Tasting the Good Life

During my Spring Break, I asked Josh if we could take a little 4 day get away somewhere.  At first I suggested places close by and where we had a free place to stay- Fernandina Beach and Tahallassee.  But then I got to thinking... why not head to a gulf states to venture and find crawfish?  Josh had been talking constantly about crawfish but in Florida it is WAY too expensive to ship or even eat at a restaurant.  Who wants to pay over $8/lb when it's less than half of that in LA?  So we decided to venture to Josh's hometown of Baton Rouge to eat some good food and watch the spring game for the LSU Tigers.  I luckily was able to ask the in-laws if they were able to meet us and visit since we were about 2 hours away from them and Josh got his sister to come drive over from NOLA.  

After the 12 hour drive from Florida, we arrived at the Residence Inn on Commerce around 5:30 in the afternoon.  We unpacked the car and Josh headed directly to Tony's Seafood for the long awaited crawfish we had been craving.  I was totally stuffed and satisfied that night.

The next day we visited the Louisiana State Capitol.  I remember visiting there in April 2005 after Josh proposed to me the night before at Nottoway Plantation.  I was able to take a few pictures with our new model.  Later, we ventured to a few stores to find an inexpensive LSU jersey for me to wear to the spring game.  Who would've thought we would find one at Albertson's?

The last full day we spent at the LSU Spring Game.  First time I have been to Tiger Stadium.  I couldn't believe people were even tailgating.  But these people love their football games!  It was a pretty hot day too but we all had a good time.  The best part was seeing Julian clap and yell "Geaux Tigers!"

So glad I was able to salvage the last days of my spring break enjoying good food and in the company of family. Thanks Louisiana!  Can't wait till next time!

AZ mini vacation

Luckily on President's Day weekend, Josh was traveling for work. Yes, you are thinking... "Lucky? Isn't that a bad thing?" Well no because that just means Julian and I get to travel to see him.

There are perks to having a spouse that travels... 1) Absence makes the heart grown fonder. 2) He loads up on frequent flyer miles and hotel points so we can travel at our leisure for free. 3) If he travels over a long period of time, the company may even fly me out to see him on long jobs at the company's expense.

So Julian and I were able to enjoy a long 3 day weekend visiting my hubby in Phoenix. I have to say, the thing I was looking forward to the most (of course after seeing my husband) was getting an awesome sunset photo. I've been really trying to get back to "my roots" where my first love of photography originated from. Luckily my husband knew that was a priority.

The flight there was awesome. Julian was an angel... Of course we left after a long day of school so he was knocked out the last leg westward. We arrived at midnight in AZ and I was ready to jump in the sack. Little did I know we were in the middle of the most busiest night hopping spots in Scottsdale. Let's say it took us a bit to get back. It was pretty nice to stay in at another Hotel Indigo (1st one I stayed at was in NYC last year).

The next morning we ended up going to breakfast at U.S. Egg. Our entertainment was the mural of the USA behind our table. Later Josh ventured out so I could get a shot of a mountain. We got lost in a section of Scottsdale called Paradise Valley. Hot Dog! Can I live there? I just couldn't believe how unbelievably gorgeous the houses were in an ungated community. And their yards! Really how can their grass be GREENER than ours in Florida where we get tons of rain? Anyway, needless to say I didn't get a good mountain shot as I was hoping for however a good friend of ours who is a native to AZ was going to take us to a spot to take photos of the sunset. We ended up hiking a bit up Camelback mountain and I got a few photos but not the sunset I hoped for. I did get a great photo of Julian that I was pretty happy with. After the sunset, we went downtown and searched for a restaurant and decided to eat at RA sushi. Yummy in my tummy! Tuna and chips appetizer were off the heezy fo' sho'.

The next day we ended up spending the majority of the day at Railroad Park. This was a fantastic place to take kids. It had lots of open space to have a picnic, several large playgrounds, a carousel and a train ride that takes you around the park. It was a beautiful day, with the warm Arizona sun and little breeze. I was still determined to get a sunset shot and having an awesome husband, he was set out to find me one. My hubby drove out west around the base of White Tank Mountain Regional Park, pulled off a dirt road, and I climbed atop the rental SUV with my Nikon mounted in my Manfrotto and shot away until twilight. I was happy to have gotten a few good shots. On our way back to Scottsdale, we ate at a hole-in-the-wall Thai place in quiet Peoria.

The next morning, Julian and I flew out back east. I was hoping to have a great flight back but of course I knew that would be too goo to be true. If I could, I would've flown back in the evening when Julian was tired... But that would've meant a long day for me. Let's just say he was pretty fidgety the entire flight to the east coast.