Christmas in New Orleans

In City Park, Santa rides a pirogue pulled by alligators!

A good time was had by all (really!).  The family got together in New Orleans for Christmas & we all made it through the week without killing each other.  Actually, we all enjoyed each other's company, & tried our best to eat ourselves silly.  Someone received a bath scales from Santa, but I don't think we'll like the numbers it will tell us.

We went for a walk to City Park, where the "Christmas in the Oaks" was full of lights.  But, being New Orleans, there were unique light arrangements.

The best thing about Christmas being over, is that now we can eat King Cakes, all the way to Mardi Gras on Feb 9!

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus!
Sue's brother takes a selfie!

On Dec 29, the weather was warm enough to
go for a cruise on Lake Pontchartrain with
our Captain-in-training

Y'know you're in New Orleans, when....

... the largest food display at Walmart was red beans and rice!

Over 1000 pounds of rice with enough red beans to keep a smile on your face for a week!



In the hills of TN, this car has been sitting in one place
so long that the vines have grown up the radio antenna

We are doing our best to catch up on eating all the New Orleans cuisine, which we have missed during the past 7-8 months.  We got our shrimp po-boy (dressed, or course) right away, but Sue had to wait until this week to finally get some boiled crawfish.  And yes, we got our Popeye's chicken last week (when we got Popeye's around the Great Lakes, we were disappointed that the seasoning was not the same as what we get down here).

Late last month we spent an excellent week in the Chattanooga area, sharing Thanksgiving with about 30 relatives, and Sue's mother was basking in the attention all week.  Her mother loved having all the babies (all 4 great-great grandchildren) surrounding her most every day.  All in all, a very good family reunion.

So now we prepare for Christmas this week at Chris & Ali's new home.  Looking forward to another good week with family.



While in TN, we hiked through the mountain trail
to a beautiful waterfall