Tuesday Night (Free Night)

Tonight was our only completely free night on the trip. We were back to the hotel from our work sites by about 5 pm. We had time to wash up and hit the town to do whatever we wanted. Many of the people in our go group had made the trip to New Orleans at least once in the past so they knew the hot spots to hit. When I say hot spot I don't mean the coolest bar on Bourbon St., I mean the best authentic place to have a good meal and then hear a great band.

So our go group started off by taking full advantage of the free happy hour again and we headed out in the streets with our adult beverages!! I get excited when I can walk outside with vodka and not run the risk of getting into trouble. We headed toward the trolley among a sea of Lutherans with green backpacks. This was the running joke for Crossroads for the trip. We were sharing the hotel with Lutheran kids who seemed to range in age 12-17 or so. ALL of them were carrying green backpacks and we wondered what they were doing there. It seemed as if they were just walking around aimlessly the entire week. Where were they going??? Anyway we headed toward the trolley to make our way to the garden district.

I LOVED the trolley! I guess you can say I love everything about the city, I know you're starting to see a theme. I just love the authenticity of everything. You don't get history in the U.S. but I think New Orleans gets you as close as you might come in the states. Anyway the trolley ride was about 20 mins or so, so I enjoyed staring out the window at the Garden District sneaking a peak inside people's gorgeous homes.

When we finally made it to our stop we made our way to Oak street to have dinner at a place called Jaques-Imo's. The food was SO GOOD. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I loved how small and intimate the place was. It had orginial art work hanging on the walls. The bathroom was off the kitchen so you had to actually walk into part of the kitchen to use the restroom. It was tight but it was cozy. Apparently we weren't the only Crossroads group that had heard about this gem because about 50 people from our group took up most of their dining room. The atmosphere was so great and the food was probably the best I've ever had. Here's what we had:

Jessica and her skinny french fries

Alligator Cheesecake (that's right I had alligator and it was goooo-od)

Fried Green Tomatoes (why I've never tried these before I have no idea)

I tried some of Daniel's Flounder (I know I don't eat fish but it didn't even taste fishy!) I also ate a fried oyster! I was determined to be open to new things on this trip! Plus I think anything fried is pretty good, lol.

My main dish was Short Ribs and grits, with Greens and Sweet Potatoes. So good!

After our yummy meal the owner and chef of Jaques-Imo's came out to say to hello to everyone and make sure the food was good. It was easy to see he had a good amount to drink! He carried with him a bottle of vodka with hot peppers in it, lol. We asked him for a picture and he took us out to his Mardi Gras truck, we all piled on and snapped a few photos :)

( Unfortunately one wasn’t take with my camera so it’ll be posted as soon as I get them :)

Before heading home we stopped by a bar next door to listen to a band for a bit. Sat outside until each of us had been bitten by enough mosquitos, then headed back to the Embassy Suites on the trolly. Night time was prime time to sneak more peeks inside the lovely homes as it was dark outside and the lights were on in the houses. I've never seen so many libraries in houses before! Jessica and I made a goal to live in one of the houses one day, lol.