New Orleans!!!

I was so excited when I heard that the National Catholic School  Teachers Conference  was going to be in New Orleans.  It is a city that I have always wanted to visit. Only 2 teachers from our school get to go each year, and since this is only my second year at my school, I thought that my chances were pretty slim at getting chosen.  It was such an honor to get to go and even more exciting that I got to go with my good friend April who teaches preschool at O'Hara!

What are the chance that our hotel (Embassy Suites) would be located on the corner of Julia and Fulton Streets? It surely was meant to be that I go on this trip!

The conference was Tuesday thru Thursday, but we flew on Monday and Friday.  Even though I was very excited to go  on this adventure, it was very hard for me to leave my family for that long.  I missed them a lot, but they seemed to adjust to "Daddy time" just fine :).

Our hotel was beautiful.  It was decorated like the French Quarter inside.  Each night they had a "Happy Hour" (which April and I never missed) and contintental breakfast every morning.

This is the one of  the most famous places in New Orleans.  It is called Jackson Square in the middle of the French Quarter.  The beautiful St. Louis Cathedral is in the background.

Pat O'Briens is a popular restaurant and bar in the Frenchh Quarter that serves their famous drink "the hurricane".  Yum!

Whenever I told people that I was going to New Orleans, most of the people who had been there before, told me that I needed to go have a begniet at Cafe du Monde.  April and I loved it so much, we went back 2 more times!  Begniets are a deep fried pastry covered in powdered sugar.

We took a tour through town on a carriage like this one!

We took a river boat dinner cruise up the Mississippi River. It was a warm beautiful evening!

Dancing to  Jazz band on top of the River Boat

Me, Josh (St. Paul PE Teacher) and April

The above ground graves were so interesting to look at.

They bury their dead above ground because the city is below sea level.

We took a city tour that took us through the Ninth Ward.

This area was hit hardest by Hurrican Katrina 5 years ago and it is still a long way from back to normal.

Then we went to the Garden  District where many celebrities own homes.

This house is owned by Sandra Bullock.

This is the house that Eli and Peyton Manning grew up in!

Here we are on our horse and carriage ride and tour.

This was our driver Tulu!  He was so funny and entertaining.

Bourbon Street was Amazing!

What a super, fun and amazing trip. It was very much out of my comfort zone to leave my family and class for a whole week.  I have learned that sometimes it is good to step out of your comfort zone and stretch yourself, I am sure glad that I did. Everyone at home survived just fine without me :), and I made some great memories!