Now That's a Vacation!
I've never taken a two week vacation before. All I can say is "Wow!" I'm really spoiled now and a one week vacation will never again be long enough. Typically, our get aways are a whole lot of fun packed into a long weekend, so this was a big change for us.
To start our vacation, Rex and I flew from Las Vegas to New Orleans and boarded our cruise ship for a week. We had a great time on the cruise but agreed that a 5 night cruise would be long enough for us in the future. We loved the days at port in Key West, Free Port and Nassau Bahamas. We liked the food and comedy shows on the cruise and enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends.
I loved dressing up for dinner every evening. I had to do some serious shopping before the vacation! Not only to get dresses for dinner, but I seriously did not own a pair of shorts, a sun dress or any article of clothing to wear in the hot, humid Caribbean. Even living in St. George I don't wear shorts because I'm rarely out in the heat.
We did a culinary excursion and learned to cook some local seafood. The ad for the excursion said something like..."if you like eating shrimp and lobster, you'll love this culinary experience." Well, cooking conch fritter's instead of shrimp and lobster was (as Rex would say) like that, only different. But, we were cooking at an outdoor cook station overlooking white sand beaches and gorgeous blue water so...no complaints!
When we got back to New Orleans we went to the Louisiana Seafood Festival. We loved the live Jazz and had fun trying some
crazy food like alligator sausage gumbo and bacon wrapped shrimp over grits. The beniets were yummy (similar to a scone with powdered sugar on it), but the praline candy store was the best! Oh my ever-widening behind...YUM!! We also loved Bourbon street and the bus tour of New Orleans. We agreed New Orleans was the highlight of the trip!
From New Orleans we flew to Richmond, Virginia so I could meet one of Rex's business partners and see some Fall colors. We took a nice drive so I could oooh and awww over the changing leaves and snap dozens of pictures of trees. I love FALL! We also went to Thomas Jefferson's home in Monticello. Rex had to stay in Virginia for a workshop so I flew back to Las Vegas alone.
Natalie met me in Las Vegas and we had some relaxing girl time. We lounged around in our PJ's, ordered room service and watched TV til midday. Then we got ready and went shopping and then to dinner and a show. We were suppose to be in Phoenix with Christie, Kimmie and Melissa for the Brad Paisley concert and were sad it didn't work out. We drowned our sorrows with food from PF Changs and The Cheesecake Factory and ended up feeling ok about it. :)
When I got home I had a couple of days to clean and organize drawers and other stuff I never get around to, had a spa day with my GF Tracy, took Cameron and Alivia to the pumkin patch at Staheli Farm, etc. What a fun, fun vacation!! I love our life!!
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| 1st night on the cruise |
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| Our cruise ship |
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| culinary excursion |
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| Getting off the ship in Nassau |
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| Bond, James Bond |
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| One of the beautiful sunsets at sea |
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| LA Seafood Festival |
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| New Orleans home |
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| Beautiful lobby of our hotel in New Orleans (Hotel Monteleone) |
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| Our hotel in New Orleans |
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| Bourbon Street |
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| He asked for it...literally! |
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| Monticello, VA |
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| Thomas Jefferson home |
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| I love red leaves as much as I love red dirt |
