Laissez les bon temps rollez part 3

Happy Hump Day!

Today is the last day of my NOLA recap.  I guess that means vacation is really over.

I'm skipping the traditional What I Ate Wednesday post because y'all have seen what I've been eating all week.


The agenda for today is pretty busy.

AM weight session followed by a 5 mile run.  After the run was a quick breakfast followed by working  in my room from 9-12.  Next is lunch followed by tutoring from 2-3.

I'm excited because dinner will be at Living on the Veg in Beach Haven with Ra.  I love a good midweek beach trip.  Maybe we'll picnic on the beach?  I also heard there's a green juice in my near future…

Back to NOLA…

Sunday was Day 3 in NOLA and it did NOT start with a  5 mile run.  We decided to sleep through the run and it turned out to be a great decision.  Nobody wants to be tired and grouchy when you have 5 hours on a plane in your near future.

The day started with brunch at Biscuits and Buns on Banks.  This restaurant has been on my radar since Zach sent me the spreadsheet of all the NOLA places to eat and explore.  This restaurant has Erin written all over it.

I love a good tongue in cheek restaurant name

Free cucumber water for waiting guests!
I may have had 3 glasses...

The menu…how cute is their logo?

All of the juices

This cute pic says Make Biscuits Not War!

Spinach and carrots juice!

Happy girl with her juice

Shrimp, goat cheese, greens, pistachios, and grapes!  With a side of fruit.

I'm going to be recreating this soon!  Maybe it will help me get back into the swing of things and school?

 After brunching, I grabbed another cucumber water for the road as we walked back to Zach's apartment.  We changed into kayaking clothes and headed back to City Park.  We went  to the New Orleans Museum of Art or the NOMA.

They had a beautiful exhibit on Antebellum Parlors and decor.  It was gorgeous.  Not really my style but I can appreciate the intricate detail.  They also had a little history synopsis of the owner of the parlor's furniture.  He actually is from Philadelphia and was a Quaker.  He got the land from the Spanish government.  He moved down to St. Francisville to run the plantation.  A Quaker who owned slaves?  Interesting...

 The pahlah…Does that text make me sound Southern?

Next we went to visit the Katrina exhibit.  It was a little disappointing because it wasn't fully about Katrina.  It was about death and reconstruction and natural disasters around the country.  They did have a cool water display.  Displays of plexiglass with embedded digital water photos were placed around the museum with varying heights depicting the water levels post Katrina.  It was really moving to see the water levels that were well above our heads.  The artist said she wanted to create a display that showed the level of fear/discomfort/drowning that was the people of New Orleans' reality 10 years ago.

A break from all the seriousness…

We found a really cool exhibit on American Captialism and decadence.  It was a golden Abrahama Lincoln log cabin.  The interior was full of gilded symbols of capitalism--gold bullets, gold gas caps, gold candy, and other cool items.

I think Abe would like his upgraded cabin

Inside the cabin

You can see the gold bullets to the left of Zach's head

Gold gas caps to the right of Zach's head

Gold roof

We ended our museum tour in the gift shop.

Seinfeld!

This sponge dish said, Sponge worthy.  Fab!

Zach also found a mug that once you added hot liquid Van Gogh's ear disappeared and was replaced with a rag to show that it had been cut off.  HIIIIILARIOUS!  

Next, it was off to kayaking.

Cheesin'

Super Siblings take on the Lake!

We didn't crash and we didn't get attacked by any ducks, birds, drones (yup we saw a drone that followed us around for a while).  We also think we could begin training for the 2020 Olympics in kayaking.  

AFter kayaking it was a quick shower and packing.  We headed to the airport, said goodbye and then it was time go through security.  NOLA's airport is great because it's very separated--each airline has it's own security line so everything moves pretty quickly.  I was checked in and through security within 15 minutes.  Unheard of in Philly!  

I completed my airport cardio and munched a Subway turkey/provolone/spinach/lettuce/tomato/pickles/vinaigrette on 9 grain Honey Oat bread.  

Surprisingly, it hit the spot.  Usually I'm not a sandwich girl, but this was goooooooooood!

Surprisingly amazingly delicious 

The flight home was pretty good.  We had a singing flight attendant who made everyone crack up.  We also had a rowdy bunch of partiers who clearly didn't want the NOLA party to end.  They quieted down a little bit as the flight progressed.  

My connector in Atlanta was a stay on the plane connector which was kind of a bummer because I LOVE the Atlanta airport.  I did move to the front of the airplane so I could deplane (a great word, BTW) earlier.  

I knew within 8 minutes of people boarding that the tickets may say destination Philadelphia, but the deal destination was Struggle City, USA.  No matter what--without fail--every time--I end up sitting next to a smelly guy and a man who has no sense of personal space.  This one guy ended up hogging the arm rest and moving into my space.  I was scrunched up to the window in 1/3 of my seat for 90% of the ride.  Also, so many people couldn't fit their bags in the overhead compartment.  So much insanity!   If you can't lift the bag, you can't pack the bag.  

At least I got to eat another bag of honey roasted peanuts…

I was sad that my trip was over, but I was happy to see my family again.  

I hope you all have a great Hump Day!  

I'll see y'all tomorrow :)

-E