Have You Heard? // Marc Cohn - "Walking in Memphis" // Throwback

Hello from the road! We are heading to Memphis for a long weekend today. :) I won't give any details about our plans until we're back, but we're excited for a little bit of a getaway!

Couldn't think of a better song to share, though I suppose Elvis would have worked. Maybe next week! (act surprised)

I think that everyone knows this song, and it is definitely reminiscent of spending time in the South!



What are you guys up to this weekend?! 

We are EXPLORING. Squee!

Other Posts This Week: Snapshots from NYC // Day 3 // The Brooklyn Bridge & Anastasia on Broadway and Keep It Together // April 2019.

Have a great weekend!!

XO,

Alexandra

Snapshots of New Orleans & The Road // Days 5 & 6 // March 2014

Day 5

Since it was our last day in New Orleans we woke up pretty early and packed up our stuff so we could check out of our hotel as soon as we got back from walking around. 

We passed this mural with whales on it (right next to our hotel) and I had to get a picture before we left. So neat! For those who don't know, I have a major thing for whales. :) 

We decided to eat breakfast at a place called the Ruby Slipper (you know, because we were clicking our heels back to Kansas after lunch..).

I ordered banana pecan pancakes with sausage and OJ and KC got an omelette with potatoes and an iced coffee.

The food was just ok, I was really hoping that it would be amazing... but mine was kind of bland, and Kyle's was nothing to write home about. The pancakes were probably pretty decent, but I just enjoyed that banana nut muffin so much on Day 2 (link below)!

After that we walked back around near the market, picked up lots of souvenirs for family and friends and took in our last moments in the city.

We walked back through Latrobe Park and admired the gorgeous fountain and statue!

Lastly, we stopped at Faulkner House Books, the house where Faulkner lived in New Orleans, now turned into a book store. 

It is a literary landmark, and a fun little place to visit! We looked around and I bought a little poetry book about food, of course. I felt like I should have bought a Faulkner... but I wasn't sure what I wanted. Also, it's so hard for me to buy full price books. I usually get them used, at Goodwill or library booksales. So paying $15 for a small book feels so excessive! All the same I am glad that we went.  

By this point my feet (that had been killing me daily) were dead as can be. So so unhappy. We made it to the hotel where I parked it in the Starbucks (with the postcards) while KC (so, so sweetly) packed the car, checked out and picked up a muffuletta to go at The Central Grocery for the ride back to Memphis. 

A muffuletta is a sandwich named after the Italian bread of the same name. This bread is sort of flat, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside covered in sesame seeds. The bread is then filled with olive salad (olives, carrots, celery, seasonings and olive oil), mortadella, salami, ham and provolone. 

It is huge and all kinds of delicious! Not only is it as big as KC's head, we really could have just eaten a half of a sandwich! But boy, was it yummy! :) 

Then he picked me up and we hit the road! 

The drive was fine, Mississippi has some really fancy rest stops!

We made it to Memphis and checked into our hotel. I was getting kind of tired and worn down, but we decided to go to dinner and get ribs (Memphis is famous for them!) at Central BBQ. 

We always think that ribs sound good, but they never are. Anybody else have this problem? Anyhow, we ordered ribs to share, and Full House was on... so that cheered me right up. :) The ribs were actually very good! The baked beans were really great too, they had a jalapeno sort of flavor! :) 

Day 6

We woke up and finished the ride home! Nothing eventful to report. But our kitten sure missed us. :) 

Well there you have it! See Days 1& 2 here, and Day 3 here and Day 4 here. See other travel posts here. :) And as always, stay tuned for more!

Where have you guys been recently?!

Give me suggestions in the comments! I love a good recommendation! :) 

Thanks For Reading! 

XO,

Alexandra

Snapshots From The Road, Memphis to New Orleans // Days 1 & 2 // March 2014

KC and I are making our way across the country trip by trip. We have each essentially made a diagonal stripe from Kansas up to the New York state and down into Arizona. He has also been to the South and partway up the East coast... but we have a lot of overlapping states. This year we decided we wanted to take another road trip and New Orleans seemed like the perfect place to go. Such a lively and cultural city and only 14 hours away. 

