The Brink Bunch: A Big Win in the Big Easy

Jamie and I spent the weekend with our good friends, Kenny and Shana in New Orleans, Louisiana. We arrived late Saturday afternoon and Jamie and I were THRILLED to vacation in the Big Easy for the first time! Our drive in took a little longer than expected (thanks to stopping no less than 5 times for bathroom breaks, breakfast, lunch, etc and a speeding ticket... BOO!) so as soon we arrived, we had to quickly freshen up and change to make it to our 6:30 dinner reservations at the Omni New Orleans' Rib Room. Kenny's business partner, John, who has been to NOLA many times, was also in town with several friends and had made reservations months in advance for us to dine at some great New Orleans restaurants. He was like our personal tour guide! We stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel on Canal right next to Harrah's so we walked a couple blocks to the restaurant, which allowed us to get our first glimpse at the French Quarter. Dinner was delicious and afterwards we set out to explore the French Quarter, and of course, Bourbon Street. Our first stop was Pat O'Brien's where we tried New Orlean's signature drink, the Hurricane, which was just okay. However I did score a cool Pat O'Brien's glass! We then made our way down Bourbon Street taking in the craziness. We ended up at a place, The Golden something? where we could dance... and that's just what we all did! Kenny's sister, Nicki and her husband joined us and we all had a great time!
The next morning we accidentally overslept so we hurriedly got ready because John had arranged for us all to attend the House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch. We caught the tail end of the show but what we saw was great! The breakfast buffet and mimosas were too shabby either. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon walking around the French Quarter. We visited the Allstate Fan Fest stage where they were having team pep rallys, special events and concerts (Ceelo Green). We wound up in Jackson Square and watched some awesome street performers, The Dragon Master Showcase, who combine old school breakdancing, hip-hop, acrobatics, and improv comedy to provide quite an entertaining show. They were on America's Got Talent but have been performing in New Orleans for years. We took a horse and carriage tour around the streets of the French Quarter and learned a lot of the history behind the old buildings, churches and restaurants in the area. It was so interesting and allowed us to see alot of the area in a short amount of time. Plus, since the weather was so HOT, we were able to cool off! After our tour, the guys stopped in at one of the bars to watch some football, while Shana and I went next door to have massages.

Scattered throughout the French Quarter, there were these pressure point massage storefronts set up. The doors were wide open for anyone to walk right in to one huge room, minimally decorated, lined with reclining chairs. The oriental people that were performing these massages spoke almost no English.  The thought of a massage sounded wonderful, especially after all the walking we had done. I was skeptical... this definitely wasn't anything close to the warm and inviting appearance of the Marriott Spa, or any spa for that matter, but since there were 5 other people already in there getting massages (and they assured us it was worth it), we figured it would be okay. The sign gave the prices, such as Foot Massage (20 min)... $22, Chair Massage (10 min)... $20, etc. We chose 30 minutes for a total of $42.  Shana and I were seperated and each directed to our chosen chair, where they began the massage. The manager (I guess thats what he was) spouts off something to the others and then tries to tell me my total. I had NO CLUE what he was saying other than, "Lady..."  Finally the guy pulls out his calculator and punches in a total of $90!!! HOW in the world?!? My calculations were $42 so I had no idea where this was coming from. I kept shaking my head and he gradually brought the figure down (after I rejected a few other prices)...finally I agreed on $60. I eventually figured out that when it said Foot Massage... $22 it literally meant "FOOT" as in one foot! So for a "FEET" massage it was $44. Crazy. After feeling like I had already been scammed, it was hard to relax and I felt the need to keep one eye open majority of the time! I left that place paying $70 for a 40 minute massage. I think. I was so confused. Shana and I left the guys and headed back to Canal Street for some retail therapy at the Shops of Canal Place. Later on that evening, we met everyone for our 8:30 reservation at Bayona. Bayona is Chef Susan Spicer's restaurant and is known as one of the top 5 restaurants in New Orleans for the past 15 years. Shortly after we arrived, Jamie and Kenny strolled in wearing their fuzzy hats, beads, sunglasses and huge smiles on their faces! Of course, they catch the attention of everyone in the upscale restaurant and all of the other tables found their stunt quite funny! Shana and I were more embarrassed but the rest of our group found their stunt hysterical. We have John to thank for the reservation at Bayona and the food was A-MAZING. Later that evening, we found ourselves back on Bourbon Street. A friend of one of the friends that John brought had a room right on Bourbon, with a balcony overlooking the street. She welcomed us all up to her balcony and we spent the evening people-watching and throwing beads to those below. And no, we didn't request that they raise their shirts in order to score a set of beads! We ended our evening by making a stop at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and Bar. It is said to be the oldest establishment used as a bar and was built somewhere between 1722 and 1732. The entire place is lit up with candlelight since there is no electricity used in the building for lighting. We thoroughly enjoyed the rustic, quaint atmosphere as well as amazing piano player. It was all very cool and made us all feel like we had stepped back in time to the 18th century. Well, except for the cigarette machine plugged up in the corner.

