Louisiana - Nov 2023

We had several weeks to kill before Keith's second surgery so rather than sit around in Dallas, we decided to make a few road trips.  This first roadtrip was to Louisiana to catch up with some of Shawna's friends and to spend time with Shawna's mom for Thanksgiving!

We left Dallas on Monday after Keith's last 'laser' surgery for his first toe and drove to Woodworth, LA to visit Ginger and Michael for one night.  Keith rode in the back seat, feet elevated, while we listened to a book on tape the whole way - it took about 5.5 hours to get there.  We arrived around 4:30pm and immediately chilled with the two of them, having a few beers on the porch.  

Keith ready for the journey

Ginger made gumbo for us for dinner which was so tasty.  We had that along with yams and then key lime pie for dessert.  It was so nice to spend a longer time with them (usually our visits are a few hours).  We crashed after having a few more beers.

The next morning, we had coffee with them and chatted some more before hitting the road to drive to New Orleans where we stayed for three nights in a small studio apartment in Uptown owned by one of Shawna's high school classmates, Amy.  We arrived there around 2pm - Amy met us to give us the keys and show us the ropes.  That evening, we had date night and went to dinner at Le Petite Grocery where we shared ricotta dumplings for an appetizer and the lamb t-bone for entree with white bean cassoulet.  Everything was good but the lamb was too undercooked for Shawna.

Date night at Le Petite Grocery

On Wednesday, Shawna went for a run down St Charles passing by Loyola University where she went for her first year of college.  We then met Amy and Gene (both high school classmates who got married to each other) for lunch at Gris Gris - we each had a salad there.  

Lunch at Gris Gris with Amy & Gene

That evening, we met Janell (another classmate of Shawna's - from both junior high and high school) and her husband, Jon, at Lilette where we had a duck confit salad and lamb shoulder entree with a side of fries - delicious.  Before dinner, we had a drink at Bouligny Tavern - great place.

Dinner at Lilette with Janell and Jon

On Thursday, we met Tammi (a colleague of Keith's from LivCor) and her husband Brian for breakfast at Toast in the French Quarter.  We shared a toast and crepe dish.  Before meeting up with them, we walked down to Jackson Square to take a few photos.  

Breakfast at Toast with Tammi and Brian

After breakfast, we went to the World War II museum seeing most of the exhibits and watching one of the films - the museum is very well done.  In the afternoon, Shawna went for another run.  

WWII Museum

That evening, we met Moni (another high school classmate of Shawna's and who was also in our wedding) and her husband Jeff at Mr Mao for dinner.  We shared a bunch of stuff for the table - everything was incredibly tasty.  After dinner, we went to their house for another drink - turns out their house was just a couple of blocks from where we were staying!!  We had not seen Moni in quite some time so was great to catch up and to meet her husband and daughter.

Dinner at Mr Mao witth Moni and Jeff

On Friday, we packed up and drove to Moreauville where we stayed for a week at Shawna's mother's house.  When we arrived, we got settled and Shawna made dinner - something healthier finally!!  For the rest of the time there, Shawna worked out most mornings.  We also met up with the following people:

• Carey - Shawna and Carey went to Sacred Heart (elementary and junior high) together.  She came over to Shawna's mom's house for lunch where we had gumbo that Shawna had made.

Lunch with Carey at Shawna's mom's house

• Hope and Craig - Shawna went to Marksville High with Hope.  They had us over for dinner at their house - Hope made a delicious chicken pasta dish and a caramel and apple custard for dessert.  

Dinner with Hope and Craig at their house

• Nicole and Hunter (and family) - Nicole is Shawna's sister in-law.  She hosted us for Thanksgiving where we, as usual, had too much food - turkey, pork, rice dressing, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and eggplant/shrimp casserole - and then pecan pie for dessert!  Pat and Chet was there as well as Juanita, Christie and Allie Rose with her cute baby.  We also separately met up with Nicole and Hunter for dinner on Sat night at Broken Wheel Brewery where we shared the crab cake for appetizer and shrimp and grits for entree. 

Thanksgiving Day - Honey, Nicole, Christie and Shawna

• Brenda and Joe - They are long time family friends.  We met them for lunch at Morel's in New Roads - a great place along the lake.  We shared a redfish topped with crab and shrimp along with a side salad and bread pudding for dessert.  Brenda also had made us a fig cake which we dug into first thing when we got home - so tasty and moist!!

Lunch at Morel's with Brenda and Joe

In addition to catching up with friends and family, we took a short road trip to Natchitoches where we stayed one night at the Andrew Morris House. We went there to see the Christmas lights - an annual festival that Shawna remembers from her time at LSMSA.  We first stopped by to see the school and then checked into the B&B.  We then walked around town a bit, popping into a few of the stores.  That evening, we had dinner at Mariner's which is a nice seafood restaurant located on a lake where Shawna went for special occasions (e.g. graduation) when she was LSMSA.  We shared the wedge salad for appetizer and the panko encrusted seabass for entree with a side of jalapeño cheese grits.  The restaurant had been updated since Shawna was last there with a bright, nautical theme - cute place and food was pretty good.  We then walked along the river for a short while to see the lights.  Unfortunately, Shawna's mom didn't sleep well that night as her room was cold.  In the morning, we had a great breakfast at the B&B and then packed up to drive back to Moreauville.

Andrew Morris House B&B

Dinner at Mariner's

Christmas Lights Festival

We pulled away on Sunday to drive back to TX after Shawna got in one more run.  It took us about 6 hours (ran into a bit of traffic) to get back to Keith's parents' house.  When we arrived, we had dinner with Margaret and the kids - Jean made a yummy brisket, potato salad and pumpkin cheesecake!