The Brown Family invades NOLA - Look Out!

So the reason for this mini Southern Tour trip to the US was because my lovely cousin Ashley planned her wedding in New Orleans! Andrew and I saw it as an "excuse" to fit in a trip to visit with family who we hadn't seen since Kristi and Drew's wedding 2.5 years ago! We all stayed in a big old house on Napoleon Ave that fit all 21 family members (plus various friends who popped in and out all week). Needless to say we had a marvellous time together!

As soon as we arrived the guys made themselves comfortable out on the pool lounge chairs which is where we spent any free time we had the entire week. It gets VERY hot in New Orleans and despite numerous warnings from Ashley about how hot it gets, I don't think anyone was prepared for quite how hot and humid it actually was! Besides using the pool to keep cool, a bunch of us opted to try out snowballs (I think that's what they were called?) which are apparently sold all over NOLA. My cherry and Pina colada snowball concoction was delicious and refreshing and surprisingly, none of the red, icy mess ended up on the white sundress I had on that day. Bonus!

We got around New Orleans using the famous street cars which were actually very cool to be on, although they are open air, not air conditioned... but personally, I didn't really notice the heat because I was too busy sticking my head out the window looking at the scenery passing us by.

 The houses in New Orleans are beautiful beyond belief and the architecture is so different to anything I'm used to.  The whole city has balconies on the 2nd floor which, from what I can remember, had something to do with working around a hallway tax on houses so residents used to put balconies on the house and use them to walk outdoors from room to room. Now, I believe they are an integral part of mardi gras as people line balconies during the parade and throw beads and other trinkets down at the crowds below them!

The whole gang wanted to experience the famous New Orleans beignets (I hope I spelled that correctly). So we made our way into the city one morning and did our time standing in line at Cafe Du Monde which we heard from the locals (cousin Ashley) was the best place to go for this tasty little New Orleans treat. Powdered sugary goodness at it's best!

One of my other favorite things we did while we were in New Orleans was a little trip that Mom, Dad, Andrew and I took down the Muddy Mississippi River. We hopped aboard the steamboat Natchez and took a meandering 2 hour tour down the river. It was pretty cool to be on the mighty Mississippi although I lost a sandal overboard in the process (oh well, one of the fishes can have it) and had to walk 15 minutes with one shoe on (how embarrassing... thank you Andrew for getting a photo of it...) to a store where I had to explain to numerous employees why I only had one shoe on and did they have any sandals I might purchase to amend the situation? I found a pair thank goodness and came away with a funny story to tell.

New Orleans in definitely a place to add to your Bucket List. It's unique and fun and the culture and spirit of the city is definitely something to see.

Back soon with photos from cousin Ashley's NOLA style wedding! Bring on the 2nd line!