Seriously, it’s tough to get anything done with a one year old running around. Getting cleaning done: forget about it. Getting writing done: think again. I did manage to lose 70 pounds, which is pretty darn exciting. So, take that, previous uncertainty on dieting. I’ll show you!
Writing continues. It seems more like a little here and a little there, rather than the marathon writing I used to do before my child stopped being polite and started getting real. And started walking. Today he tried to take a nose dive into a quarter sheet cake. A little of that goes a long way.
New Orleans!
And in the midst of all the chaos around here, the baby stuff and the work stuff and nine inches of snow that got dumped on our town in one night–screw you winter, screw you–we managed to go on vacation. Back to Mississippi! Back to bumming around on the beach and the toughest decision being if we should have mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes, or hey, maybe even sweet potatoes with dinner. And then someone said, “Hey, lets drive down to New Orleans again, just for a little bit. We can grab some lunch and go to a museum.”
And the mother bear in me looked at my child and said, “DURING MARDI GRAS???? MY CHILD????!?!”
And the hubs rolled his eyes at me, put the baby in his carseat, and off we went.
I ate a sloppy joe sandwich that was, literally, the size of my face. We ended up just spending the afternoon touring the National WWII Museum, which was very nice but required an unexpected, large, amound of reading. Then the baby had a tantrum and I had a brief nervous breakdown. All in all not a bad day. I saw an Elvis float go down the highway, which was about all I actually saw of Mardi Gras. Maybe next year.
And I’d just like to say, for the record, Popeyes Po’Boy Sandwich?? Fantastic. We in the North don’t have such fabulized, deep fried, catfish sandwiches. Some things are just done better in the South. The Popeyes Bo’Boy is one of them. Another fine example is the KFC Buffet, which is all but extinct up here. I saw one that ran from 11am to 8pm! Out of control.
**drum roll please** The debut of a new segment that really has no name, other than Travel Review. History Travel Brief? Eh, whatever. Anyway, the hubs and I like (read: love) history and have been to A LOT of historic places. Some good. Some not so good. And I’m a tired first time mom. Going somewhere is a heck of a lot easier if I at least have a brief idea what I’m getting myself into.
So, here’s the low down on The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana: they have a restaurant there called, “The American Sector.” It’s pretty good food. It’s VERY expensive food. Your kid probably isn’t going to like it. If your husband is like mine, he’s probably not going to like it either. The kid’s meal comes in a metal lunch box, with entree (i.e. mac and cheese), french fries, cookie, and plastic army guy. Apparently for a few dollars more, you can keep the lunch box. We’re cheap. We didn’t. As for the adult entrees, you really do get a lot of food that’s quite good, but again, I’m cheap and do not relish paying $10.00 for a sloppy joe sandwich that came with NO sides. That cost extra.
The museum has two parts: the museum and the battle theater. The battle theater is a “4D” experience narrated by Tom Hanks. We didn’t go in because it would have freaked out the baby. So I have no comment, other than hey, if it’s Tom Hanks, it must be awesome. Note: there is an additional cost for the theater, aside from the museum entrance fee.
The museum: expensive. VERY expensive. As in, I think it was $18 per adult. There are not a lot of artifacts. There is a great display–the entire 3rd floor in fact–on D-Day and I really feel like I learned a lot, but I also had to read a lot. And note to concerned parents: there is a large display on the horrors of war that is made up of graphic photographs of dead soliders, both US soldiers and Japanese soldiers. It’s definitely pretty heavy stuff, even for older kids. In my opinion anyway.
Rating: B-
Bathrooms: Clean. Seemed to be only on the first floor of the main museum.
Food: Expensive and not a big selection.
Parking: We parked in the museum lot, which was really, really small. It was about $6 for 6 hours and is right across from the museum/gift shop.
In the end: skip it if you’ve got kids younger than 10. They’ll be bored. And no one enjoys having a kid induced breakdown.
Still two more reviews from the trip, but I’m old and it’s past my bedtime, lol. To be continued!
