Urban Acres by the Sea

Hello dear friends and readers! I am back home in good ol' Tulsa this week after having been gone the last 10 days. Our trip to the beach included a meningitis scare, a trip to the ER, sea turtles, and some sea turds. That sounds a little crazy, but actually we had a great time. Here are some of the highlights from our trip!

Upon arrival to Destin, Andrew was struck with a bad fever and throbbing headache. We hoped a day of rest would help him feel back up to parr, but unfortunately day 2 of vacation included a lot of advil and fever reducers. Day 3 we took a trip to Urgent Care where Andrew was diagnosed with a flu mimicking virus and told to proceed with caution, as this could be the start of spinal meningitis! Yikes! We rebuked that crap, but on day 4 when Andrew felt worse, we decided not to risk it and headed over to the ER -- which was a surprisingly lovely facility. After an hour or so of waiting, the Dr. concluded that it wasn't meningitis (Thank the Lord!) and gave Andrew a super boosted anti-inflammatory shot that took the headache away. Andrew was instantly better and back to his happy self, and the vacation was saved.

It was pretty much smooth sailing from there. We bummed on the beach, ate really awesome seafood, and I got a really nice tan. The best story of our trip comes from the day we went paddle boarding. If you haven't done this before, paddle boarding is basically a giant surfboard you stand on while using a long paddle to steer yourself. It takes a bit of balance and focus, and when large waves come it can be tricky to stand. I love paddle boarding though! We saw stingrays, and fish, and sea turtles.

We also saw sea turds. As I was paddling I came across what seemed to be some floating logs. I thought to myself "Surely, someone didn't poop in the ocean. Surely, they wouldn't do that." Oh but they did my friends. On Facebook someone asked me if I was sure it was human waste. I can assure you that it was -- the creature who released this excrement had recently eaten corn.

As I am passing the floating turds, I am yelling to Andrew who is 20 yards away to notify him of my discovery. I was so excited and horrified by what I had seen that I proceeded to lose balance and fall backwards into the turd infested water. I don't think I made direct contact, but I tell you dear readers no one has ever gotten back onto a paddle board faster than I did. Andrew was laughing so hard, he almost fell over himself. The turds softly floated away, and that really was the highlight of our trip.

Here are some non-turd pictures of other things we saw and a few of our favorite meals. It was overall a really great trip, but I am so glad to be home.

These are pork lollipops from George's at Aly's beach. These were uh-mazing!

Secondly from George's, the Salt & Pepper Shrimp. Equally delicious. 

And 3rd times the charm with George's. This was the Chocolate Goo and I loved it. 

 Also from George's, the only picture of me from the trip. Look at those tan lines!

Grits A Ya Ya from Great Southern at Seaside.

Lola was also really excited to see us. She tried to postpone unpacking by stowing away in our luggage. 

Where did you take your favorite vacation? I would love to hear about it!

xoxo Sallie

Beignets, Bread Pudding, and Weird Al: Our Trip to New Orleans

This past week, Andrew and I traveled through the "Big Easy" and made our way down to New Orleans, or as we like to say now "Naw-lans." It was fun trip, and I have the pictures to prove it.

I have heard a lot about this city from friends and HGTV, but I feel like the pictures you see on TV just don't do it justice. Upon arrival I was not so impressed, but I really changed my tune by the time we left. 

When you drive into New Orleans it feels like your average city, but then you exit the highway and find yourself transported into a thriving 1800's style town. The streets are narrow one-ways that feel like back alleys, and there are people walking around everywhere! Band music and jazz plays on several streets -- it's really something. 

First we walked down famous Bourbon Street. This street is pretty gross.  It smells like vomit, pee, and crap that's been sitting in the hot sun and seeping into the street. It's putrid. When you step in a puddle, just know it's probably not rainwater. Word of advice: don't wear open toed shoes! Needless to say, we didn't stay there long. 

We had heard that Bourbon House on the corner of Bourbon St. was good though, so that's where we ate. I had the chef's special, and Andrew the corn soup. 

We walked around Canal Street a little, and then headed up to bed after a weary day of traveling.

The next morning, we went to the French Quarter. WAY COOLER than Bourbon Street. Way cooler. It is so charming and the architecture is amazing! I wanted to take a picture of every building, they were all so unique.

 We went to the highly recommend Café Du Monde for some beignets. They were quite tasty, but heavy. I could only eat one.

 Here is Andrew enjoying his second beignet in Jackson Square. 

We spent the rest of the day walking around, stumbling into odd shops and cafés.

 We found this old bookstore, and of course Andrew found a cat and made it love him. He has a way of charming the feline species. 

We went into several art galleries, but I couldn't take pictures because you aren't allowed to take any. Andrew found out that out the hard way. We also walked through this outdoor flea market. 

We probably walked around the same streets over and over, but I saw something new each time we walked down. There are so many neat shops and cafés tucked into odd alleyways. 

We stopped in for lunch at Pierre Maspero's. This café was est. in 1788 and Andrew Jackson himself met there to discuss battle plans! Although, don't quote me on that as I skimmed over the history on the back of the menu. 

We had salads so that we could make room for this bread pudding, and it was amazing. 

We came across a loom shop, Louisiana Loom Works, where I talked to the owner. She and her husband have been in the city for 26 years and owned this shop for 18! He learned to make rag rugs as a child, and now they do it as a business. 

They hand loom giant rugs which take about 18 days to make. The rugs are made from cotton threads grouped together.  

She did really amazing work, and of course Andrew charmed her cat.

And right before we left, we saw Weird Al! I could tell that he just wanted to keep walking, but I wanted him to know that my nephew loved him so I quickly spit out "My nephew loves you! We took him to your concert!" But I could tell that he didn't really know what I said. So there I was, making weird eye contact with Weird Al, feeling stupid because he had no idea what I was talking about. Oh well. 

I pulled myself together after the "weird" encounter, and before we left I snapped one final picture of Jackson Square. It was a lovely visit. 

Ever been to New Orleans? Ever had a weird celebrity encounter? I would love to hear about both! 

xoxo Sallie