“Here I go again on my own, goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known, like a hobo I was born to walk alone” – Whitesnake

Miles traveled: 89.5

My map with a little help from some jazzy friends

Still hot. Still humid. It’s a heat/humidity combination that cannot really be described! But the city of New Orleans awaits us this morning for Sunday brunch on our last day here – so out and about we go. Once we got all packed up, checked out of the French Market Inn, and bags stored at the hotel for our late afternoon departure, Alice and I walked a few blocks over to Canal Street to meet up with some of my work colleagues at the Palace Café for a classic NOLA brunch.

Sunday brunch in the South is possibly one of my favorite things. It always includes good people, good food, good atmosphere, good conversation, and just a real good time. Add a little live jazz music to the mix and it is nearly perfect. Sunday morning is a must do – and we had a great time today with old and new friends. Reminds me of Sunday brunch back in Charleston – looking forward to continuing that tradition when I return to the hometown!

palace cafe

the Marine & Land Systems HR crew

After brunch (and a few pictures with our favorite Jazz musicians….who were super kind to take a break from their break to be part of my daily map project), we drooped off the map board at the Jeep and took another, final stroll around the quarter. Alice and I simply could not get enough of the suffocating heat and the sweat dripping down our legs, so we had to go out in the streets of New Orleans to people watch and check out some more galleries and antique shops. And to find the coldest air conditioning in the city. The quantity of stores and galleries we passed through was a direct correlation to how stinkin’ hot it was. No AC? No visit from the Lowndes sisters!

The heat eventually took its toll and we waived our little white, sweat-soaked flag and headed back to the hotel to get our bags and the Jeep. Made a quick stop for some frozen heaven at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz for a cool treat before wrapping up our stay in New Orleans and heading to the airport. Delicious. Cold. Perfection.

After Hansen’s, we drove the long way through the city, and headed to the airport to drop Alice off for her flight home. Insert sad face here. Like seriously, insert the dern sad face.

Dropping Alice at the airport for her trip home – Missing her already!

Having a sister who is also your best friend makes life worth living. Traveling the open road with your sister who is also your best friend is just golden. There’s laughter and adventure around every corner! I cannot think of a better person and way to kick off my road trip than with Alice as my co-pilot, and I’m so happy she was able to take off work and join me for 7 full days of fun and sun! It was a major bummer to drop her at the airport, but I know she needs to get back home to the boys and Waker and to help with the Rescue which took in 7+ Danes from the huge Florida breeding operation this past week. We had a blast and I will miss her as my trip buddy!

Sisters – Best Friends – Travel Buddies

I drove west on i-10 to get to my next stop through point just past Baton Rouge. While I typically find major interstates to be super dull and boring, this little segment of I-10 was beautiful – I felt like I was driving through the bayou…really cool scenery…or as my dad would say, it was “absolutely fascinating”. No gator sightings as I was keeping my eyes on the road. Safety first. I made a slight detour to go check out the LSU campus as I was driving through Baton Rouge. Pretty campus – it’s no College of Charleston, but it’s no dump either (as I type this I am thankful my blog hasn’t hit the ‘big time’ so LSU fans wont take some offense to that! If they do, at least the impact will be small).

down on the bayou

LSU

Finally arrived at my hotel, another Best Western (Alice would be so proud – and slightly jealous, I would imagine, when she reads that it has doors on the inside). They must have had a major deal going on when I booked hotels – ha. No more meals for this gal today – I’m still full from Saturday! Between dinner on Saturday and brunch today, I probably wont need a meal for at least a week! I settled into the hotel, hooked up to the free wifi (woohoo) to catch up on emails and the blog, did a quick re-arranging and organizing of the Jeep (yes, even when on vacation and funemployment my OCD tendencies still get the best of me – I literally cannot help myself), and planned my route for tomorrow.

I am officially saying good-bye to the Gulf Coast and will be changing direction tomorrow and switching from jazz to the blues, heading North along the Mississippi River with a destination of Clarksdale, MS as I make my way up to Memphis.

Until next time…

– traveljunkE

today’s route – day 7

trip totals