The final stretch of our road trip flew by crazy fast, and because of that, I didn't have a ton of time to write.
We packed a lot into a few days, starting back up in New Orleans!!!
So, my Dad, Carter, and I flew from L.A. to New Orleans on Sunday night. After a few delays, we finally arrived at our hotel at about 4a.m. on Monday. We were exhausted, so we slept until 10 and then hit the ground running.
The guys had to do a trade show for work, so we all went and helped them set up. After that, we stopped at our first place to eat in New Orleans. If there's one thing I'll always remember about New Orleans, it's the food! Goodness gracious it was delicious!
Our first stop was at the "Howlin' Wolf." We got a bunch of appetizers to share. Some of them had Alligator meat in them..so good!!!
After that, the kids and I hung out at the hotel while the guys worked. We did go on an adventure to find something sweet to eat, and landed at a little diner that had the lovely little things called beignets. If you've never had beignets, they are a must have when in New Orleans. I don't recall the name of the diner that we stumbled upon, but Cafe Du Monde is where we went for round two, and it's an original and very popular coffee stand in the French Quarter.
Monday through Wednesday, the guys worked and then kids and I hung out. When they were done, we would walk around, explore the town and find somewhere to eat. Here are photos of some more of our adventures...
The kids and I swam, played frisbee in a park, and took some pictures of the city...
I ended up enjoying New Orleans a lot more than I had anticipated. Maybe it was the company we had while we were there, but regardless, I would definitely visit again!
Wednesday evening, we stopped for dinner with my Dad, and then started heading for Nashville. My dad took a flight back to Ohio. We thought about inviting him to come with us, but we were already packed into our car like a bunch of sardines, so off to Ohio he went.
Wednesday evening, we drove from New Orleans to Birmingham...
Thursday we had a car ride full of laughter and concerts in preparation for the City of Music, and then, we finally arrived in Nashville around 2pm!
This was everyone's first time in Nashville but me. I was so excited to be back. It felt like Christmas! I couldn't wait to show everyone around (and subliminally message to Corey that this is where we will retire.)
Anyways, our first stop was of course at a park. When I had visited with my friend Andrea a few years back, we stumbled across this park and I couldn't wait to bring my kids back to it. Thankfully with the help of Google, I was able to find it again.
We let the kids burn off some energy, and then we went to a place called Edley's BBQ. It's such a cute joint, and the food is delicious. Definitely worth it if you are in the area!
After food, we found a hotel, got cleaned up and then hit the town!
We rode scooters down Broadway, we stopped to get Ice Cream, and then we tried on some boots at boot barn....
After exploring a bit, we decided to try and find a place to introduce our kids to live music. Thursday evenings in Nashville may not seem like the best place for kids, but it went surprisingly well. I think the key is to get to Downtown early (like 4ish) and be done by 9 if you have kids. That's about what we did and we had a blast!!! Most bars were 21 and over, but there were a few that welcomed families until 9pm. We ended up stopping into The Famous Saloon and seeing a band called AG3 perform.
OUR KIDS LOVED IT. Liberty was absolutely enamored by the music once she realized that the singers were real (and not robots like Chuck E. Cheese.) She even got a shout out when we were walking down the street by a girl that was performing. Heres a photo of her admiring the performance.
I really, really enjoyed taking the kids out. While it might not seem ideal for little ones, we had a perfectly family-friendly night and we were back at the hotel by the time the party animals started coming out. My heart gets so happy when I get to expose my kids to people doing things they love. Whether Carter and Liberty become teachers, doctors, laborers, or some type of performers, my mission as a mom is to make sure they are following their dreams, and what better way than to show them real-life examples of people making it happen?
Back to the trip...
Corey and I had intended to stay in Nashville until Saturday, but the kids were getting antsy. Our first sign was when I caught Carter instructing adults at the hotel breakfast on how to use the pancake machine. We also realized that they were telling other visitors that the Hotel was our "Home-tel." Finally, they found out we were only two hours from their cousin in Louisville, and with that we knew Nashville didn't stand a chance.
Corey and I decided to call the trip a couple days early, so Friday morning we left for Louisville! We made it there early Friday afternoon, and seeing the kids together made it all worth it!
We only stayed for a couple hours because it was Easter weekend and we decided we might as well spend Easter in Ohio! We made it to my parents house in Ohio at about 1am on Saturday. Our minds were tired, and our bellies were full of fast food. We were happy to have arrived at our final destination, and be out of the car!
We are in the process of getting settled which is why I am so late on posting this. We spent Easter Weekend laying low and house hunting and we have found a place! The next couple weeks are going to be full of establishing new routines and systems, and we are ready!
We will be sure to get back to posting our regular stuff such as our journeys on budgeting, healthy living, parenting, marriage and more!
Thanks for joining us on our journey home, we really appreciate the love and support!
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