11/29/09

NOLA

Hello all. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We sure did. I have been out of pocket due to all the celebrating, traveling, giving of thanks, and now laundry. It is good to be home after such a fun week, back in routine, back to blogging!

Our festivities began last Monday morning when we headed down to good ole New Or-leans with my side of the family. This trip was planned in celebration of my little brother's 21st birthday. He is affectionately known as Tator, a nickname given to him in childhood because all he ate besides candy and pumpkin bread was POTATOES.

For the longest, Tator has been the baby of the family and therefore the last to turn 21. As this exciting birthday approached Tator began to express concern that the elder members of the family might grow weary of alcohol consumption before he reached the legal drinking age. Sounds like he has a deep seeded fear of drinking alone. So to prove to him that we are not sick of booze, we took him down to the Big Easy for a couple of days. We went to fabulous restaurants, sipped on good wine, drank cafe au laits, and ate so many beignets we couldn't see straight. Seriously, I got powdered sugar all over my jeans. All in all, it was a fine time. A large time. Eat, drink, and celebrate Tator...that sums it up.

I won't bore you with a detailed play by play of the trip. Instead I'll just share a few relevant thoughts, a word about Tator, and some pictures (with captions). I like captions.

Besides being with my family, my favorite part of NOLA was drinking cafe au laits at Cafe du Monde. It is the most wonderful cup of coffee I have ever had. I wish I had one right now. Have I ever mentioned how much I love coffee?Anyway, just wanted to say it again...I love coffee and I had some darn good cups of it down in New Orleans.

About Tator. His real name is George Edward Gillespie II, named after our paternal grandfather. Tator is the nicest, sweetest, kindest person in the world!!! Easy to be around.

Tator and I have the same sense of humor. It's weird. We laugh at the same parts in movies. Usually we laugh at the parts no one else laughs at. And then we laugh more because we are both laughing.

More importantly Tator has a kind spirit. He always has words of encouragement to give. Always has. Like when I was 16 and feeling less than satisfied with my "body image." I said something like "uggghhhh, I feel so fat."He responded in the sincerest tone, "Babby, (That's my nickname. We are big on nicknames.) you don't look fat." What 10 year old brother says that to his older sister? Tator.
Tator is one of a kind. We love him. We are going to keep him around for a long time. Happy 21st Birthday!!! You can always count on us to sit down and have a drink with you. Or a drank (as Stephen Grande likes to say).

And now...a few pics...with captions.

Tator himself aka Tator Salad


the veranda at our hotel


a beignet right before I dumped that powdered sugar on my jeans


cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde....mmmm....heaven in a cup


Aunt Lu and Doc...I made them laugh


Lovie (looking like Diane Keaton in her tinted shades) and Stephen Small


a beautiful cathedral


Mississippi River


Stephen Small meeting his great aunt Lynn for the first time. Lynn is my most faithful commenter.


Me and one of my best friends, Win. We grew up together. She lives in N.O. , is a nurse, and the one I made killer cocoa with. She met us for dinner the first night. So fun!!!


Aunt Lu and Doc at the market


Tator legally orders a screwdriver


bows and masks...colorful...photo worthy


Cajun cookin'


scarves (my mom bought the flowery one on the left for me)


local art


textured paintings


Tator admiring local art


Aunt Lu and the rest of the fam trailing behind


Aunt Lu's husband, Nick


clean plates at Felix's, I devoured a fried shrimp and oyster po'boy.


Stephen Small's parents


silly boys


walking down Bourbon Street (oh the debauchery)


Tator ordered a hurricane from Pat O's. I had a taste.....and I don't recommend it.


Lobby of the Roosevelt hotel.


Tator koozie, huggie, whatever you call it


Tator we love ya!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh how i've missed your family over the years!! this post made me so happy. and happy a birthday to george!

whitney said...

SB! If I had known yall were going to Nola for Thanksgiving and a party, I would have invited myself to join! We cajuns tend to do that. Looks like yall had such a great time!

Lynn Beck said...

Love the photos and loved seeing everyone -- especially Stephen Small!!

leslie the young mother said...

so much family fun. also, love all the nick names.

Addie Bradford said...

What fun!!!! love it!!! thank you for letting us in on the fun. miss you all - can't believe George is 21 - now i am really old! miss you and keep blogging - it feels like the mitford books and makes me happy and thankful! love, beth (not addie)

Nell said...

Happy birthday, Tator! What a fun Thanksgiving. My mouth is watering over the beignets and coffee!

Anonymous said...

What a fun trip! Love the Nola, and to top it off you got to see Win! Happy Birthday, George!

A Wrinkled Time said...

Loved seeing the family pics. Everyone looks great...Tator 21! Wow...

Related Posts with Thumbnails