Janna's Journey

**kind of long post but worth it to read all the way to the end. 😛

Today we decided to take the Hop on Hop off city sightseeing tour because we felt a little lost and not sure where everything is and what exactly we should be seeing! I usually do my homework before trips so I know exactly what to do while we are there, but this time I didn’t and I was starting to regret it.

 

while we were on the bus we saw New Orleans oldest cemetery, Lafayette #1  You can only go into this cemetery if you take a tour,Which was like another $15 a person

 

but our driver told us about the Lafayette #2 Cemetery so we decided to hop off and check that one out because that one you don’t need a tour guide for.

 

 

What the tour guide didn’t mention was that the neighborhood was a little sketchy we had to go through to get there, they were doing some sort of parade and celebration so we felt a little safer. But we definitely stood out like a sore thumb!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the cemetery we headed back to the bus stop to get back on the bus and look what we saw on our way there… A Camel! What? I never in a million years could have predicted that one!

 

 

I was so excited to run into this random Camel but we were in a hurry to make it back to the bus so we quickly kept on going, but I wanted to see if I got a good enough picture so I was on my phone while walking at a pretty fast pace when I hit a huge uneven sidewalk crack ( we are talking a 6 inch gap) and totally biffed it! I was lucky I didn’t knock my two front teeth out, I was a little sore on my right ankle,  left knee and left hand and right elbow, I have no idea how I hurt so many random spots, but I was way more embarrassed than hurt as there was a street car parked right where it happened full of people and they all saw it! Ugh, story of my life…after picking myself up and what little dignity I had left, we continued on.

Once we hopped back on the bus the driver told us about a cheap way to see and cross the Mississippi River without spending a ton on a Steamboat cruise, so we hopped off and decided to check that out. There is a ferry that takes you across for $2. It was a really quick trip and we were just planning on riding it round trip, but they told us everyone had to get off and if we wanted back on it was another $2. Well we were all out of $1’s and they only take exact change so we decided to check out the little area and see about finding some change. The area is called Algiers Point, the sign says it’s New Orleans Best Kept Secret. It was a cute quiet little place.

 

 

There wasn’t much there as far as places to make change, just a few bars, so we went into the Dry Dock Cafe and ordered us some fries. After our little snack we headed back across the Mississippi River and realized we were very close to our hotel so we decided to walk back and rest a little bit before venturing out for dinner.

For Dinner we decided to go to Mother’s Restaurant. We had heard this place was a must go place to eat while we were here, so we did. I was craving Chicken and Waffles all day so that was what I had hoped for, but no such luck, they did have waffles and their sign said Worlds best Baked Ham so I ordered A waffle with a side of baked Ham… Well I would have to say that I was NOT impressed with the Ham at all or the waffle for that matter, but I don’t think they are known for their waffles so I wont hold that against them, but Doug ordered

 

a Po-Boy and it was VERY good, so I am pretty sure I messed that one up:( Next time I will know better.

After dinner we decided we had better check out Bourbon Street, I mean you can’t go to New Orleans and not see Bourbon Street! So we head over that direction ,while walking over there Doug and I start to wonder if we will run into our “Vacation Boys”. I mean the place is so crazy and crowded we doubted that would happen but we were keeping our eyes out for them.

 

 

 

Bourbon Street is exactly how I pictured it, kind of like Las Vegas but condensed into one long street. I didn’t see anything too crazy, except a few places you could go into that said they were both topless and bottomless… I am assuming some crazy stuff goes on inside those places but we just stuck with staying outside and just peeking inside as we walked by. So we glance inside this one place and who do you think we see dancing on the bar with nothing but a jock strap type deal on?? Yep, You guessed it my ” Vacation Boys” 😦

I couldn’t believe we found them, and I am not sure why I didn’t picture this when they told us they were dancers? But they saw us and came right down from the bar and gave me a big ol sweaty hug! They were so happy, they said, ” I can’t believe you folks found us!” I wanted to take them and tell them to put some pants on and to tell them they are better than this, but then I remembered they really aren’t my boys and I have no business telling these two cute kids what to do. It is funny because even though they were standing there almost naked, I still felt like these were some good guys, I have a weird thing where I can sense when someone is a good person or not, and these two are good people who may not be doing something I would normally approve of. And that got me thinking about my own kids or really pretty much all of us in general, I am pretty sure Our Heavenly Father sees all of us as good people and when he sees us doing things we shouldn’t or know isn’t right, he may feel a little sad, but he knows our hearts and loves us no matter what. Crazy right? I mean crazy that On Bourbon street  in-between two almost Naked boys I felt a little bit what its like to love complete strangers, ones who obviously have different morals and background as me, but just see them as good people, no judgments, no nothing, just a love for a couple of boys who befriended us in New Orleans.

And you better believe I was having Doug take a picture of this, I mean to hear the story is one thing, but to actually see what I am talking about takes it to a whole other level! LOL OH and one of these boys turned to me and actually apologized for his lack of clothing, which made me like them so much more!  Whew! That was a long day! And my body was starting to get really sore from my fall earlier so we decided to head back and call it a night.