the crescent city

Friday night, we had Megan's birthday party at my house. I've never thrown a birthday party before, and if I do say so myself, it went pretty well. We had cake, pizza and presents. I surprised Meg with a trip to New Orleans for her birthday.

We woke up, packed the rest of our duds and headed out around 11. The streets weren't too crowded, and the drive was fairly harmless. The city was beautiful, and the atmosphere was contagious.

It was nice to see the Crescent City back in full swing. After the hurricane, people were fairly skeptical about whether or not New Orleans would get back up on its feet. Let's just say, from what I saw, it's even better.

Any way, we arrived around 2-ish and parked. After we checked in our hotel, we walked a few blocks to the Aquarium of the Americas. My parents' gift to Meg was entry to the aquarium as well as some extra spending cash. It was nice.

We were told by my aunt to go see the IMAX movie about the hurricane and New Orleans. It was very education and impressive. The music was zydeco, and that always makes your foot start to tap.

After we saw the movie, we went to see the animals. That was great. Then, we wandered around downtown, heading to Jackson Square. There, Meg had her palm read by Lola. She pretty much freaked us out from the get go (that's how I figured she must be good). Meg had to have her palm read. It's like what they say, "When in Rome..." Well, we were in NOLA, so we had to give in.

That night, I gave Meg her real birthday surprise. I surprised her with tickets to the Sister Hazel concert at the House of Blues. We ate dinner and watched the show. But here's the kicker: In my ability to talk to a brick wall, I met Scott, the manager. We got to chatting and he found out it was Meg's birthday. He wished her a happy birthday and told us to enjoy the show.

After the show, he found us and asked if it was good enough to make her birthday worthwhile. He said to add icing to the cake to "go back upstairs. We're about to party." So we went back upstairs and had fun at the Sister Hazel after party with the band. There weren't too many people there, so it was kind of intimate. Plus, we got to talk to the band about Florida football and musical instruments (well, the latter part was just me and Jett, the bassist).

Sunday, we went to the zoo after we wandered around the uptown area. The zoo is beautifully laid out. The design is wonderful, kind of making you feel like you're in someone's giant backyard garden. However, this garden just happens to have elephants and two giant white tigers.

Then we headed home. We had a pretty good weekend. I was glad Meg had a great birthday and that New Orleans has found its rejuvenation.

(PHOTO: Here we are in Jackson Square. The lady behind us is Lola, the palm reader.)