NOLA-LA-LA * NOLA-LA-LA * HEY! HEY! HEY! GOOD BYE!

Day two of NOLA:

This day started with a swamp tour on the bayou... we seriously went to some hick-hub where these men were dressed in fatigued sandals and hats... suuuuper country.  we got on an airboat and headed out on the bayou. It was an incredible sight.

I didnt even think about the crazy bugs on the swamp waters- im sure everyone on the boat was thinking stupid city girl as i was freaking out that dragon flies the size of my pinky were just landing on my shoulder and head. haha. we spotted a few gators... they were mostly small ones though- between 4 and 6 feet- although the last one we spotted was a little bigger- between 7 and 8 feet.  Some parts of the swamp reminded me of the Amazon River.... not that I’ve seen it but from pictures I think thats what it would look like... 

When we started the boat tour the weather was pretty nice, you could see some storm clouds but they were far and not too bad... about an hour and a half into the tour the clouds were directly over us and we heard really LOUD thunder rolls... i say “rolls” because they lasted forever.  When we saw lightning we decided to head in... thank GOD! we literally got to the dock, got in our car, and headed back home... within 3 minutes of being in the car we were caught in the strongest thunderstorm that I’ve ever been in!!!! MAJOR lightning bolts, thunder, wind, and big drops of water!  I tried to get a picture of the lightning but it turns out I cant predict the weather. 

This is where the gators  nest

When we got back to New Orleans (Swamp tour was half hour out of down town) the storm was gone and it was lunch time. Our friend told us to go to Dragos for “baked oysters” - let me preface this by saying I DO NOT like oysters one bit... please look at this dish!!! 

Absolutely delicious!!!!!  They are grilled on a flame with romano cheese, garlic butter, parsley, and some garlicy special sauce. The bar tender there told us to go to another place by our hotel called Red Fish and to order their BBQ oysters... these oysters were out of the shell and deep fried with a special spicy bbq sauce on the inside and a home made blue cheese dressing on top... wowzaaa! 

 

We were recommended to go to Jaques-Imo for dinner by our bar tender.  This place was sooo bomb! We took the longest and slowest trolly ride through downtown and saw some of the most beautiful houses and neighborhoods.  We drove right past Tulane University and Loyola- but it was dark so we couldnt get good pictures.  

We started with a crocodile cheesecake for our appetizer:  it was cream cheese, gouda and some other cheeses with crocodile sausage and craw fish, tomatoes, bell pepper.... mmMMMmmm :P 

I ordered Louisiana Fried Chicken with cajun corn and potato salad... 

and Hrayr ordered a filet stuffed with craw fish and topped with hollandaise sauce with a side of coleslaw, red beans and rice.... we ate all of it. side note: we’ve both gained a LOT of weight so far :(

We stopped at Cafe du Monde on our way out yesterday morning.  We got their famous dessert, beignets, and a cafe au lait.... SOOOO YUMMY!

This statue is of Joan of Arc and it was a gift from the French 

These are a few pictures of the water as we were leaving NOLA..... what a great city! Beautiful architecture! Great food! Drinks allowed on the streets! Music on every corner! all in all a wonderful visit. 

Yesterday we drove through FOUR states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee - and my poor hubby had to drive 99% of the ride (10 hours) because we were driving through gnarly storms.  I actually have a LOT to say but will wait until I have pictures :) But i will say this: NASHVILLE IS BY FAR MY MOST FAVORITE CITY! This is where I should have been born! And to think that for a split second there was a possibility me and Hrayr would have moved here for his fellowship! Bummer that fell through, but Im trying to convince him to get a temporary job here :)This place is so happy, fun, polite, and COUNTRY! <3 <3 <3

The Land of Fleur de Lis

LOUISIANA:

Such a green and fertile state! green green green EVERYWHERE!  The drive in was gorgeous. And we saw beautiful skies with big clouds- it never crossed my mind that it would storm the whole time we are in the south...

