I’m 62 minutes away from home according to the GPS. It’s been a long day but a fun vacation. We had an amazing time in New Orleans and managed a few fun stops on the way home.
It started last night in Jackson Mississippi. We had a quick (but really good!) dinner at Babalu. The dinner was so quick I decided we could take some quick pictures at the Jackson State Capitol. It’s pretty. Actually we were quite impressed with Jackson. On the way to New Orleans we stopped at the car wash – this time we were in the high brow neighborhood. Very nice houses.
Then we plowed through to Memphis with one plan in mind. We checked out Graceland Memorial Gardens because well, first Graceland is cool. But more importantly given the posse with which I roll, it is free to visit the gardens if you come between 7:30-8:30 am. How cool! We got to check out the grounds and see Elvis’ grave. It was more than enough for the girls. It got them out of bed early and helped us get on the road. I’ve visited Graceland before and would easily visit again – but again given our crowd the quick, cheerful and cheap tour was best.
Then we drove forever. We had a nice dinner in Iowa City. (I know, who knew?) We stopped at a place on the campus called Graze – nice small plates. Then I learned about Devonian Fossil Gorge. It apparently an inland sea that has dried up a few times (in the last 15 years) resulting in tons of fossils. It’s probably a lot better when it’s warm outside. Although it was very close to the city, very easy to get to, a good break for folks who have been in the car – just if it were a little warmer.
Now we’re just waiting to dock at home!
Filed under: New Orleans
Easter Sunday we woke up and went to the swamp for an alligator hunt on an air boat. Remember the big swamp boat with the propelling fan at the back from that old 70s show Flipper? Well that’s what we were on. It sat about 15. Aine scored the seat of honor at the top near the driver. I was very jealous and must learn how to cute it up for next time.
Kate was really the driver for checking out the alligators. And it was a really good call. It was so much fun! Not necessarily cheap, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The swamp we visited was family-owned and used primary for the tours. We were one of about 6 boats that seemed to be out on the swamp. But it didn’t feel like Disney ride or anything – I think we all felt that we were on a hunt of sorts. We saw tons of alligators and some turtles, bald eagles and cows!
I learned a few things about alligators – so I have my fingers crossed for it being an upcoming Pub Quiz topic! Here are some of the more interesting (or at least memorable) facts:
- A baby alligator has 1-2 percent chance of making it to 6 feet (adulthood)
- Alligators like white food – like marshmallows
- An alligator egg is worth $18-22
- It takes a 6 foot alligator to make a boot (a pair of boots starts at $1200 – I wear 6.5 if you’re shopping!)
- There are 3.3 million alligators in Louisiana
- A bayou is a path through the swamp
But mostly the trip was just really cool. It was fun to be in the boat thing. It was fun to see – and hold – an alligator. It was fun to see terrain so different from what we’re used to seeing.
After the swamp tour we quickly got gussied up and headed out to the Easter Parade in the French Quarter. We thought we’d see it for a few minutes but the parade wound its way around the French Quarter as we snuck in out last must-do activities before hitting the road. Aine got a ton of necklaces. The floats toss out beads and other trinkets. And we finally got to try the beignets – which were delicious! And we soaked up the last of the fun spirit and sunshine of New Orleans.
Our funny last look was the fact that we had almost no gas when we got back into the van. Something we didn’t pay enough attention to – until we found ourselves on the raised highway above the swamp. There are no off road locations when you’re between a lake and a swamp. Also everyone melted down a little once we got into the car. So we have people spraying perfume, complaining about plugins (mobile wifi we can share, plugs, not so much), whining about being hungry (delicious as they are apparently beignets aren’t really lunch), a big rain storm started and we’re worried about running out of gas. Luckily it didn’t happen. We got gas, food, power, sleep and remembered rain isn’t like snow even if everyone in Louisiana seems to drive like it is.
Filed under: New Orleans
Our second day in New Orleans started with a tour of the Voodoo Museum. It was pretty cool – in my favorite vein of creepy but cool. We learned a lot more about top Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. We saw a working alter and lots of paraphernalia. We learned that many Catholic Saints have sort of become Voodoo symbols – or maybe it mostly has to do with the statues of the saints. Either way I sort of liked the connection. Lily had a great interest. Aine was a little nervous in the museum. The woman working at the museum was very nice.
What was cool was that we could take pictures – so I took a bunch. The girls were *not* interested in being in the pictures since Reverend Zombie’s Voodoo shop had made a point of saying that taking pictures was entirely forbidden.
After the Voodoo museum, we couldn’t pass up the cemetery where Marie Laveau was buried. Well, buried isn’t the best term. Entombed is a much better term. Burying the corpses doesn’t make sense when the city is built on swampland. One good flood and you could see where the idea of zombies could spread. The tombs are different. We saw one modern-looking tomb that was shaped like a pyramid; mostly they look like European tombs. I have some pictures of Marie’s tomb, although there seemed to be some dispute about which was actually hers. It sounded as if both the contenders were family vaults, but unclear which was hers. As you can see from the pictures, people leave keepsakes by the tomb. You make a wish, leave an item and if Marie likes the item, she’ll grant your wish.
