Baylie's choir had a trip planned for a competition in New Orleans. She earned most of the money for both of us to go by selling cookies. Before we left on the trip, I wanted to take Jalen to do something special. He chose Stars & Strikes. We went to their unlimited play day on Tuesday.
I am really enjoying the extra time we get to have together.
Baylie and I shared a suitcase and each had a backpack.
We were ready to head out when I asked her if she had her choir dress. She didn't!! It would have been a disaster!
We met up with the other students and chaperones - including my bestie April - at 4:30 a.m. at the high school. Unfortunately, our bus wasn't there. We had to wait in the freezing cold.
We made a stop somewhere in the middle of Alabama.
We ate at McDonald's - my least favorite place! I had thought that traveling with a bus full of tennagers would be awful, but it wasn't bad at all. The kids were really great.
This is how much it cost to fill our bus with gas!
I talked with Jalen on the Alexa Show when he got home from Co-op with the Baileys. He had a lot of fun with them.
After 11 hours or so, we finally arrived at our hotel. It was the Hilton on the river. Some people had a view of the river. We did not. But the hotel was very nice.
Alexa and Baylie went exploring while April and I rested a bit!
Alexa is an artist and dabbles in photography. She took some great pictures of Baylie.
That night we walked to The Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.
It was great just to be walking the streets of New Orleans with Baylie and April.
The whole group - orchestra and choir students.
Last time we were at a Hard Rock cafe together was the 5th grade choir trip to Washington DC.
Goofy girls
I was grateful to have April with me on the trip. She is such a dear friend.
New Orleans at night!
Baylie loves her hips in this picture!
Back at the hotel.
The girls decided to wear face masks.
Baylie went a bit extreme.
Everytime I leave my phone...
More photos by Alexa.
Friday was a day for touring!
In the meantime, Jalen went to the Catawba reservation with the Baileys. I've always wanted to go there.
And in Vegas, Tiffani ran her first marathon - in the snow! She said it was awful.
But she finished! I was so proud of her!
Baylie and I got to go on a swamp tour. It was such a cool thing to do. I had never done something quite like that before.
It was a beautiful place.
We saw sooooo many alligators! It was incredible.
I loved hanging out with April.
There were also racoons, but the alligators didn't bother them at all!
It was so peaceful. I could have stayed there for hours.
I would not have wanted to go swimming though!
Can you see the snake?
This is a fake cemetery. It's supposed to represent a town that was completely flooded and destroyed. That happened to two different towns and they say it was the result of a curse from a voodoo woman.
So serene.
Deceptively serene.
Swamp birds
We even got to hold an alligator! It was so cool!
It was a lot softer than I expected.
Replica of a hunting shack.
What a beautiful day.
The cemeteries in New Orleans are fascinating.
Once we got back to the city, we walked to the French Quarter. This was a cool little bus buggy.
It had been 15 years since I was in New Orleans. I still loved it, but it had changed so much. For me, it had lost some of it's charm. It was bigger and more crowded. I like Charleston more.
But New Orleans is still a fascinating place.
It was too cold for the flowers, but the French Quarter was still hopping with tourists and artists.
With April at the iconic St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square in the French Quarter.
And with Baylie.
Same place I took a picture with her dad 15 years previously.
How perfect is this purple carriage?
We waited in line forever at the famous Cafe Du Monde for beignets.
It was definitely worth the wait! So delicious!
I'm proud of this shot!
Beignets are messy!
Classic Fench Quarter shot
I should have bought a painting - dang it!
Mississippi River
River Boat
St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, and statue of Andrew Jackson.
After the French Quarter, we went to the Bayou Barn Dinner and DJ Dance. There wasn't a ton of dancing and the dinner was very disappointing, but the kids still had a really good time. The setting was nice.
There was giant Connect 4 and Jenga outside.
It was a very busy and very fun day. I was impressed with the way they built the schedule with interesting things to do, plenty of time between activities, but not too much down time.
Saturday was competition day. First the orchestra performed at a local high school. The competition people seemed very unorganized.
We had time in between the orchestra and choir competitions so we went to a local mall for lunch and Baylie and I were able to do some souvenir shopping. Baylie bought herself a voodoo doll.
We also picked up some pralines.
Then we headed for the choir competition. We were running a little late so Mr. Turner had them warm up on the bus.
The choir was competitng at The University of New Orleans. It seemed a little more organized than the high school - except it wasn't clear where we were supposed to go.
The choir sounded amazing. They sang two numbers and then got feedback from one of the judges. They had to wait until that night to find out how they did. The songs are too long to upload, but here are YouTube links:
The choir kids changed on the bus - first boys, then girls - and then we all headed for Mardi Gras World where they make a lot of the floats for the parades.
Our first activity was to make Mardi Gras masks - so fun!
I tried hard, but wasn't very good at it.
There was A LOT of glitter!
They had costumes on display. So elaborate!
My mask. Ugh.
I hated it so much that I covered it in glue and black glitter. I liked it much better after that!
April's mask was a masterpiece.
Some of the kids were very creative.
The group with their masks.
Next was the tour of the float area. It was fascinating and a little creepy.
That night was the awards banquet and ceremony. April's phone always makes us look a little glamorous.
Irmo High School choir took first place!! They spelled it Imro and called Mr. Turner Frankie, but it was still very exciting.
The next day was the long ride home. We stopped at a Cracker Barrell for lunch. (I think most of us had hoped for Buc-ee's.)
The kids were really good on the way home too.
The trip took forever and the kids were smelling a little funky by the end.
But it was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad we got to go. I loved spending so much time with Baylie (and April).
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