1. We drove to Pensacola, had hibachi with family, and visited breweries. Honestly, that day was really good. Ash and I hit a few breweries we hadn’t been to in a good long while. One was good as usual, one was ok, and one was bad. We then went home and snagged my daughter and mom to go to one more and that one was very good. They were having a crawfish boil so it was very crowded, but we had a good time.
2. The following day, my oldest arrived and we all caravanned to New Orleans. We arrived first, getting a good parking spot right in front of our airbnb and then walking around Faubourg Marigny, our neighborhood. Great location, good stuff to do right on the outskirts of the French Quarter. While we waited for my parents and oldest to arrive, we hit the first good brewery, Brieux Carre. Once the rest of our party arrived, we went to eat and then walk around the French quarter.
3. On Monday, we went to the WW2 museum, which was very cool but also a little exhausting. You can only be immersed in the same story so many times! That night, Ash, Isaac and I went out to a couple breweries, which were fine – nothing special. That evening, we let my dad pick an Italian restaurant that was cute but not super tasty, tbh. But hey, you never know. After that, everyone went home except us and my mom and we went into a couple of the jazz clubs near the house, though ended up back at the first good one.
4. Tuesday being St. Patricks, I thought it would be busy but it really wasn’t. Four of us went to the Voodoo museum early, then we split up – my parents taking the kids to shop and we hit farther breweries, which were all pretty decent. NOLA makes bad beer but good pizza! That evening, we reconvened at the house, ordered food in, and played Wits and Wagers.
5. On our final day, we walked to the French Quarter and got beignets at the original Cafe du Monde, then at lunch at Crescent City. However, by this point, family time was wearing on everyone. We got back to the house and I beat my kids up about being so whiny and also, mean to each other, Ash retreated into game-playing as to not yell at my mom, who was grinding on his nerves. I did my best to recover the day; after being yelled at, my daughter and middle played a game where she ran a store and we bought stuff. My oldest took a nap and I convinced Ash to go out to some jazz clubs. Once we sat at one for a while and heard good music, he turned his attitude around. When we got back after going to DBA, we all played trivia and no one was angry.

Bonus trip finale: We left Thursday around 10. My parents and oldest and youngest left before the rest of us because we wanted to hit a couple bottle shops. The drive was totally fine until a little before Mobile when I found out that my sister changed her day off so we could hang out. However, the last I had heard, she couldn’t so while we originally had planned to come home early Friday, we chose to just drive on. Well, my sister, being the adult child she still is, really acted like a brat and told me I was selfish and prioritizing my family. Well, yes, why wouldn’t I? I was very apologetic and conciliatory, but she was petulant and angry. But you know, it was time to go. I wasn’t going to change my mind, especially not after how she acted; who would want to hang out after that? It worked out because we got home at 6:30, picked up some Chipotle, and then found ourselves not long after, in the ER. My middle had a, how shall I put it, bathroom problem? Let’s say this: I haven’t seen that much blood in a toilet bowl since I had a miscarriage in 2009. SO, we spent about four hours getting tests done and they think it’s internal hemorrhoids, which is manageable. But wow, what a scare. Everyone was really worried for him and while we all wanted to come home and relax, that was not the case until almost midnight! But he had a good point: had we not come home, who knows where that would have happened! Anyway, back to the normal routine today: laundry, grading, car wash, yard stuff. Later we’re going to meet friends to watch March Madness and it is time to relax!