Monday, January 2, 2017

Honeymoon - Part Two

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
 
Day 10 – August 28th – Back in New Orleans
 
Well, after a week of busy relaxing on the boat, you’d think that we’d take it easy in the Big Easy. Well… you’d be wrong. We got off the boat, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, grabbed some breakfast, and then made our way to the Audubon Aquarium on the Riverfront. In all of my trips to the city, this was my first time inside the Aquarium, and it was pretty sweet… here are some pictures…
 

















 
For lunch, we stopped by World of Beer for some beverages and giant pretzels…
 
Then we made our way down to Mardi Gras World to see the history & construction of Mardi Gras floats and see some pretty amazing feats of artistry… and again, my first time to the area where they’re made… but I’ve been to plenty of parades for the krewes the two times that I’ve come down for the festivities… and God willing, many more to come… here are some pictures…
 






Day 11 – August 29th – New Orleans
 
This day, we mostly wandered around the French Quarter for some great food (including Mother’s) and souvenirs for friends & family back home… and it included a stop by the Beerhaus for a few drinks and one of my new favorite restaurants, Coop’s, where their Chicken Tchoupitoulas is FANTASTIC as well as the rest of their food…
 
We then swung by to see Filly at Jackson Square with her Muleicorn Claudia as she was working hard & giving the best tours of the French Quarter!!!
 
Day 12 – August 30th – New Orleans
 
This last day in New Orleans, we did kind of take it easy… but we started by going to the Pharmacy Museum located in the French Quarter, which was a great collection of memorabilia and devices utilized in the 19th & 20th century to cure ailments… but were often a little out of the ordinary… and by today’s standards are damn petrifying!!! How did we all survive the days when lead, mercury, opium and all sorts of wicked sh*t were commonplace? Oh well… we made it… and here we are to show you pictures…
  






We spent the rest of the day hanging with Filly at her home in Metairie, eating delicious food & watching movies (“The Gate” & “The Color of Magic” miniseries among them) and just having a great time with my great friend!
 
Day 13 – August 31st – Back to San Francisco
 
Then we flew back to real life… nothing really eventful… but it was an amazing trip that I won’t soon forget. Spending some time together with my WIFE Izzy and just being able to relax and not worry about family, friends, work, all that other nonsense was just amazing & we were able to spend time with just each other, which is always a great time! AND we got to see Filly, the Crescent City, the beautiful waters of the Caribbean, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, all of that while doing it! Anyway, lots of catching up to do from the wedding & various events… but I’m sure that you’re not terribly concerned about all that, so I’ll just leave you with the pictures until next time. Have a great day everybody!!!

Honeymoon - Part One

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
 
Sorry it took so long… but I’ve been busy catching up with work & even my social life. Believe it or not!!! I’m wanted and needed!!! Anyway, I know you all want to see some amazing pictures from our Honeymoon in New Orleans and Caribbean… back in August... so here we go…
 
Day 1 – August 19th – New Orleans
 
We started off with a morning beer at Oakland Airport… because we’re classy…
 
Then we met up with my great friend Filly at the New Orleans Airport and she took us to our hotel to change into hot & humid attire since the temperature went up about 40 degrees since the start of the flight. After some sweet talking at the front desk & dropping the “honeymoon” a few times… Donte was about to hook us up with a corner room… on the 40th floor…
 
After changing, we headed over to Frenchmen’s Street to have a wonderful dinner at Adolfo’s& meet some of Filly’s friends.
 




 
Check out this rack… of lamb…
 
That night, we also met up with Lone Cicerone & Big Ben who were in town on the last night of their 15th anniversary, so we had some drinks at the Creole House nearby. They had a pickled vodka which was… interesting. Another great thing about New Orleans now… because Abita is the local brewery, they have Andygator Doppelbock on tap EVERYWHERE!!!
 
Day 2 – August 20th – New Orleans
 
Unrelated to the drinks the day before (that’s my story & I’m sticking to it), I woke up pretty ill. I’ve basically decided that hard alcohol is not for me… and more importantly, my body agrees with me. Oh well, I just have to have beer & mixed drinks in moderation. Regardless, I was not doing well in the morning at all… but Izzy was amazing& got me food and fluids to regain my health by the evening… so we could watch “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” marathon & I think even some “Naked & Afraid XL” that night. What is it about those shows that are so mesmerizing?
 
