NOLA in a Week (Mom’s Visit)

There’s nothing like having a visitor to push you to take advantage of the city as much as possible in a week. My mom  and stepdad came to town and we went to 2 festivals, a number of concerts, a bunch of restaurants and plenty of cool shops. We even visited the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. If you’re planning to visit New Orleans or if you’re a New Orleanian looking for some ideas of how to entertain your guests, here are some highlights from our week.

The Out of Towners

I’ve had friends here for a week, a couple from L.A. in town for the librarian’s convention. Readers of this blog and web-surfers, they had a pretty long list of things they wanted to do and as a week came to close, I’d have to say they did pretty well crossing things off. We started with a walk through the French Quarter past Jackson Square and down to the river bank. The water has gone down a bit exposing slick algea-covered steps but the Mississippi continues to flow high. We moseyed past Cafe du Monde (which they visited later for some beignets and chicory coffee) and down to the French Market.

Family Reunion

My parents met as students at LSU before my father’s job took them to Maryland. My mother returned later in life but my father continued to build his life in the D.C. area. Last year, he and my brother and I attended a family reunion in Baton Rouge and I got to meet many members of my family for the first time. This year, my dad and brother returned for the 25th annual crawfish boil reunion, this time accompanied by my stepmother who’d never seen New Orleans.

5th day and Treme finale

I was hoping to keep things light for a tleast a week while recapping my wonderful visit with family, but I have to say some things. BP is burning endangered turtles. They know it, they’ve been told not to and they continue. The FEMA trailers, yes the ones with the formaldehyde, are back – this time being used for clean-up workers. Just as well since they’re not given respiration protection at work anyway. No small wonder that the average Valdez clean-up worker died at the age of 51.  AND, the U.S. government has now made a rule saying that no one, including reporters, is allowed within 65 feet of any response vehicle or boom on water or on beaches.

The secret is knowing when to say yes…

For most of my life, I’ve lived by this personal adage, that the secret to life is knowing what to say yes to. I would figure out what I wanted in life, then say yes to anything that drew me closer to that goal. But, some things you say yes to, some of the most amazing experiences, come from saying yes to something that just presents itself. Perhaps it doesn’t bring you closer to any goal, but it enriches your experience of being alive.