New Orleans, Louisiana

Memphis - New Orleans via Amtrak (City of New Orleans route)
Brad's birthday
April 24-27, 2008

• Nick, Brad, Amanda, and Erica took the train from Memphis to New Orleans. Drove to downtown Memphis to Central Station, where we checked in, got our tickets, and boarded a bus to an area near President's Island, off Riverport Road, due to an 18 foot deep sinkhole that forced Amtrak to detour train service around the city. We arrived at the train around 6:30 AM in what appeared to be a shipping/rail yard and boarded.
• Train departed and for the next 10 hours we were riding. Surprisingly, there was plenty of good food on board. As we rode through the Mississippi Delta and into Louisiana, we kept ourselves entertained by reading, chatting, eating, and watching the woman behind us interact with her child. And the conductors. This lady felt it was her god-given right to disembark and smoke at each stop (whether she was allowed to or not). She was pretty vocal about her rights as a smoker.
• Arriving in New Orleans around 4 pm, we left the train station via taxi and went to the hotel (Doubletree) downtown. We checked into the hotel and started walking, mainly looking to hit up some bars and score a couple drinks - sorely needed after being on the train all day.
• Harrah's casino was located across the street from the hotel - we made our way into the casino at some point and played a few games. Well, Nick and Brad played (Nick's first go at Roulette banked him about $200) while Erica and Amanda got something to eat. They were both wasting away from starvation. We saw Amy Lavere play a set that evening.
• The next day saw more drinking, hanging out in the French Quarter at bars, playing air hockey, darts, pool. One of Erica's happiest moments of the trip came when she realized that her Coor's Light bottle changed colors once the beer was no longer cold. Amanda said that this was when Erica would know when to start chugging her beer. One of Amanda's meals that day consisted of a chili dog from a greasy spoon, topped with slices of cheese FRIED on a FLAT GRILL. A picture of health, this woman.
• Erica, Amanda, and Brad took an afternoon trip to the Garden District. They visited a cemetery and had some phenomenal pizza. Nick met up with them once back downtown and everyone went to the market to look at junk. We also took a walk along the river.
  
• That evening we all went to dinner at a nice restaurant in the French Quarter and while Amanda was dressed to the nines, she was not wearing the most comfortable pair of hooker shoes...so much so that she had to make a trip into the Walgreen's to get a pair of flip flops. We stopped at a few more bars, had a few more drinks then headed back to the hotel.
• The following morning, we all packed up and got a cab to the train station (NOUPT). Checked in, waited, then boarded the train. Once into Mississippi, the conductor asked us (each, sitting alone with no one next to us) to consolidate since we were together and take up 1 full row because there were several more passengers getting on at the next stop. And one of them just happened to be our lovely carmate from the trip down, just a few days before. And she was still concerned about when/where she was going to be able to smoke her cigarettes. Classy.
  

Charleston, South Carolina

late April/early May 2006
Brad's 30th birthday

• Rented a house in Folly Beach, just south of Charleston. The house is really nice - very close to the beach, plenty of room. Stacie (with her camera in a sock) and Kara come from Charlotte, Colleen took the train from DC, and Carrie came in from Jacksonville. Brad and Ellan took a flight from Memphis to Charleston, and Nick drove from Memphis to Charleston. Laura flew in from Lexington.
• Over the 3 days that we were there, we visited the beach a few times, flew kites, went to a great tapas bar (Meritage), did some shopping downtown, and visited a few bars. Bars with shopping carts.

• After rolling around in shopping carts, we went to a couple different bars. One happened to be a honky-tonk, local biker bar. Quite frightening. At one point, there was a person "singing" onstage. Ellan, ever the curious one, inquired to no one in particular "who's the retard onstage?" The man behind her, ever the informative one, responded "it's my son". At that point, it was clear we probably were not all that welcome...not that we were before...
• We left the bar and ended up getting a ride in a truck from a young local couple. They took some of us back to the house...with the exception of Carrie. Who called. And was curious about "where the fuck everyone is" and why she was left there. Oops. When ya got this many kids, it's hard to keep track of everyone, ya know? Carrie ended up back safely at the house, where the couple who gave us a ride were hanging out. It became clear that the female half of the couple looked like Jessica Simpson. She found this flattering (we think), probably until minute number 43 of everyone commenting about how much she looked like Jessica Simpson.
• One afternoon, the girls went to lunch and after a not-so-pleasant dining experience, came back to the house with a great story and an even greater photo of an unfortunate-looking troll they named Scary Mary. Here is Kara, going all Vanna White on Scary Mary's ass:
• And a day or so later we were all preparing to go our separate ways, so we all had lunch on a rooftop patio restaurant downtown. Brad flew back to Memphis, and Nick drove on to North Carolina to see Tony and Jill in Sylva.