Yes, they really are! On our small group tour of the city, we stopped at St Louis Cemetery #3. It was a scorching hot day, with a vibrant blue sky and impressionist clouds. If the sky hadn’t been so spectacular, I don’t know that I would have taken so many photos.
Since today is Halloween and New Orleans celebrates this holiday to the extreme, it seemed fitting to share these photos with you. Many of the enormous stone-carved family tombs cost tens of thousands of dollars to create and there were some (I did not photograph, unfortunately) that were even over $100,000.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? My most recent experience was Wednesday. Craig and I joined a cheerful group of hikers who were mostly middle-aged and some even a bit older, who live near Los Angeles. We went on a short, but steep hike to the Griffith Park Observatory and it was awesome.
Columnist Chris Erskine, from the Los Angeles Times, put this group together. Yes! That guy! He is just as great in person and as friendly as you would assume he would be.
Chris had this idea of getting some nice people together, taking a short-ish walk or hike and finishing with a Happy Hour. This became the Happy Hour Hiking Club.
The views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills were spectacular. Many of us had never been up there before and we all lived nearby. Hard to believe but true! Chris said “Welcome to the rooftop of Los Angeles”. The sunset sky rolled out a rainbow of colors for all of us to enjoy.
Eating a fabulous lunch at Butcher near the WWII Museum
For those of you who are familiar with New Orleans please understand that this is our first time and we have a lot to learn about this very unique city. We tried our best to dabble here and there to get a flavor for what the city can offer.
Go easy on me about the Big Easy! Like any big city you can have a different experience every time you go. I feel like we made a substantial first pass at New Orleans and absolutely need to go back, maybe in the spring time.
I really want to encourage all of you to go and see it for yourself! It is truly one of the most remarkable places in the U.S. that I have ever visited and shame on me for not going sooner!
Visit New Orleans to Eat, Drink and Be Merry!
A visit to New Orleans has been on our destination “to do” list for quite a while and we had actually planned a trip for this time last year, but had to change our plans.
We wanted to go on this vacation with our longtime college friends, Jon and Angela because not one of us had ever been!
Charming porch vignettes, cast iron scrollwork, colorful painted doors and magnificent homes line the neighborhood streets in the New Orleans Garden District.
Luckily we missed the rain, the humidity and bugs to enjoy nearly perfect weather on our first trip to New Orleans. The city is so amazing and we found that the most difficult part of visiting is finding the time to see it all! (Sorry it is impossible) We just loved it though, so stay tuned for many more details in the days/weeks to come.
Although through the majority of the trip the temperature was pleasant, on the first day we arrived, the sun was scorching with intense burn-your-shoulders kind of heat. We toughed it out while touring the city but we were so pleased at the relief we received at sunset. Fortunately, for the rest of our wonderful four-day trip, the weather fully cooperated!
Wearing my typical travel outfit and my blue suede no-slip Rhea Footwear flats.
Don’t you always want to hear about a few handy packing tips? I sure do. I don’t know if these ideas are extraordinarily brilliant, but it sure is a great title!
We have several Fall trips coming up and I have started to plan what I will take with me and thought I would share a few helpful ideas. Packing for a summer trip has entirely different requirements, so for today this is just about the Fall.
‘Ono – The word ‘ono with the okina means delicious in the Hawaiian language.
Onolicious – This slang word is a variation of ‘ono combined with the word delicious.
Eating House 1849
From the culinary pioneer of Hawaiian Fusion, James Beard Award winning chef Roy Yamaguchi, a new concept restaurant called Eating House 1849, was opened just two miles down the road from our hotel in Kauai!
It opened in 2015 and is located in Koloa at the Kukuiula Shopping Center on the south shore of Kauai in Poipu Beach. Eating House 1849 pays homage and was named after a restaurant that was in business in the mid 1800’s. Roy pays tribute to Peter Fernandez, a Portuguese immigrant and an early restaurant pioneer and his style of cooking to create this brand new (and delicious) concept.
We truly had no idea what to expect and the truth is that we tried to get a reservation at Roy’s where we have had many delicious dinners in the Hawaiian islands and in Orange County. After checking the Roy’s website, we learned that the restaurant had closed on Kauai and something else took its place. Totally unfamiliar with this restaurant, we charged ahead and made a reservation. We knew that if Roy was executing this menu, it had to be outstanding.
Emphasizing this Hawaiian culinary history and focusing on local farmers, foragers, ranchers and fisherman, Eating House 1849 performed like it had been there for years.
“Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, tomorrow I’ll miss you.” Paul McCartney
It has been a challenge for me to collect all of my thoughts and emotions that get tangled together over our incredible experience at Desert Trip. Nostalgic emotions emerged that bring back memories of high school, no responsibilities and the joys of being a teenager, sprinkled with rock and roll.
Since our kids were little Craig would say, “Who is the greatest band in the world?” The correct answer was always: “The Rolling Stones”. Music and concerts have always been a huge part of our lives, so when we learned the news that Desert Trip was created and coming soon, we knew that the experience of seeing these iconic classic rock bands from our youth was something we needed to share with our grown children.
Just a few thoughts about my passion for the Hawaiian Islands before I tell you about our AMAZING experience at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
Just last year I declared right here on the blog that the island of Maui was my favorite of all the Hawaiian Islands, however I would like to amend this statement. After our recent trip to the island of Kauai, I feel that deciding which island in this tropical paradise is best… is impossible. Each island offers it own “special sauce” that makes you feel like you are the most import guest in the world. One can’t choose between extraordinary and extraordinary!
Where to go this fall to enjoy the best of what this colorful season has to offer ~
Summer has ended and we are headed to Fall, my very favorite season! Funny thing is that I live in Southern California where the temps are hovering around 90 degrees! How can I think about cool, sweater weather, drinking hot cocoa, eating warm apple pie and enjoying walks through the autumn leaves?
I can find these desirable images in my imagination, or I can plan a fall getaway! Where can we go? Many of my friends who live on the East Coast will chuckle when I write about how I long for the cooler weather, because I don’t really experience any type of super cold weather in Pasadena. I think I wear a coat maybe once or twice all season at home.
It has been quite a while since I had a chance to share a few articles that Craig and I have found interesting. I thoroughly enjoy reading a round up of links from the week by other bloggers. I find that no two lists are ever the same and I have never seen even one article the same as mine or anyone else. It illustrates the point of just how valuable this curated content really is! If you don’t share it, no one will find it!
My friend Kim shares links that she loves and I follow Modern Mrs Darcy and she always offers information that I am unfamiliar with and frankly probably would never have discovered. Love technology!
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