Today was our first free day to do whatever we wanted to do
in New Orleans. I slept the best I have
slept since leaving my house, so I felt a lot better waking up today. Even though we didn’t want to start the day
late, we all needed rest. We all woke up
around 8:15. I decided I wanted to go to the fitness center when I woke up, because
I had not been there at all yet. Then we
all got ready and headed out. We ended
up at an outlet mall and grabbed a few things there, including lunch. The best part of the day for me was the
freedom of being able to walk around at my leisure and not have to be anywhere at
any certain time. We decided we wanted to
see the Garden District because it was one of the places we talked about on our
E-travel blog. We started by getting
dropped off at a store called Queork. Everything
in the store was made from cork. The fun
part there was that they had King Cake that we got to try!! It was really good! After that we just walked around going from
shop to shop and bought a few souvenirs.
We stopped at a local coffee shop
and sat for a few minutes. We saw a guy
come in that looked like Chip Gaines.
The Garden District was a lot more low key and not as busy as the places
we have been going, so it was a really nice chill area. We walked around and looked at a lot of the houses
and decided to find the house that Sandra Bullock owns. There were a lot of really amazing houses and
there were also some cool looking trees.
Some of the sidewalks were very uneven and torn up. That was surprising to me because I imagined
huge houses and a very nice neighborhood.
It was surreal to walk around and see these houses that we had researched
and wrote about. There were no people
walking around the houses, so it was just a totally different experience than
we have had here. I love looking at the
different architecture of different areas of the country. I also thought it was crazy that we were only
a couple of miles away from the areas we had been going to and things looked so
much different. There were no homeless people
on the streets. There was no feces on
the sidewalks. I was not walking around smelling
smoke or weed. After we were done
walking around, we called an Uber and headed back to the hotel to grab our
coats and head to watch the Joan of Arc of parade. After coming back from the Garden District, the
streets were jam packed with people going out to see the parade and celebrate the
beginning of carnival season. Tonight
was how I imagined New Orleans. Streets
packed with people drinking, laughing, and having a good time.
Sandra Bullock's house
Awesome trees in the neighborhoods of the Garden District.
Inner Journey
Today was my favorite day here. I have enjoyed all the tours and learning
about all the history, but I have been feeling like I am in a hurry all of the
time I have been here, and we have been rushing around nonstop. It’s funny because I am a type A person, but
when it comes to having time constraints, it is hard for me. I like to walk around, and I love going into local
shops and looking around. I tend to
waste time doing this, but I love it. I
enjoy boutiques that have different items that cannot be found at home. Today at the Garden District, I realized how much
I love walking around from shop to shop and how much I enjoy the small-town
feel. Growing up I always thought I would
want to live in a big city, but as I got older and especially when I started having
kids, I realized I love small towns. Before
nursing school, I never had a group of girlfriends that I hung out with. I had close friends, but never a group of
girls that I hang out with and go and do things with. I enjoy the girl time so much, although I am desperately
missing my husband and kids. After the
Garden District, we saw a part of the Joan of Arc parade and then went to
dinner at Chartres House. It was a nice
dinner and good food. After dinner, we
walked around the streets going into more shops, spending more money. Yikes.
I did find a very cool picture of the St. Louis Cathedral and purchased
it for my mom. She is catholic and
wanted a picture from New Orleans, so I thought it was a great picture for her. The local artists around here are all so nice
and friendly. I am still so surprised at
how many people talk to you around here and how accepting everyone is
here. One of the last things we did
today was visit a tattoo parlor and all of us got a small black arrow tattoo. We had talked about doing this, but I still
cannot believe we actually did it! I could
not decide where I wanted to put the tattoo, so it was kind of stressful for
me. After deciding where to put it, I finally
got it done! What a fun thing to do with
my girlfriends that I adore and love so much.
I never realized how much I would cherish having girlfriends. I really love these girls and am so very glad
I have them in my life. This trip has
made a big impact on my life and my friendships. Never in a million years did I
think I would be going to New Orleans on a school trip with some of my best friends. Nursing school has changed my life in a lot
of ways and I am so grateful that I have these people to get me through this
journey.
Our tattoos!!
No comments:
Post a Comment