Travis decided to mix a little business with pleasure. He surprised me by setting up a weekend get-a-way in New Orleans for Mardi-Gras.
Feeling special!
We went down on Saturday and stayed at the Astor Crowne Plaza hotel again. I love the location of the hotel, but if we go again I think I’m ready for a change. He invited several business contacts down to share the experience
Trent, Heath, Travis, Joe
Mike, Annie, Travis
Erika & me
I discovered I actually glow in the dark!! Being the palest human by far at the ball, I appear to have a "halo" around me in all of the photos...amazing! Who would have thought human flesh could be iridescent? :-/
plus I was able to convince a couple of my close friends to come as well.
Me & Mickey
lookie what I caught at Mardi-Gras ;-D
Trent, me & my fabulous hubby!!
We couldn’t have asked for a weekend filled with more perfect weather than it was, so we enjoyed several long walks around New Orleans and the French Quarter just looking at the beautiful architecture. Sunday morning started early, so we could beat the lines, with a trip to Mother’s for breakfast, followed by a business meeting, and then the Bacchus ball on Sunday night, which was FABULOUS!
their signature float
Val Kilmer was the king. 
Val Kilmer
I was joking with a friend and mentioned “eye candy.” She replied, “More like eye jello. You haven’t seen him lately!” Uh – EWWWWWW. He did not hold up well. Anyway, we enjoyed the company of my SIL and her HH, who actually rides in the parade, 
My SIL, Kay, and her HH Ken - owner and chef at the fabulous restaraunt in Jackson, MS...FOODIE'S
My SIL always brings the goofiest smile to my face :-D...never a dull moment
and saw the Top Cats live! What a way to rock it old school style – they were awesome! We left before Cowboy Mouth played, though; we were wiped out! Monday Travis had another business meeting while I walked around the Quarter for a bit shooting some pictures of my favorite sites: 
the sky was such a brilliant blue that it made everything that much more enjoyable!
a funny, but unfortunate fact of French Quarter life during Mardi-Gras
some beautiful mosaic steps that I thought would be a great idea for our back yard
architecture going to waste - the building is phenominal...and in ruins
a condo for sale - I thought I'd try my luck at talking Travis into buying our very own :-D No sale yet, but I haven't given up hope ;-)
then we went to eat at a fabulous 5 star restaurant rated #2 in 2008 America’s top ten steakhouses by Tom Horan, Dickie Brennan’s Steak House. Good thing I walked for a few hours because absolutely nothing is lo-cal and I enjoyed every bite!!! We finished the day by watching my other favorite parade, Orpheus, with Jim Belushi as the king this year.
My knight in shining armor...his eyes make my heart melt. Thank you for making my life full!
He said it was probably over 70 years old and in very good condition considering its age. That being said, he was only able to tune it to “.50 flat” in an effort to keep the strings from popping. I’m not up on my music theory, but he explained that it was tuned to itself just not to true tuned instruments. He also told us that at some point it had been 
so the next time it’s tuned they have their reference point marked and it’s less work. That was a very interesting aside lesson in musical history. Now to get those lessons started!!!
Then after the holidays I have a friend who tunes pianos, so hopefully I can get it serviced and ready for brilliant music to come streaming out of it - I've always wanted to learn, but it may be too late. I remember NOTHING about music from high school classes, unfortunately. I have a friend that teaches piano…hmmmm, how ready am I to totally humiliate myself!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