We stopped in a random town in the middle of nowhere and ate a diner called Huddle House and ate delicious biscuits and gravy with eggs.... it was soooo good!   Then we reached Lafayette hoping to see the old 1800s style neighborhood where people dress up and act like theyre from that era.... but its closed on mondays :( we saw a swamp for the first time (which is honestly nothing compared to today- we went on a swamp tour through the bayou and tried to catch gators, more on that when pictures are available)

Our hotel: Chateu Bourbon

Our friend Cindy (Kenny & Cindy from Hrayrs work who moved to New Zealand for a year) is from New Orleans and her mom owns a restaurant called Five Happiness so we went there and ate Cajun Chinese food - Alligator meat!!

This is a random music group on Bourbon Street playing incredible music. After listening to them for a while we went to a Blues Lounge and listened to some awesome soul music... this guy sang so good and the electric guitar of his band was sooooo rad! 

That was the end of our night... our day today was soooo fun so far! we still have the night time and were going to a different area for dinner, drinks, and a brass symphony.  I cant wait to write about today, gotta upload the pics :)

Tomorrow Morning we are heading out to Graceland, Memphis, and then Nashville... YEEEEHAWWW!

lol.

Cacti, Cattle Ranch, and Biscuits & Gravy

I dont know how many are reading this but Im sorry for the late start in the posts :) It took Aret a few days to get me all set up and purrrrdy (good job brother!).  Im going to have to wrap up 3 days of travel and 4 states into one quick post:

Arizona and the first stop/corner of our trip: Exactly how you picture it. Come visit if you're really that curious.... it's a dessert.

NEW MEXICO: Since Arizona is now our "home" we were so excited to enter the first state of our roady!!! We drove about 6 hours and got to White Sands. I cant even pick enough words to tell you how gorgeous this place is, so i'm going to show you a picture :)

And these pictures honestly dont do it justice! We tried to sled down the dunes with the cooler top... but it didnt work. 

Then we left and went to Roswell, NM... where aliens are super popular. it was wack. so we kept driving to "camp" at Bottomless Lakes.... which ended up being in the middle of nowhere with literally no one. and these bugs that were the size of baby hummingbirds. i couldnt do it. but it was pretty at sunset...

so we went back to Roswell for the night and woke up the next morning to head out to DALLAS :)

TEXAS:

The first part of the drive was on a Farm Road... Im talkin like 300 miles on a highway that was hardly traveled- every once in a while we saw a tractor or a truck. We drove through random tiny towns that looked like they were from a movie. 

On both sides of the highway was endless land- literally “wide open spaces” (cheesy).  Cattle ranches every quarter of a mile.  Oil wells like crazzzzy. 

OK now were on the I-10 (i’ve learned a great appreciate for the Interstate because it means that every so often you go through civilization... so it doesnt feel like if we get stranded it will take hours for someone to find us and help us, lol).  We get off at this super hick stop where everrrrryone was staring at us. lol. I cant imagine why... its not like my bearded husband who was openly and loudly talking armenian to me amongst these hicks was catching any attention or anything!!!!!!! fml. Hrayr cant get over how seriously all of them had missing teeth! lol. 

I dont have any pictures for this. but I do have pictures of Dallas :) Where we stayed with our friends Arby and Nar- they went to Med School with Hrayr in Chicago.  They live right in the middle of the cutest and youngest part of downtown. it was a great time!

OH! I forgot to mention the 2nd half of the drive through texas.  Once we left that suuuper hick stop... we started driving through the most beautiful windy and hilly roads that was your PERFECT COUNTRY VIEW. im so annoyed i didnt take pictures of it! but i did draw it in our journal so well always remember what it looked like.  It was the highway going up, down and around with a pretty tick patch of grass between the two sides of traffic.  Then on each the side of each highway was a country road and beyond each side of the road was farmland!!! with barns! and adorable houses! it was soooo pretty!!!!

Now we are in New Orleans, gonna go to dinner at our friends mom’s restaurant down the street :)  More pics to come tomorrow :)