New Orleans, LA, January 10, 2013
Neither Susan nor I have been to new Orleans so we decided to go a day early to see what’s what…
My flight from DCA departed on time and arrived a little early at MSY…through a thunderstorm. The landing was a bit bumpy but I’ve bee through worse.
Walking to baggage claim, I saw a TShirt I’d have loved to buy but I figured they’d have them everywhere. Of course, they didn’t.
I got to baggage claim and Susan was there. Her plane had arrived an hour earlier but she’d had to have a connecting flight and left much earlier in the morning.
My suitcase didn’t take too long to arrive but it was wet from the rain 🙁
Susan had already reserved a shuttle, so we went outside and got on. Unfortunately, we had to wait for the shuttle to fill up before we left.
Because of the rain, we couldn’t see much of the city, but we were first off the shuttle.
We’re at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and we are next to the Mississippi.
After a short nap (during which I started coughing – they had duck feathers in the pillows), we headed over to the Riverwalk Marketplace.
The Riverwalk was a major disappointment. Most stores of the stores closed, no restaurants open. We got chocolate for later. They turned the lights out on us at 6:30PM!
We decided to look around for dinner and headed out to Gordon Biersch. I had Pineapple mojito. Moroccan chicken. Bread pudding with ice cream, pecans, whiskey sauce.
We went to Walgreens for some incidentals. Even they have beads and masks for Mardi Gras. The parades start the 19th this year because of the Super Bowl. I got a TShirt and Alavert for that cough.
Cruisin’ With Susan, 2013
Caribbean Cruise 2013
I’m so excited! Just over six years ago Susan M, one of my Cushie friends, invited me on a cruise to Bermuda. I was delighted and excited to go. Then I found out I had kidney cancer and had to bow out at the last minute – the cruise embarked the day I left the hospital. My surgeon said that there was no way I could postpone my surgery for another 5 or so days so someone else went in my place.
So, that was it for my first (and only!) Bermuda cruise.
Then in 2008, I heard from my friend again, asking me if I wanted to do the cruise then! Of course, I said yes… She said she was celebrating and upgraded the whole cruise to the Western Caribbean. We had a superior balcony stateroom and I could wear some of the clothes I got for the non-cruise.
You can read all about our 2008 cruise here: http://www.cushingsonline.com/cruise/cruise.htm and see a slideshow of pictures at http://www.cushingsonline.com/cruise/cruise.html
Last year, September of 2011, we went on a land trip to Gloucester, MA. Blog posts and pictures for that trip start here http://maryoutandabout.posterous.com/last-trip-for-awhile.
I was at work today when I saw Susan’s name pop up on my cellphone and knew she wanted to go on another trip. As soon as I got in my car, I listened to her message. YES! Another cruise!
We talked on the phone and decided on this trip:
January 2013 Cruise
Then, Susan booked the cruise and called back to say it was even cheaper than we thought it would be. Major WooHoo. And, we have the all-important balcony.
Stay tuned!
MaryO