Thanksgiving - New Orleans style

Last week I have the privilege to spend my Thanksgiving down in New Orleans building a playground with the State Farm Bayou Classic.

I was a second on the Build; meaning that if the Project Manager needed anything I was the go-to girl and second in charge...YIKES!! So I spent the entire week in New Orleans prepping for this Build.

On Tuesday we prepped the site with several volunteers; finished up around 7PM. That night a few of us hit the town; had dinner at Cooter Brown’s it was a great dive and the fried alligator was a favorite. After that we went to this amazing bar (Maple Leaf) and heard an amazing band - Rebirth Brass Band till the wee hours of the morning. They were incredible and highly recommend you to look them up.


Wednesday we did little errands and more prep work. Had a lovely breakfast at Slim Goodies. Being such a beautiful day we visited "The Tree of Life" park. What an incredible place.

That night we decided to take it easy and see a movie - Australia, pretty good, but very long. I acted like a little school girl over Hugh Jackman...can you blame me? I think not.

Thursday - THANKSGIVING - worked out (thankful for my strength), took a brisk walk around the French Quarters, came back to my hotel room to find the greatest thing every ---- ROCKY marathon...yes all 5 movies playing back to back. I got there for the last 30mins of ROCKY and watched until mid-ROCKY 4. I would of watched them all but need to run to the airport to pick up my cousin (Heather). See was kind enough to come out for a quick visit and tour. We went to a lovely very over priced non-turkey meal. Came back to the hotel and called it a day of thanks.

Friday - BUILD DAY!!!! The rain started 30 minutes after kick-off and ended 30 minutes prior to ribbon cutting. Had over 350 volunteers on site and managed to do everything and only off schedule by 30 minutes. Had a build day boyfriend - Marine Corp Captain Cole...nice guy, did anything I asked...it was AWESOME. In the end called me his PIMP. We got off the site around 6:30PM and wrapped everything up around 7:15PM. We hauled tale to the hotel...BECAUSE we had tickets to Battle of The Bands and Step Competition @ the Superdome.

The event was incredible and literally we were the only 5 white people in the stadium. The energy was loud, proud, and hopping.

After the event Heather and I hit Bourbon Street for 10 minutes - it got a little out of control so we walked back to the hotel. I was exhausted.

Saturday - brunch w/ my PM's (Ariel) family at this dive diner that had live Jazz music. The grits we fabulous! The rain came down so we did a driving tour of the city; I took Heather around the lower 9th Ward and French Quarters. After the tour we booked over to the Bayou Classic football game. The game was OK, but the half-time was great! Marching bands playing Beyonce and Estelle...whole new light.

Heather and I left after that and hit Cafe Du Monde for baguettes and hot coco. We then had to get her to the airport.

After the airport, I met up with Ariel and her family for an amazing dinner at Tommy's Piano Bar and Grille. After dinner we went to a local favorite ice cream shop - The Creole Creamery. Then we met up with some of Ariel's friends at Rock n Bowl for some creole music band and old school bowling. That place was rocking; danced and bowled till our feet could stand no more.

Sunday - checked out and headed back to my home and bed.