New Orleans / Gulf Shores Vacation!

Just got back from a great vacation to New Orleans and Gulf Shores, AL with my friend Nora, who came over from Germany! We were a little anxious as the weather kept looking worse and worse and, indeed, Tropical Storm Lee did put a damper on things. It rained almost constantly in New Orleans while we were there but we braved the precipitation and made the best of it! I was most certainly on the fence about New Orleans before we went. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. And, I will say, it's like no place I have ever seen before.

New Orleans

Shortly after arriving (and before Nora got there), I took a ride on the old St. Charles Streetcar to get my first glimpse of the French Quarter. (It would be my only ride; the rain shut it down for the rest of the trip.) I stood toward the front so I could see how it worked. Very interesting; I imagine it takes some decent training to drive one of those. I found the Quarter is a hodge-podge of everything you can imagine. It's very unique and local; one doesn't see many chains there with the exception of Canal ST. (Just ask Nora if she ever found a Starbucks.) I didn't last long on my solo trip, but we made several other visits during our stay. I would say my favorite spot in the Quarter was Pat O'Brien's Pub. In fact, we went there three times, twice for music and drinks and once to eat lunch. They had a great piano bar, we had fun singing along and even visiting with a few of the locals (one of which took our photo, above). We had to try a Hurricane of course; which I found most delicious. I also had a Rainstorm or two.... it just seemed appropriate to have both. ;-) We had some good food, naturally, including Masperros. And I even tried some Jambalaya. We had beignets at Cafe Du Monde, as everyone told us we MUST do. They were pretty good; reminded me of funnel cake.

We did some things outside of the quarter too. We ventured out and explored the area around our hotel and had some Voodoo BBQ, which I didn't find that much different than regular BBQ, but I'm no expert. We had drinks two nights at a charming old tavern just down from our hotel. We had the friendliest bartender one night; she made the visit even more enjoyable.

Our visit included a trip to the Garden District, which was full of characteristic old homes. I loved the porches (I love a good front porch). Many were double-decker porches. We saw quite a few "famous" homes, owned by actors and sports stars or homes that inspired books and movies. The sidewalks were of note here; the old trees had rooted them up where it was quite an experience in itself to walk on them. You might be walking along and have the sidewalk jump up 2'. We visited an old cemetery in the area. We had heard of NO cemeteries in a tour earlier; they certainty do things differently there. It's something else to walk through one. At the end of our tour we stopped at a book store (which was a favorite of the author Anne Rice) for a rest and snack.

Our last day we rented a car (that we would later drive to Gulf Shores) and visited an old plantation called Oak Alley. The weather was absolutely beautiful; we were soaking up the sunshine. The plantation was beautiful as well; the 300 year old trees were a sight to see, especially from the balcony of the home. It was the perfect end to the first part of our trip, and we had a beach to get to....

Gulf Shores

I had last been to Gulf Shores in 2008 and I was excited to go back. The weather, which at the beginning of our vacation looked to be stormy had cleared up and it looked like it would be quite nice. Then, I get the call.... the building our condo was in had some time of electrical fire or other failure and the Fire Marshall had closed it for two weeks. But, thankfully, with a little help back home, we were successfully moved to another building and it only turned out to be a minor inconvenience. So, off we went!

The weather, it turned out, was marvelous. The sun shined upon us the whole time (in truth, perhaps too much according to my peeling skin). We had a very low-key time. A lot of laying on the beach, playing in the waves and trying out some local places for food and entertainment. Having a room adjacent to the beach is marvelous. We had a balcony facing the beach (where we had breakfast in the mornings) and I left the door to my bedroom open each night and let the sound of the rolling waves put me to sleep. Absolutely amazing. The people in Gulf Shores are the friendliest I have ever encountered. I don't think we passed a single person without one of us saying hello or having someone ask how we were. I guess everyone is in such a good mood because they're in a great place! I finally got a little homesick on our last day there; which was quite good for me considering it was our 10th day of vacation.