We packed our bags and headed south!

Day 1:

We drove from KC down to Memphis (because we were, 'stoppin' in Memphis... ;) ). About 9 hours and got some rest. Tennessee was my first new state of the trip! :) 

Not much going on here... but we did get to see the gorgeous Memphis Skyline at night!& A little light graffiti for you... 

Day 2: 

We woke up, checked out and drove downtown to the Trolley Stop Market for a little breakfast! The place had a decidedly funky yet homey vibe, lots of shelves with treats and crafts to buy, and cute little tables with oilcloth covering them. 

The place was pretty dead when we got there, but other people joined later. The waitress was very nice, the waiter working was a self-declared alternative music authority... and pretty cocky. The waitress seemed not to mind though, which is good. 

We ordered a breakfast plate that included; a biscuit, scrambled eggs, sausage patties and homemade hash brown casserole. It was really good!

Along the way I found out that Mississippi is really pretty! Check out the view from the highway!

Gorgeous right?!?

After that we hit the road again until we made it to Jackson Mississippi (my second new state!)  for lunch at Sal & Mookie's New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint. It sounds like the strangest thing to eat in Mississippi but it was delicious! We shared a regular Empire State pizza. It had caramelized onions, basil pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.. Yum! :) 

Then we got some Starbucks... of course before driving the rest of the way to New Orleans. 

Driving through Louisiana (my third new state!) was so fun, because I got to see marshy, swampy land for the first time. It was so neat! Sort of like seeing the desert for the first time. I was trying to spot an alligator from the highway, but sadly did not. Haha. 

We made it to New Orleans (aka one-way street capital of the country...) right at rush hour. 

But found our hotel, checked in and walked the mile out to the French Quarter. 

It felt so good to stretch our legs, and the city was gorgeous! We sort of underestimated the fact that St. Patrick's day was so close to a weekend this year, which meant there were tons of people. It was fun though, so much to take in! Especially since the last few years in Texas & New Mexico we nearly forgot it was Saint Patrick's day, and no one around us was celebrating!

We walked through and around Jackson Square, which is gorgeous! 

The park was lovely and we were lucky that the weather was nice and the sun was still up to see it on our first night! We even got some pretty decent photos which is great! 

We also made it a goal to take more pictures of each other and together on our trip because we usually forget to do that.. and it's all location pictures. Haha. So here you have it! (can you tell it's super humid in NOLA? ;))

We definitely enjoyed the warm weather and green grass and trees! It was a nice change from the gray cold up in Kansas. Plus all of the trees were so grand and beautiful!

We made it out to Bourbon Street and the party had started early! 

We stumbled upon the Musical Legends Park and found that a restaurant Cafe Beignet was located inside. 

It was lovely. An outdoor park and patio under big strings of lights with a live band playing old fashioned love songs. We ordered a basket of beignets to share, Kyle got a fried shrimp platter and I got jambalaya. The jambalaya was a bit spicy (to be expected) but really really good! 

The beignets were heaven! So much better than I ever could have imagined! We made a joke that we might be getting them every time we walk by a place that sells them like we did on the cruise with ice cream cones... haha! And we did! :) We got a hurricane there in a huge trumpet shaped cup because we thought that my sister and law (who plays the trumpet) would get a kick out of it! It tasted like koolaid and we shared it and walked back to our hotel still drinking in the city. 

It was a great first day out and about, but we were SO exhausted! We called it a night and rested up for the next day!

Have you ever been to New Orleans??

What did you think?

For more travel posts (including Maritime Canada, New Mexico, Arizona, Boston, Texas, Minneapolis, and many more!) click on the links or the passport tab above!

Want to see the rest of this trip? Read about Day 3, and Day 4.

Thank You for Reading! 

Alexandra