Since we knew Monday, game day, would be a long day, we slept in Monday morning and didn't get going until lunch. We met Kenny's sister and brother-in-law at a restaurant, Drago, which is famous for their chargrilled oysters. I opted for the stuffed lobster (delish) but did give the oysters a try. I must say, they were pretty awesome (and I do not eat oysters.) Following our late lunch, we headed down Canal and noticed the team buses outside of the Marriott, where the team was staying. We decided to stop in and the Marriott lobby/bar was a MAD HOUSE. We quickly found out that the team was expected to be coming down to load up on the buses. We hung around hoping the catch a glimpse and cheer on our boys but after chatting with one team member's family, we found out it was going to be more like another hour or so. We did however, see Javier Arenas come off the elevator, walk very quickly through the lobby and out the door. He was literally a few feet away from us, however, it happened so quickly, no one bothered him for an autograph.  We decided to head on to a private party that John had gotten us into at the Ritz Carlton where we enjoyed unlimited gumbo, shrimp, as well as other typical New Orleans cuisine, desserts and drinks. Finally around 5:30, we began the walk to the Superdome. Everyone was fired up and the excitement was uncontainable!

I think everyone knows how the game went... we DOMINATED the game the entire 4 quarters, winning 21-0, shutting out the LSU Tigers, the only shut-out in BCS National Championship history! It was amazing being there to witness the Tide win their 14th Championship title. Definitely something Jamie and I will never forget. Our seats were in the upper deck, however Kenny and Shana's were in the 200 section so with a couple of minutes left in the game, Jamie and I RAN as quickly as we could to join them at their seats so we could finish the game with them, as well as watch the Coach's Presentation. It was a great moment singing Alabama's "Rammer Jammer" to the Tigers as the clock hit 0:00. Jamie said witnessing the win was right up there, behind our wedding and the boys' births! :) We hung around the Superdome for awhile and then walked back to (you guessed it) Bourbon Street for the largest, craziest post-win celebration I've ever seen. The LSU fans were few and far between but the ones we did see were surprisingly very gracious and congratulatory. We saw several people from home, as well as Eric Curry and John Copeland from the '92 Championship Team. On our walk back to our hotel, we passed Courtney Upshaw, Josh Chapman, Cyrus Kouandjio and a slew of others. It was icing on the cake! Oh and we saw Jay Barker and Sara Evans at the game.. they were sitting just a few seats down from Kenny and Shana. Extra icing! :)

The next morning, we headed home bright and early. We had an amazing time in New Orleans but were all ready to see our babies.  With just 2 1/2 days there, we didn't get to do and see all that we wanted to so, Jamie and I definitely have plans to return soon. It was a beautiful city, rich with history, gorgeous buildings, a plethora of amazing restaurants, great shopping and loads of entertainment. We loved being there and sharing the experience with some of our best friends. And I'm not sure I've laughed that much in a long time. Maybe all the laughing and walking helped burn some of calories from all the delicious Cajun food that was consumed!