Yesterday morning, Jillian and I were doing some pre-Christmas house
chores to get the place ready for the holidays. About the time we were
finishing up, Jillian checked her facebook and saw that my dad had
purchased a swingset/slide combo play area for our neice, Allie. The
picture he posted was basically of 100 pieces of wood laying on the
ground so she asked me if I wanted to go over and help out; which I did.
We both ended up going over to help and after about 4 1/2 hours it was
done. Even for something made in China, it had terrible directions. I'm
just glad it appears to be fairly stable. It was a fun family project
though. Hopefully, Allie loves it and doesn't destroy it. If/when
Jillian and I have kids, it would be great if this set is still in tact.
I would not look forward to constructing another one.
I'm not sure if I had mentioned it before but, for our first anniversary, Jillian bought us tickets to the New Orleans' Saints vs the Carolina Panthers (featuring once-Auburn quarterback Cam Newton). It was a mid-Sunday game so it was perfect for making a weekend trip out of it.
After our Saturday morning drive to N.O., we grabbed lunch at a place west of downtown called Parkway Bakery and Tavern. It had received rave reviews on TripAdvisor and Food Network. We split a roast beef po-boy and chili fries. Despite the irony, I'll say that it was nothing to write about. I will say, however, that there were a lot of people outside eating and drinking so maybe there was something good to eat there that we didn't know about.
We finished lunch around 12:30 and made our way toward our hotel. With the perfect opportunity to earn some more hhonors points, we had booked the Hilton Riverside hotel for the night. A little pricey, but perfectly situated downtown. Unfortunately, the place straddles train tracks and we ended up with a room right next to them. It was a nice room though.
After we unpacked the car we hit the streets. I had been given the reins to make all trip decisions and really wanted to see the National WWII museum located down the road, so that was where we headed. About half way there, however, we got side-tracked when we heard Christmas music in the distance. A few streets over there was a Christmas parade in progress so we ran through a couple parks between business buildings to get in on the action. For any kind of New Orleans parade, it was surprisingly small; a local family event of sorts. Based on the participants, I think it was a collection of local elementary schools that put the parade together with the help of some local businesses.
The parade ended about 20 minutes after we arrived and we promptly made our way to the WWII museum; stopping only for Jillian to take a picture of the street with yellow leaves on the ground.
The WWII museum was enjoyable, but heavily focused on D-Day and the war in the pacific so that was a little disappointing. I think it was very informative for Jillian who doesn't have the same interest in all things WWII. She didn't make it through all of the 'war in the pacific' section of the tour as it got a little graphic.
(above: me inside a German lookout bunker)
Post-museum we started back toward the hotel to clean up for dinner. Halfway back Jillian was drawn into a "hand-made glass" shop/school so we went ornament shopping. As it was a school we took the tour of the kilns while student's worked on various projects. Luckily, there was no tax on the ornament Jillian eventually chose. They were a bit pricey.
Dinner was fantastic. Again, based on TripAdvisor reviews, we went to a place just off of Royal Street called Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar and Bistro. Unlike the previous meal, this one was off the charts good. We sat out on the back patio under umbrellas and strings of Christmas lights. I had rack of lamb and Jillian had a petite angus filet. Once we got back to the hotel, Jillian surprised me with some brownies and ice cream for dessert. A nice way to end the day.
Sunday pretty much revolved around the football game. We got up early to go find some breakfast. As you would expect, nearly every place in town was packed so we ended up eating begniets at a Cafe Du Monde inside the Riverside Mall. We had to check out of the hotel before the game so we parked in a deck near the stadium, which wasn't as much of a nightmare as I had anticipated. Getting inside the stadium was a bit of a headache though as Jillian couldn't bring in a "purse" larger than an index card. After traveling back to the car to change our entrance strategy we walked around the stadium for a while before finding the proper entrance followed by a mile of ramps to our seats. The view was nice after I asked the Saints fans in front of us to sit down. They were the only people in the stadium standing.
