Whirlwind July

Began with a trip to New Orleans. Hot, humid, haunted! I believe we set out eating first: trekking under the hot sun to Hansen's Sno-Bliz and then to the Palace Cafe, which I'm convinced must be the inspiration for Disney Princess Tiana's dream restaurant. A guided walking tour the next day helped me understand the city and its haunted reputation. Took pictures with the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau's tomb, peeked at Bourbon St but the scene was not for us, rode down the Mississippi to the Chalmette Battlefields--the last battle against the British, sat out a rolling Southern thunderstorm at the Creole Creamery




And what else? Independence Day fireworks, mango daiquiries, bread pudding, bananas foster, melt-in-your-mouth-pralines, Nicholas Cage's tomb (??), baked oysters, raw oysters, fried oysters, double-balconied mansions, olive-stuffed muffeletta, live jazz, mint juleps, catfish, alligator sausage po-boy, Crepe Myrtles covered in Mardi Gras beads,






banana foster bread pudding (best dessert ever at Irene's)...and BEIGNETS w/ cafe au lait every morning at Cafe du Monde.
Then we were on the road, with HP7 for casual listening, to Knoxville, TN in order to pay homage to women's bball legends--or at least, that is what I understood. The drive was so green, verdant, though the Kudzu was quite impressive, too. After that, we were stopped by Asheville and Brevard in NC







where these remarkable white squirrels run around, completely oblivious to their poor summer camoflauge. Extremely cute. We also went down a natural sliding rock at Pisgah Falls which I was nervous about because it felt freezing cold and I felt old and stiff, but when you see little kids having a blast, you know it will be good.

We were in Davidson for a couple of days and what happened there? Picking real fruit and veg from gardens, my second trip to Lazy Ranch 5 (I was much braver!), legit bbq (North Carolina's is better) pulled pork sandwiches (Please, Cook-Out, come to the West Coast!! You too, Cheer Wine), my first time on a sailboat (kind of random but I would definitely like to try that again someday), kudzu-conquering goats, and more Harry Potter 7... you know, gotta catch up for the final movie.



!Poof! And then I was in Boston, in lobster territory. Seriously, my family loves seafood and we used to go to Boston and Maine for lobster at least once a year in addition to trips to Cape May, NJ which was a little bit closer to home..





And while I'd love to type out all the things I did there, right now I'm getting sleepy. But I think you know exactly what I did...




and then some more... Okay fine, in addition to having copious amts of good food and being spoiled by friends, I watched the final HP7 part ii movie in IMAX 3D which was worth it because I got 2 tix for $3 on oo.com
, went on a duck tour (instead of on one of those cute sailboats on the Charles River) for kicks even though we'd already walked the Freedom Trail, and just hopped around the neighborhoods frequented by Jae over the last 5 years.

At the end of the week, I continued on to NY, NY, a little nervous to see how much things had changed and if I had missed it? But surprisingly little! The only improvement on the subway I could catch was the new digital changing display on some of the cars. As much as I don't miss the rude people (oh the horror stories I have), the humid human mess in the subways (oh the horror stories I have!), the impossible-to-find-public-bathrooms (oh the horror...), the living in the awkwardly large income disparity...there was much shopping to be done. I went wild in Uniqlo's sales and hunted down Inglot at Times Sq. For all their huge Broadway style signs... I still circled the block 2-3 times to find this place. In addition, I finally tried some touristy things I'd put off like frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's, a walk through FAO Schwartz, and a visit to MoMA. In all, I was not impressed. Real chocolate is better, Times Square's Toys R Us is bigger, and I don't feel like I missed out before. However, Strand Bookstore? How did I never round the corner into your doors before? I used to pour through cookbooks and people watch at B&N overlooking the square. Oh well, at least now I know. My last evening in NY was very romantical! Picnic and the Met Opera in the park. It was only missing one thing--champagne!



Lastly, I was in NorCal. Berkeley, SF, Oakland. More art, more friends, more food. And then seriously, to NorCal: Humboldt County, a 6-7 h drive up. It was indeed beautiful California landscape, blue skies and windy roads. In Arcata, it was so charming. Happy flowers everywhere. We helped see our good friends Tom & Shilo married and everyone was lovely. And so was the wildlife--harbor seals, elk, the trapped whale at Klamath Bridge, the banana slugs...




We marveled at the Redwoods while driving down the Ave of Giants on the way down. Incredibly old, very humbling.

I flew back to SD and have been relaxing since. But already it'll be time to move in at UCLA in a few weeks.

I've got many pictures on FB and missed getting ones with other people too. But quality time was had and cherished with many special persons. Thank you all for being in my life.