travel
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New Orleans: A Peek into the Garden District
We stayed in an Airbnb in the garden district on Tchoupitoulas about 4 blocks from Magazine Street. We were directly across the Mississipi harbor and train tracks but quite frankly I only heard the train once during our week there. We were walking distance from a Rouses Market grocery store and there were 2 restaurants (which we did not try but looked very popular) on our street a block away. The location felt safe and we had a parking spot in front of our shotgun house. No, this was not our Airbnb but a pretty one nearby. We walked a couple of times to Magazine Street, once for dinner and…
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Swamp Tour: Cajun Encounters
One of the things we wanted to do on our trip to New Orleans was to go on a swamp tour. We drove about 45 min to Slidell to take a tour with Cajun Encounters. We chose this one because it was recommend to us and was well priced for our family of 6: it is about $32 for adults 13 and older and $22 for children. The boat held 20 people and took you on a 2 hour tour through Honey Island Swamp and the river. The tour first starts on the river and the boat takes up speed to get to an area where the alligators are known…
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New Orleans: Botanical Gardens
The botanical gardens might have been one of my favorite places to visit in New Orleans apart from walking around the French quarter and admiring all of the different buildings. The admission is pretty inexpensive even for a family of 6 with $10 for adults 13 and older and $5 for children. It is located in the city park area of town which also boasts the Museum of Art, the sculpture garden, some playgrounds and also a Cafe du Monde. The botanical gardens were very pretty with many plants in bloom and different sections. I loved the long expanses of graces with hedges or fountains. I like the architectural elements…
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New Orleans: Audubon Zoo
Happy Wednesday! I am starting my recap of our vacation in New Orleans, LA with our trip to the zoo. This was our first outing, the day after our 8 hour or so drive from Atlanta. We did stop for lunch and gas at Buccees on the way down and of course we had to have a couple extra bathroom breaks. We had visited the Audubon zoo once before on our last trip 4 to 5 years ago. I wasn’t in the greatest of mood this particular morning so I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first time. I love this fountain area at the entrance of the zoo.…
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Hilton Conference Center in Marietta, GA
We spent a night in Marietta for Pascha weekend since we knew liturgy would last well into the morning and there was a meal after. We took advantage of our hotel points (my husband still travels for work and stays at Hilton hotels) to book a couple rooms at the Hilton Conference Center which is just 2 minutes from church, the square in Marietta and my favorite French bakery, Douceur de France. We don’t typically stay at the really nice hotels choosing budget friendly ones typically (but we did stay at the Waldorf Astoria in New Orleans once and the hotel in Spain was comparable to this one) so we…
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Atlanta Botanical Gardens: Flora
This post concludes my short series focusing on the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We really enjoyed our visit and this beautiful space reminded me how much I like flowers and plants even if I do not have a green thumb. Not too much was in full bloom when we visited (the orchids area was closed, the tulips were gone and the roses were not there yet) but it was still beautiful. This beautiful plant is a flame azalea: I would have guessed it was a type of honeysuckle. Gorgeous! I used to have a camelia bush… it died! I am not one to water plants so when I try to grow…
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Atlanta Botanical Gardens: Favorite Spots
When I uploaded the pictures for my Atlanta Botanical Gardens posts, I realized that I wanted to separate them in a couple more posts as I wanted you to soak the beauty in and not be overwhelmed my too many pictures. This post is focusing on different areas of the gardens that inspired me with their beauty or that the boys and I particularly enjoyed. This might be one of the most known features of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was part of a large exhibition some years ago and the “Earth Goddess” is usually covered by many annuals. It is in located in the Cascade Gardens which you reach…
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Atlanta Botanical Gardens: Origami Exhibit
A few weeks ago, a friend and I planned a playdate at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with our youngests and after some deliberation, I decided to also take his two brothers as I was already planning to take them out of school early as it was Holy Friday. They really enjoyed our outing and are voting that we get our own family membership to the gardens. We were very thankful to be able to go free with our friend but would love the opportunity to go at any time. It was also Earth day so there were a few activities for the children and the weather was a nice spring…
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Tips for Hiking With Kids: Spruce Flat Falls
You would think that with all of the hiking we do on vacations and on the weekends that we would be experts about hiking with our kids. We have hiked with them since they were babies, first in carriers and then a combination of carrier and walking until around age 4 when they walk all of the way. On this hike at Spruce Flat Falls, we encountered some difficulties with extreme crankiness that could have been easily solved with my number one tip! Tip #1 Bring snacks and water! This is the only hike where we left both in the car and it was not a happy mistake: the complaining…
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Recap: Hiking Outfits for the Great Smoky Mountains
I packed a variety of comfortable clothes for our spring break and put together my outfits by rolling them in my packing cubes. It took less space and made getting dressed easier. I did purchase a few things on this trip and I will share those items soon. Here is a recap of what I wore and which activities we did on those days. This is what I wore when we hiked Laurel Falls Branch except that this sweatshirt is a souvenir sweatshirt I picked up in Townsend on the way back. We spent the evening by the river and made a fire. I did not attempt to fish as…