I’m finally getting around to talking about the roadtrip the boys and I took back in June.
I know, get your life together, Amanda.
I’ve been struggling with talking about more personal stuff because part of me felt like I’d been lying to you guys since January. And yay, now you know, and we can go back to me telling you way too much about my life.
(PS, Yes, we are in the process of divorce. I’ll tell you why I haven’t left Fort Hood soon. And I’ll start responding to all the emails I received about that post soon, I promise. My life has been a mess for the past 6 months and I’m forever behind on everything. But thank you for all the kind emails. They mean more than I can say.)
So, yeah, New Orleans! My favorite aunt and uncle and cousins live right outside of New Orleans and now that I’m within a day drive, it’s been nice to be able to escape there. If I didn’t have so many dogs, I’d be there right now.
I love a roadtrip. I love them.
Listening to all my favorite 90s music and over analyzing everything in my life for 8 hours? And I get to eat fast food every few hours?!
Sign. Me. Up.
I’m also a sucker for touristy things so, like, if a billboard promises me an alligator, I’m stopping.
Evidence above.
My cousins are teenagers and my boys are obsessed with them and their friends so we spent a lot of our week just hanging out with them at their pool.
Also, a lot of reality TV because my aunt and I are both obsessed with it. Not to brag but we currently have a 112 day snap streak and I guarantee that half of those were just Real Housewives conversations.
And yes, Clementine travels with me. She’s really easy to travel with because she’s tiny and sleeps a lot and also, boarding 3 dogs is really expensive.
(Sunglasses by Quay.)
I had to take the boys for their first Cafe Du Monde experience and why deal with the French Quarter nightmare when you can just go to Metairie?!
There was no wait and between the 7 of us, we ordered, like, 30 beignets. So good. Highly recommend. Must do when in New Orleans. Do not skip.
Also, make sure you stick your entire face in the plate of powdered sugar after your beignets are gone.
Another must when in New Orleans is snowballs!
Wait, Amanda, isn’t that just shaved ice?
No.
That is a birthday cake snowball with sweetened condensed milk on top. And it may have been stuffed with soft serve ice cream.
They are creamy and delicious and so much more than shaved ice.
We go to Oak Lane Snowballs because it’s close to where my people live and it’s also amazing but there are snowball stands all over New Orleans. Highly recommend anything cake flavored or chocolate flavored with the sweetened condensed milk on top. Heavenly. Your life will be forever changed.
In super exciting news, I got to enjoy a child-free night out at The Velvet Cactus.
It’s the kind of restaurant that I love. It’s hip and funky and has tacos.
We got there 5 or 10 minutes before they opened and there was already a line. And they have a walkway of benches so a line must be a pretty common thing around there.
If it wasn’t so stupid hot, I would’ve loved to sit outside on their cute patio.
I studied the menu for hours before we went so I knew that I needed a Watermelon Mint Margarita (oh hey, I made one of those!) and the Crawfish Boil Queso.
Queso. With crawfish.
I can’t.
You guys.
I dream about it.
I’ve made the trip from Colorado and/or Texas to New Orleans and/or Alabama several times over the least few years and each time when we go over the Lake Charles beach bridge, I think “OMG I TOTALLY WANNA STOP AND PLAY IN THE WATER!”
And this time we did.
I always say that my kids are not like me at all but they did inherit my love for a beach. Which is weird since they’ve spent most of their childhood in Colorado.
Anyway, we had Clementine with us and I’m forever worried that my dogs offend people so we didn’t stay long but we had a lot of fun and when we passed it on our most recent roadtrip (recap soon!), all 3 starting talking about that time we stopped and played in the water.
And, of course, I yelped the best po-boy place in Lake Charles since I didn’t have a single po-boy while in New Orleans.
I ended up at Buffi’s Peaux Boys because Yelp said they had a killer crawfish po-boy that is like a whole crawfish boil on a baguette. We’re talking the crawfish plus corn and potatoes and a spicy sauce.
SO GOOD.
If you’re traveling through the area, it’s worth getting off the interstate and getting a little lost for. Seriously one of the best things I ate all summer.
louise homhiskins says
I LOVE NEW ORLEANS A great post looks like a lot of fun , great pictures of your family. food ,and your dogs.my favorite things
Deanna McK says
This was a joy to read and I love the pictures!! There IS life after divorce and you and the boys
will be much better off. I’m cheering for you!!
Jan says
I’m so happy that your getting away from an abusive husband and healing! Your boys look like they had loads of fun too. My daughter is healing too and she started singing and smiling again and not being jumpy or onguard. If looks like you are too! Hugs and prayers to you and your boys!
Oddree says
Oh my – I want to eat that po’ boy right.now.
Annie @ Annie's Cooking Lab says
That looks like such a fun trip! So glad you and the boys got out of town for a vacation. The snowball concoction sounds AMAZING. How have I never heard of that?!