy and I were exhausted from being without sleep and were hitting the food coma experience.

When we travel we usually ask hotel staff where they eat their meals. Where they would take someone out to dinner. 99% of the time it is a success. That morning Tracy asked and Willa Jean was suggested.

Don’t get this wrong, their food is very good. But it is not what we like. Willa Jean is what I call a foo foo place. For breakfast we like typical breakfast. We did order coffee and a pastry dish to share. Both were very good, but not for us common folk.

We decided on Street Car Café.  Little gem within walking distance of everything. All of us had eggs with some type of meat. Most had grits, not me. I am a hash brown guy. We talked to our waitress about what to do around the place. She had a few suggestions. We mentioned a Beignet and she said they had the best in town. We just HAD to give it a try. I think it was just as good or better than Café Du Monde.

We decided to talk a tour through the Cemetery. While walking that direction we heard a very strange noise that lasted for about ten seconds. We found out after the cemetery tour it was the building that collapsed. I did not take pictures of the building out of respect because they were still pulling people out. Such a sad sight to see.

We learned a lot about the cemetery. The cemetery was quite large at one time. The pyramid at the entrance used to be the center of the cemetery. Did you know the tradition was to leave the crypt open for 24 hours after placing the body to make sure the person was really dead? At night a person would check to make sure each person. They called it the graveyard shift.

The crypts were not built because the sea level is so high like I believed. It was more about space surrounding the church. With the type of weather in New Orleans, the body decomposes extremely fast. Within a year most of the body is gone as well as the casket. The crypts are ten feet long. When it was time to place another person in the crypt, they would push the remains to the back. At the back there was is a hole and the remains would fall to the ground. And that is where you get the term, won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the French Quarter. We watched street performers that were all over the place. We found the market which looks like it used to be the train station. I bet Tracy and Stephanie went into 20 stores. John and I just tagged along.

Our last lunch was at The original Pierre Masperos . Our waitress was Mary was incredible. She was a ton of fun. She said she had been there for 16 years.

There is so much to do around New Orleans. We did not get a chance to ride the trolley car which travels all over town. There are cooking schools that we found at the end of our last day. The architecture is very interesting. I was told the Omni Hotel is the highest point. You can go to the top floor and look into the surrounding buildings and see their squares. You see, the buildings are built backwards. Because crime was so high back then, they build the homes and building facing in. You see the back side of the buildings walking around. Inside the square, some are extremely ornate.

New Orleans was a great experience. So much history. So much to see. We do plan on going back. And this trip we didn’t even get a chance to experience the night life!