Bourbon sign
Here’s an embedded street sign we saw during our recent trip to New Orleans. As I understand it, Bourbon Street is a rather famous place. All I know is that it was a madhouse the day we walked down it. A fun madhouse, but definitely a madhouse. I can only imagine how it must be during Mardi Gras. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken on the afternoon of December 13, 2014 on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, and part of my famous Vacation series.
Well, Christmas is over. The decorations have gone up and come back down. The presents have been bought, wrapped, and unwrapped. Andy came, stayed, and went home. I’m not feeling disappointed by any of that. In fact, I remarked to Joanne today that it feels great to put the Christmas decorations up and then it feels great again to take them down and put them away for another year. So there’s that.
But Christmas was very nice. We went to the Mob Museum as our Christmas Eve activity, preceded by a delicious lunch at the Triple George Grill. The museum was very interesting, if perhaps a bit bloodier than I would have liked. Then again, the mobsters were much bloodier than I would have liked. It was a bit short on artifacts and long on photographs, but I can forgive it for that. There probably aren’t a whole lot of artifacts to be had. And the pictures were fascinating. Those people committed lots of violence, mainly against each other. There were lots of pictures of happy families, followed by pictures of the family patriarch trussed up, shot, burned, and thrown in a lake. That sort of thing. Really got us in the Christmas mood.
Christmas day, the boys and I opened gifts in the morning, followed by a nice breakfast. In the afternoon, I went over to Joanne’s house to meet her ex-husband Hal and his girlfriend Rhiannon. They’re both very nice people, and I admire the good relationship Joanne has with them both. Later, she came over to our house so Hal and Rhiannon could spend the evening with the kids.
The day after Christmas, the boys and I went shooting with Ken. We went to the Clark County shooting facility, which is on the far north end of town and is very nice. Extremely nice, in fact. Sadly, it was kind of cold and windy, so we weren’t quite as comfortable as we might have liked. It was great fun anyway.
And that pretty much brings us to today. We may be getting some snow tonight and tomorrow. It ought to make things in Las Vegas pretty interesting. They have no snow removal equipment. Joanne and I are scheduled to go to a fun New Year’s Eve party at the Westgate hotel with several friends. Let’s hope we can get there!
Probably no post on New Year’s Eve because of the party, so I’ll finish 2014 with this post. It’s been the most horrible, difficult year of my life and it’s also been a year full of exciting discovery and love. I’ve grown, I’ve learned how to take care of myself, I’ve learned how to lose myself in service to a loved one, I’ve learned what it means to love, I’ve learned how to survive. I miss Shannon. I miss my mother. I love my children. I love Joanne. I love Joanne’s children. I love my brothers and sisters. I love my extended family. I love my friends. I love my life.
Happy New Year.
I’ll finish with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: tormenting frog!
See you in January.
December 31st, 2014 at 11:33 am
I was standing a few feet to your left when you took this picture! It certainly was an interesting afternoon stroll down Bourbon Street. I shudder to imagine what it might be like there late at night, or especially during Mardi Gras!
During our visit, I learned about the Creole culture, and I can certainly understand how the French Quarter – Bourbon Street in particular – came to be so popular back in the late 1800s to early 1900s. And it is still a popular place for tourists today! I wonder how many “locals” actually go to Bourbon Street for anything other than their jobs? Just like The Las Vegas Strip, I imagine.
Anyway, it was certainly a fun trip!