New Orleans Mar. 29-Apr. 3, 2018

Upon arriving in New Orleans, her beauty appeared. The native flowers and palm trees lined the streets along the taxi ride to our hotel. Full azalea shrubs were in full bloom and striking to view. The driver advised the proper annunciation of New Orleans is in two syllables not three. We grabbed dinner at Bourbon House, which was attached to our hotel. My pasta dish could be described as warm spring pasta because it consisted of early spring vegetables tossed with pasta and creole seasoning.

Our first evening was spent getting a general lay of the land with a trek through the French Quarter along Bourbon Street to Esplanade. In this exploration, we passed many bars that announced "world's coldest beer" and "big ass beer" with patrons spilling into the street. A variety of music was heard along the walk. On the cusp of the Quarter, we past Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar and were intrigued by the antiquity and interest of the building's architecture and appearance. It stood out from the adjacent buildings because of its open doors and dark interior. The patrons appeared to be different than the ones imbibing in the congested area of Bourbon street lit by neon signs. We stopped into a dixie jazz band club on our way back to the hotel; we were surrounded by many German-speaking spectators, which I was fond of.

The homes and buildings in the area were nothing like what we live amongst in the north. They were predominantly stucco painted in tropical colors with long window shutters. The shutters were closed to keep the street noise out of their homes. Most of these structures were built soon after the Great New Orleans Fire (1788). 

There wasn't an agenda beyond our reservations for Friday night dinner, historical river cruise on Saturday, Easter parades on Sunday and a tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on Monday. We successfully filled the open slots with sight seeing and meeting people along the way.

Food is next on our agenda since there's an abundance of delicious options available in this city. I wanted to visit Cafe du Monde for the obligatory french beignets and chicory coffee but the line was ridiculously long. We opted for Monty's cafe that is situated across the street from it and delighted we made this choice because the food was delicious. The plain grits were the best I ever ate; perhaps, it was the ambiance of the open-air cafe and view of Jackson Square that added to the flavor.  Dinner was great at GW Fins; we were seated in a quiet dining room with 20 others. My husband was quite pleased with the Scalibut dish that is comprised of halibut and scallops on a bed of lobster risotto. After dinner we wandered to the side streets in the French Quarter and discovered Patrick's Vin Bar. It is a comfortable bar furnished with ample soft seating and a small bar with many locals; seating extended into a quiet and dimly lit courtyard, equipped with a water fountain and mossy ficus trees. We met Patrick as we exited his establishment. Finding this quaint bar was like an oasis in a desert away from the raucous of Bourbon Street.

The historical river cruise was along the Mississippi on a paddle boat. The destination was on the site of the War of 1812 that was won by Andrew Jackson with a troop of locals, free African Americans and Lafitte's imprisoned pirates. The history of New Orleans was delivered via a loud speaker along the cruise.

We had a choice of three Easter parades to attend but missed most of the first one because we were eating breakfast at Monty's. All the participants were decked out in their Sunday-best. The streets along the route were crowded with spectators of all ages and descents. We returned to the streets to watch Chris Owens's Easter parade and got close to the street near the beginning of the route. A good bit of the spectators donned their Easter hats and church attire as they grabbed for a chance at several of the thousands of beads tossed from the parade floats. It was a warm and sunny day already and decided to go to The Beach Bar for a cold beverage. We shared our high-top table with two Swiss middle-aged couples while we savored our beer and wine. We enjoyed their company and laughed quite a bit with them. They encouraged us to join them at Fritzel's Jazz Club to listen to their friends perform that evening.

After we ate our dinner, we walked to Fritzel's to watch the jazz band perform with our new Swiss friends. The music was great and satisfied our desire to hear dixieland jazz. The Swiss group introduced us to their Bavarian friend (he refuses to be considered "German"). We discussed politics and our careers long after our friends left us. Eventually, we made our way back to our hotel past the noisy bars and clubs.

The tour of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 began at Voodoo Lounge near the cemetery and Treme District. The day was getting warm; luckily, there was somewhat of a breeze to keep us slightly cool. We were led into the cemetery (AKA City of the Dead). Most of the tombs appeared old and showed wear. There were many that didn't have family tablets displayed on their fronts. We were told of Marie Laveau's history and practice of Voodoo as we passed her final resting place. The best kept and newest tomb belongs to Nicholas Cage, which was the only property the IRS couldn't acquire. We returned to Patrick's this evening and met Queen Kelly. She is a local member of the Creole Osceola Indian tribe and insisted we learn more about the tribe's history; then, share it with our friends. She showed pictures of her headdress and attire that she constructed over the course of a year; which was quite exquisite. 

Because this trip wasn't over-planned with a tight schedule, it was more enjoyable and allowed opportunities to make acquaintances and impromptu adventures. It may have been my favorite trip thus far.

Upper Peninsula Dec. 26-31, 2017

There is something special about visiting a summer tourist destination during the winter months. We enjoyed traveling to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day because the peace that exudes from surrounding lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. We lodged in St. Ignius, where the Mackinac Island ferry ports. Typically, only the locals are present in the town's restaurants and few open shops. Our ferry ride was shared with other visitors traveling to the island; however, a couple construction workers joined us on the ride back to St. Iggy (as known to locals).

The Mackinac Island ferry is not heated and was cold. Rather than sit inside the duration of the trip (40-45 minutes), we stood on the deck to admire the views along Lake Huron. The best site is the Mighty Mac bridge that connects the UP to the Mitten. It was mesmerizing to watch the ice break as the vessel made its way through the frozen lake. The ferry is constructed with sturdy steel and can travel through ice up to 9 inches thick. The ferry will cancel its trips across Huron if the ice exceeds this thickness; therefore, some people may be stranded on Mackinac Island.

There are only a few shops and restaurants open during the winter on Mackinac Island. Many of the hotels are under renovation beyond spring and summer, hence the commuting construction workers. We admired the Victorian buildings in town and the park's natural features including Arch Rock. The residents commuting through town on their snowmobiles were entertaining. Snowmobiles are the only vehicles permitted on the streets except for the police department's trucks.

It'd be nice to experience more of the area's nature preserves and parks during the summer months. I hope my next visit to the UP will include outdoor excursions with backpacking or camping.

Zaleski Nov. 23-24, 2017

In 2016, we began a tradition to backpack Zaleski State Forest on Thanksgiving.

This was only our second year of this new Thanksgiving tradition. During our afternoon hike, we passed 4 day hikers (and a dog) and 1 other backpacker. This gave us hope that we'd have the campsite at Area D to ourselves. This year's high temperature was about 40 degrees and the low was below 30. During our trek I accidentally stepped on a garter snake, which was a surprise (and startle) with the cold temperature. This was my first time encountering a snake while backpacking but am thankful it was only a harmless one. We got to our vacant campsite and set-up our tent; changed out of our damp base layers into dry ones; then, foraged in the forest for firewood. We cut enough wood to burn for the entire evening. After a hot meal, we sat by the fire and enjoyed our surroundings. We heard coyotes howl in the distance after the sun set. Since most of the trees were bare of leaves, we could see the sky was clear. We ventured away from the fire a couple of times to view the starry sky. I've never seen so many stars before. I saw 3 meteors in these short stints into the darkness. I slept well in my mummy sleeping bag, balaclava and hat. Sometime before sunrise, I heard more coyote howls. I woke to the first trail runner that was competing in the day's race through Zaleski, (another annual tradition). A few more runners trickled through while we packed our gear. As we hiked out to the trailhead, we passed about a dozen trail runners of various ages. They were jovial, even the runners attempting 50 miles that day. We left them to their business as we journeyed to cut down our Christmas tree.