I have wanted to visit New Orleans for years. I have read so many novels set in the big easy that I feel like I have already been to the French Quarter several times. For my 50th birthday, my husband and I, are finally crossing this one of my bucket list. We set out on Friday and spent all day in airports so did not arrive until dark.  All we had time for was a quick catfish po’boy and some chicory coffee ice cream. We are staying at the Lafitte Guest House right on Bourbon Street. Probably not the best choice as it is crazy, all day and night! We are not sleeping a lot but can walk everywhere we want without the need of a car, taxi or horse driven carriage.

Saturday we set out for a full day. Our first foray was to the convention center. Ya, I know. Who goes to the convention center for sightseeing? We were registered for the Rock and Roll  10K and had to pick up our packets in person. The convention center is accessible from the Riverwalk located along the Mississippi River, which I have never seen so that was the path we chose. Here are a few of the sights we captured along the way.

The convention center itself is rather impressive. We clocked the length from our entry point to the other side and it was 1/2 mile long! It was the biggest convention center we have ever encountered!

This was my favorite statue in the convention center

Now that this errand was completed it was time to do something I have always dreamed about, a trip to Cafe Du Monde for chicory coffee and beignets! To say the line was long would be an understatement. And, the look on my husband’s face sent a very clear message-why do you want to stand in this huge line for some donuts? He did not dare actually say that to me because he knew this was a critical component to my birthday trip, but he was not eager for the experience. Fortunately the line moved quite fast. I was able to snap some fun shots and enjoyed the treats!

Now that we were full of fried dough and powdered sugar, we had plenty of energy for The Museum of Death. It was nearby and all the good Voodoo shops were on the other side of the city-so, why not? This museum is full of letters from serial killers, crime scene photos and torture gadgets. It’s a distinctive New Orleans experience so we went for it. They do not allow pictures inside the exhibits (which is probably for the best) so I have just a couple shots of the outside.

My husband was left feeling slightly destabilized by the experience but quickly recovered enough to head over to one of the historic, local cemeteries but we were not able to enter without a tour group and decided we had enough death for awhile. We returned to Bourbon street and found it swollen with people. It was hard to walk down the middle of the street due to the crush of humanity drinking, dancing and watching the many street musicians. I tried to photograph a small fraction of the action.

One of my favorite sights in the city are the decorated balconies on the buildings

We saw 2 or 3 celebratory wedding processions that parade down several streets with a police escort

That evening we put our walking shoes on again and went to Harrahs Casino for our pre run dinner and some black jack. We lost $55 dollars but the buffet fueled us up so it was all good. We ended up logging just under 9 miles for the day!

Sunday morning we woke up at 5:30am and started prepping for the run. I didn’t take my camera because I was busy running, but I did get a proof of completion shot of the medals.

The run was great, the course flat and the weather perfect. I ran the 1/2 marathon in both Seattle and Vancouver B.C. last year and there were too many hills and cold! I am hoping to convince my husband to head back this way next year to run the half here. We did have to walk to the start line, run the 6.2 miles and then walk 3+ miles back to the hotel. We found lunch somewhere nearby and are now getting ready to watch the super bowl. This was a 12 mile day for us and we are tired!

Tomorrow, I turn 50, Ugh! My husband has some big plans and I am excited about that part, not the aging!