We also stopped by the Louis Armstrong Park. Very nice area with great fountain and modern art all around. Really it was just to be a little hot for a change.
In the afternoon we took the free ferry to Algiers, which is really just a hop and skip over to the West side of the Mississippi – but who can turn town either free or ferry! It does give some really nice views of the city. And it seems as if Algiers did not have the flooding that the rest of New Orleans had during Katrina – so the houses are beautiful and unique with beautiful gardens. And cats. The number of cats actually got a little creepy. (In fairness, I can find one cat creepy – and never cool!)
On Algiers we found a British Pub. It had something for each of us – the front door was a TARDIS (that’s the time travel machine from Dr Who for those who went to the prom), Dr Who played on the TVs inside, they had nice pints and Wotsits, which are my favorite British crisp-type thing. (They’re like cheese puffs.)
After the super quick trip on the ferry, we went to the 11th floor of the Westin for another great view of the city. You can sneak up to the 11th floor from the shopping mall beneath (very near to our hotel). On the 11th floor is the hotel lobby, which they seem happy to share with non-guests. The view was gorgeous.
After that we seemed to roam the city aimlessly for hours – eventually finding a fancy dinner at the Hotel Montelone.
Filed under: New Orleans
Dad and I started the day in New Orleans with a good walk around while girls caught up on sleep. We checked out the French Quarter and picked out some good places to eat. We even crashed a Good Friday parade.
We started with an amazing brunch at The Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street. The have a live jazz brunch every day. The food was amazing. Tons of peel and eat shrimp and some other stuff. Actually while I could be happy for a long time with peel and eats – everything was really good. And the jazz was just the perfect amount. We were about 5 feet from the musicians – but it was fun, not overwhelming.
Then we checked out the French Quarter. We saw some buskers. Aine was selected as the magician’s helper, which is always fun. She did a good job. We saw tons of shops – including Reverend Zombie’s House of Voodoo, which caught Lily’s eye. We saw some great musicians. There’s not a ton to report – but we had a great time. It was nice to be warm and at times actually hot. It was easy to see why New Orleans is called America’s best foreign city. It’s a good city for walkers. There are lots of nice places to eat – inside and out. Stuff feels old.
Not having visited before Katrina, it’s tough to say if anything was different. There are places that are boarded up – too many really but I can’t say for sure that’s all Katrina-related. There are many super gorgeous balconies and intricate ironwork and flowers hanging from above – despite frost warnings earlier in the week.
Patrick flew in Friday night. So we all checked out Orleans Grapevine Bistro, which was another amazing meal. We walked back around Bourbon Street, so the girls got a flavor of the scene – but not too much. The Patrick and I hit the town. We ended up on Frenchman Street watching a great band. Their encore was a great version of These Boot were Made for Walking. And one of us got asked to dance several times. I won’t say which one.
I do have to note one of my favorite pictures – Aine in front of the St Louis Cathedral with the big shadows!
Day two on the road to New Orleans. Not a ton to report. We had brunch at a place called Brother Juniper’s in Memphis. Monte Cristo with maple syrup – nonstandard, yet really good! Then we tried some car washes in Jackson. And we drove a lot. We saw snow until nearly Memphis – which was a little sad.
We arrived in New Orleans in time for dinner. We ate at a place called Mother’s. Apparently it was on Man v Food. Man tried to eat the giant Po’ Boy. We didn’t. The food was good. Poor Lily had nothing to eat with Mother’s does no specialize in vegetarian dishes.
OK I’ve been *terrible* about the blog and maybe I’ll go back and fill in the last few months – but today I’ll at least pick up to talk about our 2013 Spring Break. We drove down the New Orleans with Grandpa and back with Patrick.
The trip seemed a little ill fated at the onset. Poor Aine was sick – begging to stay home, which is very unlike Aine. I forgot my charger, so we had to go back. Grandpa forgot his sunglasses, so we had to go back. But after a series of false starts we were on the road. First stop – Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We had a fancy French lunch – well not really fancy, but pretty French.
Then we made a pit stop in Hannibal Missouri, boyhood home to Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). We took some pictures at the commemorative lighthouse – which is kind of strange in that it way up on top of a hill. Kind of bad placing it seems for warding off ships on a stormy night. Seems like it might be more useful to low flying planes. It was fun to see the town. Most of us got an ice cream treat and Grandpa showed Aine how to play some brain teaser game at the ice cream parlor.
Three facts about Mark Twain:
- He was born in 1835 and the lighthouse was built 100 years later
- Twain was born and died during a visit from Halley’s comet.
- The name Mark Twain comes from his river boat days, it is the cry for a measured river depth of two fathoms
Next stop was St Louis. We had an old school Italian dinner on Italian Hill. We felt almost like interlopers when we were the only ones that the host didn’t know by name! Then we caught the big Arch as night was falling. It was cool – much more silvery than I expected.
