We headed over to New Orleans this morning, with the entire day set aside for the National World War II Museum. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how we would spend an entire day at a museum but everyone assured me that we would… and we did! This museum was outstanding… it was as well set up as any Smithsonian.

Originally, the museum opened in 2000 as the D-Day Museum, and since then it has added 5 additional buildings. This was Mike Brown’s Disneyland! ♥️

We started on a mock train – traveling like the enlistee after their enlistment, and then went through a typical home during World War II with their ration books and cookbooks, and the Blue Star flag reflecting that this family had a member currently serving.

We saw the treatment of Japanese Americans placed in internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Imagine officers showing up at your door and giving you one hour to leave our home with one suitcase each… and then watching other go into your home and take your things as you left.

We saw what it looked like from the Nazi’s western wall overlooking the beaches of Normandy.

Each significant battle was given its own area and accurate decor – Battle in the Pacific Ocean including Saipan and Guadalcanal in its jungle setting; and the Battle of the Bulge in its snow.

Remember the McIlhenney family who own the Tabasco company? Found the helmet and Navy Cross belonging to First Lieutenant Walter S McIlhenney.

The Boeing Center was really cool with as many planes as we saw at the Smithsonian. And getting to see the planes at different levels helped understand how huge these planes were.

Looks a little like Captain America shield 💙

Nothing says childhood like a toy atomic bomb kit 😬

So glad we spent the day here. We were all a little history-drunk by the time we left but the museum was a definite must-see in New Orleans!

We left the museum and once we were checked into the hotel, we caught the second half of the NC State/Duke basketball game. Apparently, the good luck voodoo was not with the Pack in the first half, but man, did it come on strong in the second half! And the Wolfpack is headed to their first Final Four since 1983!!! ♥️🐺♥️ It took all we had not to yell in the hotel room!

Still grinning for our W, we headed out for dinner to a nearby spot, Gallier’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar. Now, we have eaten well on our trips, but this is probably in the top ten of best meals of our lives! Charbroiled Oysters, Red Snapper, Jambalaya, Cajun Penne Pasta and Seafood Pasta – every single thing was fantastic. Then because we apparently wanted to be miserably full, we split cheese cake and caramel sauce and chocolate mousse pie. We are all miserable and it was all worth it.

As we left, we couldn’t help be complete tourists and get a photo with the police in the background… because hey, it’s N’awlins!

Tomorrow, we are sleeping in and going to all the touristy spots of the Big Easy! Wonder what kind of adventure awaits 🤣

Up and on the road early (well, vacation-early not actually early) to check out of the hotel and head to Avery Island to explore the home of Tabasco.

Someone did not appreciate my running commentary 😁

And someone took the “Start Tour Here” a little too literally 🤣

The tour actually started in the museum where we all received a tiny bottle of Tabasco Sauce. The folks behind us were military, and they received special bottles each designated for their branch of the armed forces. 🇺🇸

Eventually we learned that Tabasco was committed to supporting our troops, shipping flavoring to soldiers overseas to make MREs more tasty. “They waged war against blandness!” The McIlhenny Family, who still privately own the Tabasco Company, have had members in the military dating back to Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.

Tabasco started in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny using 3 ingredients: tabasco peppers, vinegar and Avery Island salt. He started bottling his sauce in empty cologne bottles (all that was available at the time) and gave to friends and family. As the sauce became more popular, he continued using the same style bottles because they made it perfect for sprinkling on food.

We explored the museum and greenhouse… and made it through without any bear sightings, which apparently does occur. We did however almost witness a caning🤣

The peppers are harvested and mashed on the same day, and then the mash is placed in these oak barrels (covered in salt to preserve and prevent bugs) for 2-3 years depending on the level of heat. Despite the mash being in barrels, the smell of the peppers was almost overwhelming.

We couldn’t go into the salt mines, but the exhibit was crazy… imagine a cave made of salt? And its got to be true, because there’s a plaque!

The bottling area, although not running over the weekends, made us feel like we were on Laverne and Shirley.

Back in the museum, we sampled Tabasco Jalapeno vanilla ice cream (Yuck!) and raspberry chipotle ice cream (ice cream with a smokey aftertaste).

There were literally every imaginable kind of Tabasco souvenirs

The Jalapeno ice cream required an icee to remove the aftertaste 😝

Then we were on our way through the Jungle Gardens. The Jungle Gardens were a conservation area created by the McIlhenny family for endangered egrets and other birds, and housed some pretty weird gifts given to the family, like trees, animals and a giant buddha… because who doesn’t have giant concrete Buddha on their wishlist?

And look! The Jungle Gardens had a Mom’s Cafe location 😀

Lunches made and delivered, and we were on our way to Baton Rouge. First stop, the Louisiana State Museum: great exhibits on the history of Louisiana from the Louisiana Purchase (best land deal EVER at $0.04 per acre) to modern day Mardi Gras (I’m definitely decorating my lawn mower next year).

Then it was on to the Louisiana State Capital. We were quickly told that the Capitol was closing in 10 minutes. We replied “No worries, we’ll be done in five.”

Pictures of gorgeous ceiling ✔️

Senate chamber ✔️

House chamber ✔️

Family Picture ✔️

Once minute to spare… picture of a plaque ✔️

And found North Carolina in the steps listing each in the order then became a state ✔️

Now, if only government was as efficient as us 🤪

In all seriousness, the Capital was really beautiful. I hate to bad mouth my home state but everytime we visit different state capitals, I am reminded of how dreary and institutional the North Carolina state house is…

Next stop: Louisiana State University – Geaux Tigers! The boys were not really considering LSU and an 80° day in March solidified that. 🤣 But the campus is really nice and Tiger Stadium is the size of an NFL stadium! We especially love the placards along the tree line outside the stadium “They love nature. They love LSU.” 🤣 Besides, where else would you find a live tiger enclosure on a college campus!

