New Orleans, Louisiana (February 13-16)

Bourbon Street

Any city in the deep South with Red Beans and Rice and Jambalaya as their signature dish is a city I want in my life at least once a year! Tres and I decided to head down this way at the kick-off of Mardi Gras, but Mardi Gras is not the real reason we were going to The Big Easy. Tres mom and dad are both originally from NO, and his grandmother still lives there. Since I had never met her, Tres thought it was time that I did. His grandmother just had her 89th birthday this year and is also a recent survivor of cancer… if that isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is. Any lady that tough, I knew I would love. Tres told me in ways I kind of reminded him of her in a few ways too… especially our love for pictures and “keepsakes.”

Dog parade

He was not joking… she has more pictures on her wall, in albums, in frames – everywhere in her house is decorated with pictures! I love it! What I loved most was the way she greeted us. I did not expect an 89 year old lady to have so much energy and be so upbeat. She showed us all around the house and told us some of the best stories I have ever heard about her and her husband, Tres Grandfather who passed several years back. She really loved him, and with her stories, you can still tell she does. I told Tres I hope we feel that way about each other forever the way they did. The house she still lives in is the house Tres’ dad grew up in… she still has each of her kid’s rooms upstairs exactly how they were when they were kids, and she continuously adds pictures to each room when a recent picture is taken of any of her kids or their kids. Each of their rooms is like a little memoir, and I thought it was just fantastic! Her downstairs hallway is full of pictures from her earlier years. One of the big pictures was of her and her graduating class from “The W,” also known as Mississippi University for Women… she’s a MS gal too – even better!!! One of the coolest pictures was of her husband performing a surgery when he was young. It was like something out of a movie with all of the old doctor tools and the old-time surgery room! That may have been one of the coolest pictures I have ever seen… I told Tres it was worth blowing up and framing for his house! We went to lunch with her and her friend Mo, who informed us that in his day was a professional golfer! When the day was over, I almost didn’t want to leave. I fell in love with Tres’ grandmother, and I can’t wait to see her again!

Hanging with Chip

The rest of the weekend, we hung out with Tres’ friends Chip, James, and Sloan. Tres Uncle Tommy and his kids also met up with us for lunch and a Dog Parade with lots of little babies parading down the street in costumes! We also had one of our “Tres and Andrea Wild Nights” where we went out by ourselves until like 5 in the morning… just Tres and me, alone on Bourbon Street having the best time of our lives! It was a great trip, and I decided I love New Orleans - the culture, the heritage, the food - everything about it is unique, and I can’t wait to go back!