So, overall, a great vacation! It's taken me a little bit to transition back to normalcy!

Photos on Facebook

New Orleans: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2146821762522.114157.1605636710&l=618328dffc&type=1

Gulf Shores: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2170986846634.114987.1605636710&l=35369f415c&type=1

Grant's First Birthday Party!

Grant's First Birthday Party! 28 May 2011.
Originally uploaded by brad_holt

Grant's very first birthday party (excluding the birthday dinner on his actual birthday) was Saturday, May 28th at Asher FBC Fellowship Hall! It was a very cute camping theme with a gift boat, log cabin, tent and more! He loved all his new toys but was very fond of his new car! Everyone had a great time and mom and dad took a very sleepy (and happy) boy home for bed.

There are pictures over at Flickr!
Or start a slide-show!

Oklahoma History Museum

Oklahoma History Museum, 14 May 2011.
Originally uploaded by brad_holt

A friend and I went to the new Oklahoma History Museum. I had been there before, but only to the research part (nerd, yes, I know, hehe). The museum was not bad. There was a special exhibit on "Oklahoma Driven" featuring a lot of the first generation cars that was interesting to see. They were all either very small or very large. haha. Afterward was a very good dinner at Belle Isle Brewery and a fun evening out. Yeah, that's right.... I'm getting out every once in a while now and it ain't too bad! ;-)

For more, see Flickr Set

Mother's Day

Mother's Day, 08 May 2011.
Originally uploaded by brad_holt

We had a great Mother's Day! We had a cookout at mom's house with a lot of food including hotdogs, hamburgers and polish sausage with all the fixings. Attending other than us five was grandma and Sally's parents- David and Brenda.

For more, see Flickr Set

Babysitting Grant

Babysitting Grant, 30 Apr 2011.
Originally uploaded by brad_holt

Mom was babysitting Grant. I only caught the tail end but it was still fun. I love the way he lights up when he sees an iPhone. He's going to be an Apple Geek for sure, I already see it. It cracks me up he knows to swipe the screen to change the pictures. We spent a little time on the patio where he tried to figure out Annie (yes, it appears to be a dog, but much bigger, friendlier and quieter than Jersey. hehe. I'd be confused too). We took a walk up the road to visit papa for a bit. I tried to take a nap with him toward the end of the evening but he'd have none of that. He kept attacking me!!

For more, see Flickr Set

Blog "Winter" Catch Up

Have I mentioned lately what a bad blogger I am? Oh yeah, in my last ''catch up" post. Well, my friends, here's another one. It's okay though, because not much has happened anyhow. -)

December

Christmas
This year we had Christmas at mom's house with the Pitts side of the family. We had a great group and a great meal!

January
New Years
Steve and Sally hosted New Years this year. We had some great snacks and fun and I think I crashed about 10:30. haha. But I got up again to watch the ball drop!




Fort Worth
I went with a friend to Fort Worth for a quick little get away. Fort Worth is beautiful and has a lovely downtown. We went to the Fortworth Botanical Gardens. The Japanese Gardens were beautiful!

For more, see Flickr Set

March
Master Bathroom Remodel
I finally finished remodeling my master bathroom and I loooove it!

For more, see Facebook Album

So, that's pretty much it. Oh, it snowed like a crazy lot, but that's just becoming the norm, now isn't it? :P

Remember the Surveys?

Remember the good 'ole surveys we did back when MySpace was all the rage? Those were kind of fun.... and stupid. Even though I realize how big of a dork doing things like this makes me, I have archived my surveys over from MySpace over here to my blog. They can be viewed here if you feel like taking a blast to the past. Or, here are some of my favorite Q&A's:

51. What are your initials?
BAH. You know, like the sheep.

55. I say Shotgun, you say:
You're how old?

2. What color is your shower curtain?
I have a shower door. It's the color of hard water stains.

7.What is your favorite video game?
Duck Hunt. And, BTW, I haven't played video games since like 1987.