The game itself was a blowout. We learned that Saints fans are some of the lousiest fair-weather fans on the planet as half of them were gone by mid-second quarter and nearly all gone by the 4th quarter. There wasn't much excitement during the game other than the rare brawl that took place after a Cam Newton rushing touchdown. It resulted in an ejection... so that was fun.
Getting out of town after the game was painless. Two right turns out of the parking deck and onto the interstate. Overall, a great trip... thanks to my wonderful wife.
Random street performer video from our walk back from dinner Saturday night:
For, essentially, the first time in my career I got to experience a corporate Christmas party. A couple of weeks ago someone in the administration building started passing out a pot-luck list to each department and by the time it made it to the Purchasing department, a ham was pretty much the only thing left as an option; so that's what we selected. About that same time, Marcia (our secretary/purchasing assistant) and a woman down the hall "decorated" the women's bathroom on our floor. Apparently, it's an annual tradition. This was the result:
What didn't seem to be traditional was the amount of attention it drew. Pretty much every high position employee took the tour; including the president of the university. Thankfully, everyone got a kick out of it.
Yesterday (Friday) was the actual party. Well, less like a party and more like a brunch. Close enough. A few people wore tacky sweaters, so that makes it a party, right? The food was delicious and I was able to meet a few people from other departments that I might have otherwise never seen.
I've probably mentioned before that Jillian has a goal of going to an Auburn football game every year. This year we decided to go to the last home game of the year; between Georgia and Alabama. The game was Nov 22nd against a Samford team coached by (once Auburn Heisman Trophy winner) Pat Sullivan.
We got on campus pretty early and were able to park in the parking deck at Toomer's Corner; a feat that is not often possible on a game day. It was an evening game so we spent a few hours shopping for new Auburn gear (attempting to find Philip Lutzenkirchen Jerseys) and then had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. It was a slightly awkward lunch b/c the wait was roughly an hour unless we wanted to sit at the only table outside; so we took that option. It was awkward because that's were everyone waiting on a table was standing and also the only walking path for other fans just walking around. So basically, we just had people watching us eat the entire time.
Not much else to talk about before the game. We wandered around and talked about the buildings we used to have classes in; some of which were no longer there. We took a restroom break inside the old basketball arena and I took a picture because who knows how long it will be before they tear it down for something new. The lights were off in the arena so I just snapped one of the concourse.
Before watching "Tiger Walk", we came across some special alumni association tailgate that had some birds from the raptor center. We couldn't get in because, of course, we don't pay to be in the alumni association, but we had a great view from the barricade so I took a few more pictures and just as we were leaving, Aubie showed up on the back of a utility cart. Unfortunately, I had my phone's camera on some indoor light setting so it turned everything blue.
The game itself started out a little closer that we would have liked. Both teams were scoreless through the first quarter, and when Samford scored first in the second, we thought that we might be in for a long night. Thankfully, Auburn decided to wake up and followed up with 31 unanswered points.
Jillian just reminded me about the rain. The reason the stadium looks so empty in the background is because about midway through the 2nd quarter it started ... misting? Misting is probably the best word. It wasn't normal rain, and if it wasn't for the stadium lighting and wet clothes, you probably wouldn't have known there was precipitation. I think it's important noting the cold air and rain because Jillian and I are both pretty convinced that this played a big part in both of us getting sick the next week and her ensuing bronchitis.
That night we stayed in the Auburn/Opelika Hilton by the interstate to rack up a few Hilton HHonors points. Our dinner had been stadium Chic-Fil-a sandwiches and cookies but needed something warm in our bellies before bed so we grabbed some Wendy's Chili for a pre-sleep snack.
Seeing as most of her kids were going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, my mom wanted to have the McKelroy thanksgiving dinner a weekend early. This meant we had to hit the road early to make it there at noon, so it was an early morning. We did make it there on time, so all is well.
