A note of warning, before I jump into the second part of our month long road-trip: Because our trip was so extensive, eventful and wonderful at the same time, I decided to split my blog into several installments. This first part deals with the initial jetlag, the rental car and the road trip that A had carefully planned.
A and I spent the first week of our vacation in Georgia and had a magnificent Christmas celebration. Because of the holidays we couldn’t reach anyone at the rental service until after the holidays were over. Thankfully we weren’t in any real danger or emergency situation where having to reach the rental service would have been important… Oh, wait a minute, scratch that. So anyways, after calling the rental service several times they finally agreed to fixing (not exchanging the rental) but FIXING the motor of the windshield wipers. Both A and I thought that was a bit unorthodox but then again, what did we know? (Now we know, not to rent from them again… EVER). The closest repair shop was about an hour away in Jacksonville, Florida. So once we got a hold of someone at the shop we were good to go, dropped the car off and picked it up a couple hours later. The mechanic said that all the warning lights (the check engine and the check tire light) should turn off after about 10 minutes. The mechanic also assured us that the car was in good condition and that we shouldn’t run into any other problems. Well, we showed him!! But more on that in a later blog post.
But the dreadful day came way too quickly and A and I had to say goodbye to A’s family to continue our road trip, after all can’t call it a road trip if you’re not on the road. So A and I were on our way to New Orleans, the city of music and extravaganza. Now, both A and I have been to New Orleans before although not together and we both had very fond memories of the city but none compared to the memories we made this time! I think I must have gained at least 5 lbs just eating breakfast. I kid you not! The breakfast buffet at Le Pavillon hotel is to die for, quite literally actually. I wouldn’t be surprised if people would actually have heart attacks there.
Upon entering the dining hall we were greeted by Miss Patty Cakes. If there has ever been a true Southern spirit personified, this is what I imagine Southern hospitality looks like. She was simply amazing and friendly and made me feel very special. We were the first ones at the restaurant and ate our way through Southern grits (!!), homemade biscuits and gravy, french toast and everything else in between that you never knew you wanted for breakfast or at any other occasion! We did not know, that Patty Cakes makes custom-ordered omelettes, so of course on top of everything we have tried already, we had to try some omelettes. After all, how do you say no to a Southern hospitality? Well, you don’t, as simple as that. As I was getting ready to pass out, Patty Cakes asked me if I wanted some waffles or pancakes to which I replied “sure”, only to find out, that she would totally serve me both. This breakfast alone I am sure I ate more than two days worth of calories and I do not recommend for anyone to follow my foot steps. But if you do, ENJOY! But also, this breakfast made me sick for hours to come, but a happy sick. A kind of sick that I didn’t know was possible. As if my spirit left my body for a slightly happier and heavier me and I am cool with that.
Needless to say, that I wasn’t much in the mood for lunch or dinner after that but A wouldn’t let the opportunity slide to eat anything his heart desired. Anything he could not eat in Norway or anywhere else in the world, because these things were simply not made in other parts of the world. Like, for instance, muffalettas. I wish I would have been quick enough to take pictures of it, but A had the whole thing eaten before I could ever get around to taken pictures of it. But if you ever want to stand in line for 45 minutes in an Italian grocery store in the middle of New Orleans, Central Grocery is totally where should go! Here you can find some information about them!
And if standing in line is your favorite thing in the world, you should hop across the street and stop at Cafe Du Monde. The experience is unbeatable. You know how you always dreamed of living in a sugary fairy land with lots of sugar everywhere? The sweet smell almost nauseating you? No? Well, that must have been just me then, but at Cafe Du Monde you get everything you could have possibly hoped for, and more. SUGAR EVERYWHERE. On the table, on the seat, on the the floor, simply everywhere…
And all because of these delicious beignets. Deep fried donut batter, can’t go wrong with that, can you?
Although it might seem as if we just went from breakfast to lunch to dinner with a few snacks in between, we did get a chance to stop at the Mississippi River and listen to steaming whistles and watch big paddle boats leave the dock. And it was quite an experience. But what seeing the steamboat really did was just fill the time until we got our 10 pm homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the hotel! (Again, if you ever need a place to stay in New Orleans, can’t go wrong with Le Pavillon!) And oh my, they were delicious! We hogged up quite a few plus some homemade hot chocolate and went back to the room where we watched the hobbit. Because if anything, A and I know how to enjoy yourselves and we know that when in New Orleans, do as the New Orleanans do!
After 1 1/2 days of eating though, both A and I felt like we couldn’t possibly eat another thing. So we swore we would try to reign ourselves in and at least TRY to be more careful for the days to come. Well, that was until we hit the Texas state border… To be continued.
A bird loves a fish 