"Sweet/Suite" New Orleans

After we bid Mobile farewell, we drove past the many billboards announcing the diverse musicians heading to Biloxi this summer (Wayne Newton! Peter Frampton! Plain White T's! Motley Crue! Wynonna!), then, just two hours later, arrived at the Marriott on Canal Street. As Dana told the kids about our Priceline misadventure many years ago (where I wanted a quaint boutique French Quarter stay, and Dana managed to deposit us in this towering corporate monstrosity), we also fondly remembered how he was able to come out of the dog house when he sweet talked the front desk clerk into upgrading our room. Long story short - the kids were intrigued! :) So... Dana once again worked his magic, and we are now in a fabulous two bedroom suite. The kids opted for the corner room, complete with a dining table for 8 (!), a small living room, and huge windows overlooking the Mississippi river and parts of the French Quarter (though from the 17th floor, so you can't see much) - the real reason for our excitement, other than the fact that we'll be in this space for a full week, while Dana attends his conference, is that we will have a spectacular view for the fireworks this July 4th.

Once we settled into our new French Quarter studio apartment :), we unpacked and played Angry Birds until it was time to take a short walk to Mr. B's Bistro, one of our family's favorites, and one of the few restaurants Dana will deign to repeat. Daniel and I donned our bibs to take on the barbequed shrimp - to understand why bibs are necessary, check out this link:(http://www.mrbsbistro.com/recipes_shrimp.php), while Maddie and Dana chose to be more civilized with their menu choices.

Our after dinner French Quarter stroll was cut short by a spectacular thunderstorm. We managed to duck into a Walgreens to buy some breakfast items and wait out the rain before rushing back to the hotel, where we settled into our "living room" to watch The Voice (Go Vicci! Go Dia!) I snapped some photos from our various windows, as I found the view quite striking (pun intended ;) even in the rain.

As I write this, Dana is off to his first day of workshops, and the kids and I are about to head to Jackson Square and shopping in the Quarter. So far, the sky looks clear. Fingers crossed...