A Short ExchaNGE IN nEW oRLEANS
This was AlteCocker's first time going on someone else's home exchange. She had invited her home exchange buddy, John, from Melbourne, to visit her and attend Hillary Clinton's inauguration on January 20, 2017. Well, you all know that did not work out as planned. AlteCocker had the tickets and everything, but the winner was all wrong. So, no, she and John did not go to that. Her politics are quite firmly liberal and she wanted nothing to do with that inauguration.
As the say, the best laid plans of mice and men oft gang awry. We had a good time anyway. John and AlteCocker had home exchanged in 2008 and we have been friends ever since. We have the same sort of lifestyle and interests which makes for good travel buddies. From time to time our paths cross and we see each other. One time occurred when both of us were in Sydney simultaneously. Then there was the time that he was arriving in Paris as AlteCocker was leaving. We had lunch on the Champs Elysees. So, AlteCocker invited him for the inauguration. Rather than do that, we did a lot of things in and around DC that he had not done on his first visit--such as Monticello and the Lincoln Cottage Summer White House.
John, however had obtained a home exchange in New Orleans and it was an opportunity for AlteCocker, who had never been to NOLA to knock out that one--even if Mardi Gras were not included. We were there before the parades. We did, however, go to Mardi Gras World to see some of the floats. We pretty much did all the usual stuff on the list for first time tourists: Preservation Hall, World War II Museum, short cruise on the Mississippi to the battlefield where Andrew Jackson defeated the British during the Battle of New Orleans, and visits to 2 plantations (Whitney, a memorial to the slaves, and Laura, which is focused on the creole experience but deals with slavery as well), and the house where Edgar Degas lived for 3 months (he had family in New Orleans). We also ate a lot of creole food including the Jazz Brunch at Commander's Palace. Yes, we tasted the New Orleans donuts, called "beignets"--yum! We also experienced Zam's Swamp Tour that probably has the most unusual shop AlteCocker has ever seen.
Our 9 day stay in New Orleans went quickly. John went on to visit other places in the NE US and AlteCocker visited some high school friends in Florida she had not seen in 40 years. A good time was had by all.
As the say, the best laid plans of mice and men oft gang awry. We had a good time anyway. John and AlteCocker had home exchanged in 2008 and we have been friends ever since. We have the same sort of lifestyle and interests which makes for good travel buddies. From time to time our paths cross and we see each other. One time occurred when both of us were in Sydney simultaneously. Then there was the time that he was arriving in Paris as AlteCocker was leaving. We had lunch on the Champs Elysees. So, AlteCocker invited him for the inauguration. Rather than do that, we did a lot of things in and around DC that he had not done on his first visit--such as Monticello and the Lincoln Cottage Summer White House.
John, however had obtained a home exchange in New Orleans and it was an opportunity for AlteCocker, who had never been to NOLA to knock out that one--even if Mardi Gras were not included. We were there before the parades. We did, however, go to Mardi Gras World to see some of the floats. We pretty much did all the usual stuff on the list for first time tourists: Preservation Hall, World War II Museum, short cruise on the Mississippi to the battlefield where Andrew Jackson defeated the British during the Battle of New Orleans, and visits to 2 plantations (Whitney, a memorial to the slaves, and Laura, which is focused on the creole experience but deals with slavery as well), and the house where Edgar Degas lived for 3 months (he had family in New Orleans). We also ate a lot of creole food including the Jazz Brunch at Commander's Palace. Yes, we tasted the New Orleans donuts, called "beignets"--yum! We also experienced Zam's Swamp Tour that probably has the most unusual shop AlteCocker has ever seen.
Our 9 day stay in New Orleans went quickly. John went on to visit other places in the NE US and AlteCocker visited some high school friends in Florida she had not seen in 40 years. A good time was had by all.