We were also introduced to Smoothie King, which is amazing. We ate some muffaletta sandwiches, walked around the French Quarter a little bit, all that stuff once I could leave the safety of the bathroom. TMI?
 
Day 3 – August 21st – Cruise Ship Day at Sea
 
Oddly enough, the majority of this day was just getting onto and acquainted with the Carnival Dream cruise ship. It’s pretty impressive… and we got some great pictures of the sunset cruising down the Mississippi River as we left for Caribbean…
 
Day 4 – August 22nd – Day at Sea
 
This day at sea involved… a lot of relaxing. See, this was the first cruise where it was just me & Izzy… basically not a family of 8-25 to coordinate everything with, so that was INSANELY relaxing… so we enjoyed our towel animals, buckets of ice cold beer & made up stories with the pictures that lined the hallways…
 


That evening, another beautiful sunset with my beautiful lady…
 
Day 5 – August 23rd – Day at Sea
 
Another wonderful, relaxing day… accented when Izzy got her 1st Build-A-Bear… which was actually a Shark… and also a fantastic drinking vessel for them both to share…
  



Day 6 – August 24th – Montego Bay, Jamaica
 
This was my first time going back to Jamaica since the weekend before 9/11 (never forget) and that was a wonderful time for somebody who was not quite 21 years old yet. This trip, Izzy & I decided to do a shore excursion through the cruise ship that sounded right up our alley. All you can eat Jamaican barbecue… all you can drink cocktails& craft beer (Red Stripe, but FRESH!!!) and basically a private beach where you and other cruise shippers can enjoy the crystal clear water & beautiful atmosphere… plus a Jamaican DJ pumping the hottest jams??? ABSOLUTELY!!! Did you know that fresh Red Stripe is actually pretty damn delicious? I know! I just found that out too! We actually did really good about not getting too sunburnt as well, thanks to sunblock & wise decision making, even while a little buzzed. Anyway here are some pictures…
 
More sunset back on the boat too…
 
Day 7 – August 25th – Grand Cayman, British West Indies
 
Our next port was the island of Grand Cayman, which was absolutely gorgeous!!! I highly recommend it. We started with a snorkeling trip to the U.S.S. Kittiwake, which is a former Navy vessel that was purposely sunk when decommissioned to create a man-made reef for the local wildlife to take flight… and it sure did. Great numbers of beautiful fish, stingrays, all kinds of stuff to see. Unfortunately we haven’t developed the old-school film underwater cameras yet… but here are some pictures of the top of the water…
 




 

Unfortunately while snorkeling… I’m not sure what happened exactly, but I think I had a bit of a panic attack for some reason and just could not maintain my breathing and floating or whatever… it was really weird, because I’ve snorkeled before no problem and I really enjoy it. However, upon further review, the last time that I had done something like this was when I went scuba diving in Hawaii and nearly drowned towards the end… and I don’t know, maybe something from that came back. It was really weird… and rather than push it, I just decided to hang out on the boat with the guides (twenty-something British ex-Pats who live there now… and have the tribal tattoos that you expect them to have) and shooting the sh*t with them. Anyway, the next stop was Cheeseburger Reef, so named because it’s by the Burger King (no joke) and here are some pictures of Izzy enjoying the snorkeling…
 
We then had an amazing lunch with probably the most incredible Blackened Red Snapper that I’ve ever eaten… and we washed it down with some local Caybrew Lagers… but unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it. Check Izzy’s Facebook though if you want to check it out.
 
Day 8 – August 26th – Cozumel, Mexico
 
At the next port of call, we didn’t have an excursion planned… but Izzy caught the snorkeling bug… and I wasn’t going to deny her… and frankly, I wanted to get back out there & prove that I could snorkel and enjoy it… so we went to Stingray Beach and got to interact with some real life giant stingrays… and snorkel with them… and just have an absolutely amazing time… and it even rained towards the end. It was probably my favorite part of the cruise to be honest!!! Here are some of the pictures…
 




Day 9 – August 27th – Day at Sea
 
We had also ordered a bottle of Appleton Rum to enjoy during our cruise… and this day at sea was really the day that we decided to finish off the bottle… responsibly… and still making fun of all of the pictures on the wall…
 
Day 10 – August 28th – Back to New Orleans
 
The Carnival Dream was amazing… but there’s still plenty of trip left… but that’s for another entry… so until next time, have a great day everybody!!! Check out eilfm.podbean.com and the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast is now on iTunes so it’s even easier!!!

Where Should I Go Next?