More on New Orleans...

In our meanderings, we ran across the Blue Dog family and Kay wanted a photo memento of them. They were such chatty little characters, although they seemed a little dazes to have been plopped right in the middle of the French Quarter! Although they try valiantly to fit in, their blue blood pedigree still shows.

Good conversation and a good, freshly rolled cigar ensued, with Kay carefully observing the process and then selecting her choice for a smoke (she really only wanted to make Bryant jealous!) ;)

We made our way FINALLY to St. Mary of the Assumption church and the Seelos Shrine waaaaayyyy on the other side of town (no wonder we got lost among all those one-way streets!). The church was amazing and the shrine was a "must see", since we believe the intercession of Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos was instrumental in Mike's amazingly quick recovery from his stroke last February.

Kay was nervous as we toured the St. Louis Cemetery #1, location of the tomb of Marie Laveau, but, always a good sport, she perched precariously for a photo op among the Mardi Gras beads. Let me assure you it was a great experience, with a wonderful tour guide named Renee. She was delightfully factual in relaying information without bias. Being a baptized and practicing Catholic, Marie is entombed in the Catholic section of the cemetary, along with 40 other family members . . . . . all in this same tomb. The burial practices of early New Orleans are fascinating!

Also in St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the recently built FUTURE home of Nicholas Cage . . . . . . . . Kay thinks this is "enough said!" and begrudgingly posed for the sake of posterity.

The ghouls never sleep in New Orleans! Kay met this fellow around 9am, and need I tell you, he was looking for . . . . . breakfast!

It was a GREAT visit! Now . . . . . . . . . onward to Texas!

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday began for us and for Kay, with Mass. But, this was no ordinary Mass! Our plans were to attend St. Mary's Assumption Church and to visit the shrine of Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos. A few wrong turns later brought us to the front doorstep of St. Patrick's Church. We arrived about half an hour before their Gregorian LATIN high Mass. What a treat and what a special church!

Lunch at Coop's was po-boys and beer. Kay enjoyed the Turbodog, bottled at a local brewery, and lusciously delicious on a warm day. We enjoyed jazz musicians creating a great ambiance along our way. Art lover that Kay is, we had to stop and admire the street artists who set up daily.

Beignets at Cafe'Du Monde were a must and Kay devoured her share, along with her cafe au lait. We are going to have to have a little private talk about calories pretty soon!

Easter is not complete in New Orleans, evidently, without an Easter Parade. Go figure! Kay firmly believes any excuse will do to have a parade and I heartily agreed. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and Kay insisted I share a photo of her with her booty from the parade. (She wants me to assure you that no flashing was committed for the procurement of these beads!)

Happy Easter!

Preamble.......

I cannot tell you how Kay came under our guardianship. I can only tell you this...... the story does not involve abduction nor thievery. Kay was given into our care, and that is all I will tell you of those circumstances. For the sake of this blog,our adventure begins on April 7th, 2012.

It starts out slowly enough with a long drive by private car, with intermittent stops for refreshment and leg-stretching. Although Kay's legs are short and don't need much stretching, she was happy for the fresh air and the chance to waddle through the grass.

The journey through Florida, Alabama and Mississippi was uneventful, although Kay graciously posed for a few photo ops moments, drawing a few looks askance and under-the-breath comments, to downright giggles from passers by and Welcome Center attendants (nothing uncommon,they assured me!)

We arrived in New Orleans, our first destination, in late afternoon and settled right into our hotel. We quickly found our way to the French Quarter.........an AMAZING place! Even Kay was impressed!

K-Paul's for dinner was at the top of our list, and since Kay dawdled, she missed the course of turtle soup! (I know your legs are short, but try to keep up Kay!) However, I graciously shared my shrimp etouffee, which was "to die for!" Kay quite enjoyed swimming around in the "hurricane", and later, she barely whimpered about the turtle soup. (I really think she was a little tipsy, as she started reminiscing.......something about St. Patrick's Day and a lost love named John.)

We'll leave you here, with promises of more adventures tomorrow......