8. Had a nap today?
No, but I'm thinking of bringing that topic up with the boss. You know, enhanced productivity and such. I'm almost certain it's going to happen.

10. Is there an animal that creeps you out?
Snakes, followed by anything in large numbers. I don't care if it's cute, fuzzy rabbits, if there's a bunch of them, it makes me want to pull out the shotgun. I don't really have a shotgun.

17. Have you ever caught something on fire?
Oh, yeah... I love fire. I set a little a fire in the garage of my little plastic town when I was a kid... just to watch it burn. I got in so much trouble for that. WHAT? I was outside!

26. Are you wearing nail polish?
Yes, a pretty red, to match my truck

31. Sun or Moon?
I think the delicate balance we got going on right now seems to be working for us.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? We don't have voicemail at work. If I happen not to be there and get a call, someone just takes a message and then doesn't give it to me. Works pretty effeciently

17. What is your favorite christmas song? Man... work on the Christmas slide show every year for hours on end and you will hate them all too.

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? Grape. I didn't know one was allowed to use any other kind.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes, otherwise all the crap on my nightstand would be on the wrong side.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? My hair is crap.

2. How much cash do you have on you? Probably less than $20. I have almost completely stopped using cash. Yes, I am the wave of the future. My new credit card has the PayPass feature where I can just tap it on the little machine and go (don't have to sign the little stupid slip, usually). I am still waiting for the day when I do this without the cashier bothering me about it. Almost everytime, they say "You have to slide it" while doing a sliding visual effect with their hand. And, I'm like, A) no you don't and B) I know how to use a credit card. Either that or they try to take it from me while I go for the tap. A little training is in order here.

4. Favorite planet? I'm going to have to go with Earth on this one. Safe choice, I know.

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? I honestly have no idea.

16. What's a word that you say a lot? "Shocker." We say it at work when things go predictably wrong. We say it a lot.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Wow, not ever, but in the last three days, huh? Sounds like who ever wrote this little survey *may* have a substance abuse problem. I, for the record, have "done" no drugs.

22. Your worst enemy? Crabgrass?

02. Planned baby : I've always assumed so... why-- what have you heard?

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Some claim I can fix computers just by being near them?

1) Who was your Valentine?..:
Oh, shut up.

3) What did you recei..ve for Valentine'..s Day?
Really, shut your mouth.

4) Do you celebrate 4/20?:
Okay, so I had to look this up… National Weed Smoking Day? Is that on the calendar? I must have missed
it. Well, there’s always next year.

Have you ever stripped for money?
Oh my gosh…. I've GOT to tell you guys that story someday.
You're stuck on an elevator with the person you fell the hardest for, what happens?
I think it would go something like this. First, there would be some waiting. Then one of us would press the emergency alarm and try the phone. No one would answer the phone, bc I don't think those things really work anyway. So there would be some more waiting. Then I would stand on their shoulders and open the access panel. I would peer up into the elevator shaft and see a ticking bomb! It would explode and the elevator car would rush us toward certain death! There would be screaming. Then the emergency break would catch. We would break a sigh of relief, but it would be in vain because another bomb would explode the emergency break and we would again be rushed toward sudden death! More screaming. Then the certain death.
Why, what did you think would happen?

If you ever want to live to see another day, you're forced to snort cocaine, do you do it?
Sounds like a pretty good excuse to try cocaine to me.

If you woke up in one of the Saw movies, do you think you could survive?
No way. I could barely survive watching one.

you wave when you see people you know?
No, I flip them the bird.

What's your favorite type of bird?
Oh, you mean those things that crap on my truck? Kill them, kill them all.

Do you ever say "yo, hoe!"?
Well, I think that would be "yo, ho!" unless the reference really is to a gardening tool. But, either way—no.

If you had a pet penguin, what would you name it?
If I had a pet penguin…. ? Really?

*Is tomorrow going to be a good night?
Well, if I could tell you that—I would be in a totally different profession.