THE BIG EASY

Me with Amara the Palm Reader. Scary, huh.

Deb & Karl at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen

Karl posing on Frenchman Street

Deb posing on Frenchman Street

Can you guess what this architectural piece is used for?

Anderson Cooper

I've recovered from the drive to New Orleans and back. I hate driving on the interstate. I'm a backrode kind of girl. But in-between the drive was great. Nar'leans is back. The Quarters was packed with tourist. I was so happy to see it. I never get tired of walking around Jackson Square and up and down the streets nearby. Bourbon Street is not my favorite. That's a teeny-bobber, been there done that site.

After dropping Mama off at the house to stay with "Uncle" Charles, a Katrina attic survivor, Karl and I headed to our favorite hotel in the Quarters. The Le Richelieu http://www.lerichelieuhotel.com/ is a well kept secret.

We checked in and headed to our favorite casual spot to eat: The Louisiana Pizza Kitchen http://www.louisianapizzakitchen.com/ located directly across the street from The French Market. Then it was back to the Le Richelieu. We was so tired.

The next morning we picked up Mama and Charles and headed to Whole Foods. Love shopping and eating there. New Orleans has one of the best Whole Foods in the country. After a couple of hours there we headed back to Arabi (St. Bernard Parish) to the house, unloaded the groceries, de mama and de uncle...Who dat? and head back to the quarters and started walking until our dogs were tired. We ended this night by me having my palm read by Amara.. She was born in Egypt. She "could read me like an open book".

The night before we headed home we decided instead of going back to the room and watching Anderson Cooper, we would walk up the street, past Cafe du Monde http://www.cafedumonde.com/

and along the river and watch in person. Of course I had to be the tourist and keep walking past the camera so I'd be on TV. Kristopher was embarrassed because I had my hair in pigtails. It was fun. While there we met a nice couple. His name was Scott Winston. He is the special effects guy for the new HBO Series Treme. You've got to watch Treme. It's all about New Orleans right after Katrina. After leaving Anderson to cope with the oil tragedy without us, we headed back via Cafe Du Monde and had a night cap of beignets and coffee.

So, enjoy the few pictures I took. Plan a trip to New Orleans when the weather is a bit cooler. It is already very hot during the day.