Virginia Family to New Orleans Crazy

We were sad to leave our little apartment in DC, it felt spacious and homey, which isn't something we have had much of. We got out later than wanted or needed this morning, oh boo. We had a big drive ahead and a very important visit with my Uncle Marshall and Aunt Rosemary. We packed up and drove over to pick up pops and say our final goodbyes. My dad was able to get a hold of Sylvia Hill late the night before, so he and Steve were up late with her. I am so glad my dad got to see his friends. He was so happy when we left DC, it was  a great time for him. We hit the road and headed towards Amherst, Virginia. My uncle has had quite a bit of trouble with his legs and had a hard time walking and my aunt just had a second stroke a few months ago. We didn't want to add any stress to them, but really wanted to see them. It was only about 3 hours to Amherst. All along the drive seeing civil war sites. Jeremy is really loving all the history. There are many things that he would want to stop and see along the way, but my dad is more interested in seeing people and eating food...so we all have to find our way in this trip without stepping on each others toes. That is something we have had to finesse. It has gone pretty well overall with everyone getting a bit of what they want. There were a few sites we wanted to stop and see, but it all just felt like too much with the distance we had to drive to reach Chattanooga that night. So we settled for driving by a few battle sites and passing up Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house). We really wanted to go there, but it would have taken too much time to do it justice. I had been there once before with my Uncle Marshall and it was a fascinating place. We made it to Marshall and Rosemary's and it was so great to sit and chat with them for about an hour or so. I worry about them being all alone and I know that Marshall's kids are working hard to get them closer. Having great kids is a good thing! I hope they are able to get them moved soon. My dad is in a similar boat of being all on his own. It is a lot to manage when you are over 80. That is the time when all your hard work should pay off and others care for you, so you can do the things you want to do, not the things you have to. I hope to convince my dad of this when the time is right. I would have loved to see more of my mom's big brother, but I could tell they were tired and the girls were a little restless so it was back on the road. We drove through all of Virginia a corner of North Carolina and all the way through Tennessee to Chatanooga. It was late and we were tired and just crashed out. The hotel was good, a suite with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We are all getting a little cabin fever when we have to share a smaller room and share a bathroom, so the chances we get to have more space are welcomed! We had another long day of driving tomorrow, but they happy part is we are moving into Central time and this time we get an hour back, which totally rocks for us.

We woke up early and fought our way through breakfast, it was a rough one with lots of people and a line for the waffles for my dad, AGAIN! I had to stand my ground (not a great term to use right now) and make my way to the front. They were out of coffee continually and unfortunately this road trip has rekindled my relationship with coffee...grr. We made it out and onto the road. Chatanooga is a cute little town, but we didn't do it justice and didn't have time to. We drove through Georgia, and into Alabama. We went through Birmingham, but didn't see much. We decided to have lunch in Tuscaloosa, since my dad loves that town and spent some time at the University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa is super cute. We had lunch at Witzell's oyster bar, which is a cute little Southern chain. We had fried green beans and pickles, which was a fun experience. Everyone had a great lunch and a good leg stretch. Jeremy and I found a cute little coffee shop after lunch to feed my addiction :( but the kid working there was super nice and wanted to talk to us about Oregon and how he thought he should move there. We drove through the University, which was lovely and allowed my pop to tell some stories about his experience there. Such a great campus with massive brick buildings. I wish all campuses had that classy vibe. Back on the road. We were New Orleans bound and super excited. We didn't want to get in too late, so we wanted to keep pushing through. We still had to get through Mississippi. Ahh!!! It was so exciting to finally be in Louisiana. The girls great-grandma is from Louisiana and they have cousins that live in New Orleans, we were hoping to see them while there. We also had a lot of plans for food, alligators and fun! We drove into Swamp lands. I think Jeremy was hoping an alligator would just pop out and say hello, but I don't think that is how it works. Once in the New Orleans area it was crazy to see the remaining evidence of Hurricane Katrina. There are so many people still trying to rebuild their homes after that tragic storm. Life is so hard for so many and much of it is not their fault, contrary to what many believe. I hope if anything improves in our country soon it is having compassion for others. That would be wonderful. New Orleans is another exciting place to be with a lot of energy. By the time we got into town, Bourbon street was already closed to cars, which made it a tad tricky to get to our hotel, which was the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon street. My dad really wanted to stay at this hotel and we were able to get him a room with a balcony. We had two rooms here, because no room was big enough for all of us. It was good to have the space. The Royal Sonesta is very fancy with New Orleans charm, fancy chandeliers and wrought iron accessories, It is a magical place. The girls wanted to get in the pool immediately, so we did. They felt it was the worst pool yet, with too much chlorine and too many grown ups, so they didn't last long and didn't ask to go in again (whoa!) We got dressed and headed out on the town in hopes of getting to the Preservation Hall to see some jazz. My dad wanted to see jazz! We all were hungry and wanted to find a quick bite, but not a lot is quick in New Orleans. The street was busy and difficult for my dad to navigate with his walker. WE ducked off to the two sisters court for some appetizers. The courtyard instantly reminded my dad that he had been to this restaurant with my mom. Another indication for me that she is traveling with us in so many ways. I love these random mom reminders on the road, so nice to have the time to think of her and savor those moments. I feel like the hecticness of life allows for too much time to pass that I don't think of her, then when I do I feel upset that it has been too long. Sometimes the farther she gets away the harder it is. I don't know if that makes sense, but I want to remember what her voice sounds like and what she smelled like and those things become harder to reach and that hurts. Well she visited with us in New Orleans in her classy way and that was lovely. We had a good snack, but it took too long and we weren't sure we could make it to Preservation Hall. The second my dad got back out on Bourbon street he decided he didn't want to be out there. There were many more people and they were all much more drunk than before we went to eat. It was too much for everyone, the girls were somewhat horrified at the "innappropriateness" as Kaiya called it. So we headed back to the room to watch from our balcony. We had a free bottle of champagne with our room so we ordered that and we sat on the balcony and the three adults had champage and we watched on. There was an awesome impromtu wedding march down our street with a jazz band and the entire wedding party. The girls loved that. Such fun energy in this city. It has always had the seedy stuff, but it used to be classy seedy, unfortunately, like everywhere our more recent generations like trashy seedy and that stuff is just gross. I would like New Orleans a lot more without all of that. It is very Vegas-sy in some ways now. All things change and not always for the better, I suppose. The big girl decided to sleep in papa's room and the little one came with Jeremy and I. It was late past midnight) and we were all so beat. Goodnight!