Because we were both on call for our "real" anniversary, Adam and I booked our annual anniversary trip for one week later. On Thursday night, we flew from Nashville to New Orleans. Since we worked all day, we went to the hotel and got in bed fairly early (think midnight). Friday morning, we got up and walked to the mile to Cafe du Monde for a late breakfast of beignets and iced/frozen coffee.
We then walked through several neighborhoods. After resting for a bit at the hotel (and cooling off), we headed to Deanies for a late lunch/early dinner. Adam had their famous heads-on barbecue shrimp and I had crawfish 4 ways (fried tails, au gratin, eatouffet, and dressing balls). We also head coconut bread pudding for dessert. Interestingly enough, they serve red potatoes instead on bread...which was different. Because I LOVE raw oysters, we also had a half dozen for our appetizer. After dinner, we spent a couple of hours in a bar having a few drinks and then went on a New Orleans ghost tour afterwards. We enjoyed the tour and took loads of cool pictures...orbs and even 2 ectoplasms! After that, we were totally exhausted and went back to the hotel for bed.
On Saturday, we went back for more beignets at Cafe du Monde. They were wonderful....again! We then went to the French Market for a bit. After some looking (not buying), we took a private 1.5 hour carriage tour around the French Quarter and out to the cemetery. It was really interesting! We got back and were a tad hungry, so decided to have a "small" lunch of a muffaletta sandwich and crawfish cakes....with a cannoli for dessert at Franks. We finished up at Franks and shopped a bit. We then went to the hotel to rest for about an hour. After resting for a bit, we headed out again to the Royal Oyster House. I ate a dozen raw oysters and crab with corn soup while Adam had an alligator Po-Boy. Both were outstanding! We then went to the Vampire Tour and called it a night!
On Sunday, we had our anniversary brunch at Brennans. It was the best breakfast/brunch I've ever eaten and was a really special dining experience! We dined for about 2 hours and went back to the hotel to change clothes and pack. We then checked out and took the trolley to the Garden District. We walked around there for a bit and then caught our cab to the airport. We had an uneventful trip home and got in bed around 11 Sunday night.
It's been a tough few months for us and this trip was a welcome escape for Adam and I. Adam never ceases to amaze me with his thoughtfulness and demonstrated this on Saturday in the cemetery. During our tour, we were told that people visit the tomb of Mary Leveau in order to make requests or to help "kick" some bad habit. For those who don't know, Mary brought Catholicism to the slaves in New Orleans and is highly respected in the town. For stopping something, people place "Xs" on her tomb. For requests/thank you for prayers answered, they place "Os" or lay a token/gift at the tomb. I listened to the guide who told us this, but didn't really think much of it. When we got there, I noticed that Adam had something in his hands. He bent down and placed 3 quarters at the base of her tomb and turned to smile at me. I teared up a bit and realized EXACTLY what the quarters were for...the 3 embryos that we will be placing during our next round of IVF in late September/early October. And yes....we ARE going to try again. Our chances of IVF success are low, but we really wanted to give ourselves a couple more chances to make a baby (or two). Guess we'll just see how round 2 goes!
