Hoofin' It in the Big Easy

I'm one of those crazies who loves flying (not the airport, but being in the air)--love the perspective up here!

Overlooking the river in the morning

Our first meal--we went a little crazy! Gumbo and seafood chowder and prawns--we might have gone overboard, but it didn't stop us from doing it again and again!

Beignets at Cafe du Monde

New Orleans School of Cooking--as this guy said: "All y'all out in California, you're healthy. Here in New Orleans, we fat--we don't care!"

And oh my goodness, if being fat tastes this good, I can definitely see the appeal! This was the most amazing seafood chowder (the secret: lots of butter--no shocker there!)

We went on a New Orleans Cemetery tour where we saw the graves of Marie Leveau and several musicians.

We also found out what "getting the shaft" actually refers to: only one person can be entombed in each grave each year, but once their remains have mostly decayed, they're pushed off the upper shelf into the soup of groundwater and bones below to make room for the next occupant. Ew!

After an awesome performance at the festival, the students were invited to a Masqued Ball, where the choir was award the highest place in their division! The whole thing was held in a facility where all the Mardi Gras floats from past years are stored.

We enjoyed visiting an awesome jazz club.

I took a great leap in trying alligator! Not my favorite, but at least I can say I tried it!

New Orleans Swamp Tour

We didn't see very many alligators because it was a bit on the cold side, but we saw lots of other cool swamp creatures.

This guy was our tour guide--straight out of Duck Dynasty, I think. He had all sorts of cool/crazy stuff for us to check out.

Tortoise shell

Live alligator baby!

He was actually kind of sweet.

And finally, I generally hesitate before posting photos of other people's kids, but I wanted to get at least one shot of at least a few of this amazing group of kids who I've gotten to know over the past three years. They are awesome! Many are off to college next year, and I know they will do amazing things to make the world a better place!

And then we had to leave this beautiful (and green) heaven to head back home.

Where this bunch was waiting for us--I don't think they missed us one bit!