Three facts about St Louis’ Gateway Arch:
- It is 630 feet tall
- It is 630 feet wide
- It was built from 1963-65
We spent the night in Cape Girardeau – a new town for us. Actually I think Missouri was a new state for the girls. So that’s always fun!
Filed under: St Paul
Every year the Treacy Clan head to the Minnesota State Fair – scavenger hunt in hand. It’s not a huge challenge scavenger hunt – but an attempt to reign in rampant and disorganized spending led by the whims of the 7 kids. At least this way we get a calendar and spend time outside the arcade and cookie booth. Others have asked me to share…
Minnesota State Fair Scavenger Hunt 2012!!!
- How big is the slab of butter used for the butter queens?
- 2. What is the strangest food at the Fair? Was it good?
- Get a calendar with a family picture.
- Ride the Giant Slide at the Fair. (Be sure to have someone take your picture.)
- Pick up as many school supplies as you can. (Each kid should have their own bag!)
- How many tickets can you win in the arcade? (Each kid gets $2; no spending your own money!)
- Get an autograph from a famous person. (Or get a picture of the team with a famous person.)
- Get a bird’s eye view on the Skyride!
- Where can you find a plastic bottle tunnel representing 5 minutes of use of plastics bottles in MN?
- Name three local breweries – ask a parent which beer is best.
- How big is the biggest pumpkin at the Fair? (Win a honey stick while you’re nearby!)
Filed under: Dublin
On Saturday Patrick went with his mom to London to visit his brother – so the girls and I hit the town. We went to the Science Gallery to the Mini Maker Faire. The focus is on learning how to make things – especially for kids. It sort of echoed a main theme from the TED conference – the whole idea of being able to make things, to invent, to innovate is very strong. It’s always fun to meet folks who do make things – because to me making something is so far out of my field of scope. I’m much better at writing about things getting made.
The coolest thing we learned about was a product called Sugru – it’s like play dough that hardens like plastic. So it’s amazing for fixing or improving thing. So for example you could easily attach a video camera to a helmet with Sugru.
We also saw tons of masks and crafts and musical inventions. And we learned about some of the sessions the Science Gallery has been having where interested residents can talk about, plan and implement ideas to make the city better. One idea I loved was the idea of co-cooking. Taking cooking stations to different communities to teach people how to cook healthy meals. How smart!
We also walked all over the city. Lily took loads of pictures. We ate at some fancy-ish place where Lily ordered a super foods salad. It had to be really good for you because it tasted disgusting. The truffle chips on the other hand were quite good.
Filed under: Dun Laoghaire
Just to make sure that everyone is appropriately impressed, here’s a little background on the Forty Foot from Wikipedia…
The Forty Foot is a promontory on the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin, Ireland, from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for some 250 years. … The opening section of Joyce’s Ulysses is set here, with the characters Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan being partly based on Joyce himself and Gogarty, respectively. [
So today the girls and I set out with our friend (from my MA program years ago) Taura to swim at 40 Foot. It used to be that 40 Foot was a place for naked men – only. Now swim suits are required and women are allowed. It’s cold – really cold – both the water and the air outside the water. And for a special treat there are jelly fish in the water. The bluish purple ones are OK. The brown ones are dangerous. Going in I saw a blue jelly fish. On the way out I saw a big brown jelly fish. We heard a story of someone getting stung last week – and we saw several apparently seasoned swimmers turn back due to jelly fish scare.
Taura, Aine and I made it into the water. To be fair, Taura was the only one who really swam. And I don’t know how as I lost feeling in my arms after about 2 minutes. I will say that I went completely into the water, which is something I rarely do in Dublin.
We capped off the expedition with a fun dinner in Glasthule. We went to a pub with Indian food. Yum!
Filed under: Dublin
We did the free walking tour of The Liberties. Pat Liddy gave the tour – his a tour guide of some note. There were more than 100 people on the tour – all Irish and all with blue hair. It was an interesting route. Well Patrick and I found it interesting. The girls not so much. And I think it was made less interesting with bad weather about every 15 minutes it would absolutely pour. One really nice thing was that the Viking Splash tour people saw us in the rain and gave out free rain ponchos for free. So that was really nice.
So here are snippets from the tour –
The Liberties are a series of areas in Dublin that in the 12 century were made regulation-free area. Or at least there were left to create their own regulation and structure and were absolved from regular Dublin regulation and taxes. Subsequently the areas and people from the areas are generally considered to be pretty independent, take care of it ourselves kind of people. The liberty we walked was West of St Patrick’s Cathedral – near Kevin St, Thomas St and Newmarket. It was an area of weavers. And has always had an industry focus.
We also stopped by The Coombe – former location of a big hospital. There is a memorial of sorts from the hospital – the old front stairs I think. The stairs now contain etched names of the characters from the day – such as Stab the Rasher, Bang Bang and others. Many people on the tour remembered the characters named.
Famous people from the area: Brenda Flicker and Imelda May. I think Patrick was very sad that we didn’t run into Imelda May on the tour.
We lived sort of near this area near Christchurch 20 years ago and have a couple of friends in the area. It is a very Dublin area.
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