A week ago, my amazing engineer and I got into my packed little Toyota (and by packed, I mean riding so low that it's a miracle I wasn't bottoming out on speed bumps) and took off on a grand road trip across the US. Thus begins a little time-traveling...
Day 1: New Orleans-
On July 6, we were up bright and early, finished packing the last of the bags into the car (with one notable exception, as it would happen), and left Gainesville.
Within an hour of getting on the road, the heavens opened up.
It poured as we drove through the Florida Panhandle. And the little tail-y bits of Alabama and Mississippi. We stopped for the condemned man's last opportunity for Southern nosh and were stunned to learn that there are still parts of the country where you have to request the non-smoking section. Lunch was a fairly subdued affair, as after traveling for eight hours in the driving rain, there was a decidedly Twilight Zone-esque edge to the collective mood. (I'm sure that everyone has, at one time or another, experienced that strange disconnect from reality, where you realize that you have no idea what state you're in, and everything is funny. No?) The okra was delicious.
Due to the aforementioned geographical confusion, I'm not 100% certain, but I think we were in Louisiana when my engineer was given the opportunity to experience his very first underwater tunnel.
Obviously, there was much excitement. And speculation as to how exactly the tunnel is engineered. Does it go just under the water, or under the ground under the water?
After some more driving (and accompanying rain) we arrived!
New Orleans!
We were surprised to see some fairly major hurricane damage still, although mainly the city seems to be thriving. We checked into our amazing hotel in the French Quarter and immediately... took a nap.
After some much needed sleep, we went out to explore a little before dinner.
After admiring the beauty of the historic French Quarter and traumatizing the engineer with the sleaze on Bourbon Street, we had a delicious dinner of red beans and rice and a Hurricane for one engineer (and a Voodoo Juice... and a Swamp Water), and visited a cool little voodoo shop where we purchased all manner of good luck talismans (talismen?). The hotel was awesome and it had very soft beds.
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