After some downtime in the hotel, we headed out to dinner at Elsie’s Plate and Pie. Great food and desserts, and laughing! Mealtime is quickly becoming one of my favorite times as the boys get older and our conversations begin to shift from solely parent-child.

Tomorrow, we head to New Orleans, the World War II museum and whatever other adventures come our way…

One of my most favorite movies of all time is Steel Magnolias. Ask Mike, I can literally quote the entire movie from start to finish. (No wonder I can’t retain any new information, I have an entire movie on a loop in my head.) So, when we are in the town where it was filmed, oh yea. It was definitely a “just for mom morning” 😍

Natchitoches (pronounced Nack-a-tish) in central Louisiana and is the hometown of Robert Harling, an unknown playwright whose big break was a play centered around the loss of his diabetic sister, his mom and her eclectic group of friends. After the play’s success, the movie was cast and what better place to film it than Natchitoches!

We started off at the Rue Front (Rue is french for Street)… our photgrapher always manages to take a few selfies 🤣

YES – A Plaque! This brick wall stopped the town from being flooded during the Red River Flood of 1945, and the water reached this high!

And then we found Kaffie Frederick General Mercantile. Huge hardware store. The mercantile has been in business since 1863, and the 147 year old cash register is still in use! How many hardware stores can say they are listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior? The mercantile had everything: hardware stuff, kitchen items, toys, cookware – you name it, it was in there including little bottles of coca-cola ♥️

Re-Caffeinated and now back to Steel Magnolias…

The boys loved my quotations throughout the day…

Just the best day 💕💕 Very thankful my boys entertained their mama’s excitement!

Then it was time to fill the clothes cooler with supplies for Mom’s Cafe. And the boys made sure to show dad a little love in the middle of the aisle, which he loved!

We repaid the boys for being so wonderful during Mom’s morning… just make a right turn on the unpaved road by the Gater bus…

And welcome to Louisiana Gator Country!

This place a kitschy and corny and AWESOME!

Seriously, how many people can say they’ve feed hotdogs to an alligator??? Well, now we can!

Look how big they are??

And listen to them chomp and bellow!

Can you imagine seeing this monster smiling at you!?!?

We did think it was funny – how they chose a mate. The females lay on top of the males, and if she can’t push him under the water then he is an appropriate mate. If you can’t drown him, then things will work out.

They had other animals too – guinea pigs (who we think are going to end up as dinner), the fattest raccons we’ve ever seen, snakes, lizards, iguanas, and goats (we loved little Brownie who kept escaping from his pen)

But the gators stole the show. All of the alligators in the park have been removed from somewhere and since they clearly associate humans with food, they can no longer survive outside of captivity. However it doesn’t seem like they’ve got such bad of a life.

This is Big Lou. Currently, he is the oldest (70+ years old) and the Alpha Gator at the park. The managers did tell that a couple of the younger males are on pace to challenge him at some point. But for today, he’s the Alpha.

The tortoises we hilarious coming at a breakneck tortoise speed to get lettuce and eat.

Of course, getting to hold a baby alligator is pretty hard to beat!

We said goodbye to the gators, and headed out for our first stop at Mom’s Cafe – Cajun edition 😁

Bellies full, and still talking about the gators, we headed south to New Iberia, Louisiana. After checking into the hotel, we watched the first half of the Wolfpack v. Marquette, game, and then decided to treat ourselves to a true Louisiana dinner… Crawfish. R&M’s Boiling Point is a local favorite AND had TVs in every direction showing the NC State basketball game.

Great Dinner and Wolfpack Win – That’s about as good as it gets!

Tomorrow, we head out to Avery Island for a little spice and visit the home of the LSU Tigers.

Off we go checking off 2 more states on our Quest to 50! We are headed to Louisiana and Mississippi to fill in a hole at the bottom of our picture map.

This trip, rather than add another cooler to our cooler collection (seriously, Michael and Leo will never need to buy a cooler in college), I wised up 😉 … and packed my duffle bag and clothes in our cooler.

We got a few looks when we checked in at the airport… but once we told them the reason for packing clothes in a cooler, and then pulled out the travel notebook…

Well then they understood 😁

Bags and cooler checked… ✔️

Caffeine fueled thanks to Starbucks… ✔️

Running into our friend Karen…✔️

Onboard and on the way!

Landed in Charlotte, and did a little exploring while we waited on our connection… ever since our 12-hour layover in St. Louis last summer, we have made it a mission to find the “Pet Relief” areas inside airports. (Mainly because we never knew they existed until then.) So far, Charlotte definitely wins with most accommodations… sectioned off private areas per pet 🤣

And just like that… State #39 ✔️

Rental Car picked up and checked into Holiday Inn Express just in time to celebrate a Clemson win and anguish over a Tarheel loss 🏀. At least we can console ourselves with cinnamon rolls in the morning. Now to unpack the “Cooler” and pack the duffle bag.

Tomorrow we make our way all the way through Louisiana, including sometime in Chinquapin Parish 💕💕💕 (here’s a hint: if I were describing these hearts, I would say they are blush and bashful 🥰)