New Orleans, LA

We decided on a 7 night cruise with 4 ports of call (Costa Maya, Mexico - Belize City, Belize - Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico) that sailed out of New Orleans.  I have only really been to New Orleans once (and it was at night when I was 7 months pregnant with Jasmine) and I had a great time.  One of these days I need to really spend a couple of days and explore.

Lorne and I like road trips so it wasn't a big deal for us to drive.  It gives us time to talk and connect and I like looking out the window and taking in as much as possible.  We left Friday night and spent the night in Dandridge, TN.  Then we continued Saturday and made it to New Orleans around 6:30 PM that evening.

Funny and true story - When we booked the cruise, we had no idea that we would be leaving out of New Orleans the night of the Super Bowl.  I didn't even know it was Super Bowl weekend (when I booked) lest alone where the Super Bowl was taking place.  Lorne joked that if someone were to have asked him where the Super Bowl was taking place he would have said, "On TV."  Me too - I have never given much thought to where the game is played. 

I have a friend I have known most of my life that lives in New Orleans so I asked him if we could connect before we got on the ship and he was the one who clued me into the fact that I had done this funny thing of taking us to the heart of Super Bowl chaos.  At first Lorne and I were horrified - just thinking about navigating all the crazy people.  Also, finding a hotel might prove to be difficult. 

As we drove, I got excited that we might be able to squeeze some unexpected Super Bowl fun into our adventures.  My friend Gabriel gave us a great suggestion for dinner on Saturday night, we ate at Dante's kitchen and the food was excellent.  As we drove through the French Quarter, we saw all the Super Bowl revelers and even got to drive by the Super Dome.  It was all very exciting.

My friend Gabriel clued us into the fact that they were having a free Super Bowl party at the Riverwalk with music and booths and food carts as well.  He was an awesome resource and we planned to meet up there Sunday morning before we were to get on the ship and enjoy. 

It was great to see Gabriel and meet his family.  Gabriel and I went to Spanish school since Kindergarten and all the way through high school we endured the same torture.  We have a great and colorful history and have remained friends through the years.  I will definitely have him be my tour guide the next time I make it down to NOLA.

We boarded the ship around lunchtime.  Funny story about the parking.  The cruise port had given away parking to Super Bowl attendees so they didn't have enough for those of us getting on the cruise.  Lorne was sent back out into the city to fend for himself.  He found a grassy field being manned by a guy looking to charge people for Super Bowl parking and Lorne paid him $100 cash to park there and crossed his fingers we would still have a car upon return.  He was super smart and took a picture of the guy's driver's license so if anything happened, we knew who to tell the police was involved.  

I was concerned that because we would be cruising, we would miss the Super Bowl.  Not only did they broadcast it (though much to my chagrin, they broadcast it on ESPN so no good Super Bowl commercials), but they had great Super Bowl party food!  All the things one would expect at a good tailgating.  And what a game - we watched it on a BIG projected screen with about 200 other people.