Jack and Cate Update -- May, 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010

To celebrate Beth and Lisa's impending 50th birthdays, we traveled to New Orleans for a long weekend with the McCunes. On our first full day in New Orleans, Jerry took us on a walking tour of the [Garden District](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_District,_New_Orleans). In the photo, we're at [Lafayette Cemetery Number 1](http://bit.ly/bfZKaI). (Please insert your own 50th birthday joke here.)

Friday, May 7, 2010

The corn-stalk fence at the Colonel Short Villa.

Friday, May 7, 2010

In the Garden District, we found this house, and I took a photo. Jerry's tour was very good, but I can't remember all the details. I'm pretty sure Sandra Bullock, Anne Rice, Nicolas Cage, and Archie Manning currently live here, and [The Curious Case of Benjamin Button](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/) was filmed here. Amazing.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

If it includes fruits and vegetables, it must be lunch.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Snapshots in [Jackson Square](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Square,_New_Orleans). It's official, we're tourists.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The girls judiciously appraise the jewelry at the [French Market](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Market). Undercover security carefully watches their every move.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

She shops. I take photos. Everybody's happy.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The jewelry vendor graciously offered to take our photo. In a pleasant surprise, he also returned my camera.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Beads. Again with the beads. While walking near Jackson Square, we overheard a man leading a group of friends, saying: "If we're going to see any mimes, it'll be on the next block." It's still not clear to me if they were hoping to find or avoid these mimes.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

On a hot day, there's nothing better than a [Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House](http://www.napoleonhouse.com/pimmscup.html). And nothing says New Orleans like a cold drink in a plastic to-go cup.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Jerry found a list of the "50 best bars" in New Orleans, and we made it our personal quest to visit as many as we could in one evening. We started at the [Hotel Monteleone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Monteleone) (where we stayed), and its famous [Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_Piano_Bar_%26_Lounge). Actually, all of our evenings started at this bar...

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Our first stop was the [Old Absinthe House](http://www.oldabsinthehouse.com/history.html) on [Bourbon Street](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Street). When in Rome, you drink [Absinthe prepared using the "Bohemian Method."](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#Preparation). We decided one glass of Absinthe was plenty.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

I get to participate in a group-shot. A self-proclaimed professional photographer offered to take our photo, but you'd think she'd have the whole framing and focusing thing down by now, right?

Saturday, May 8, 2010

We next visited a swanky hotel bar just off Bourbon Street whose name somehow escapes me. This isn't too surprising given the light fog which later enveloped the evening.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

They're like sisters. We travel well together, and we're looking forward to doing it again soon.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

You know it's a classy place when the furniture matches Lisa's purse and they're packed to the gills with monkey butlers. Monkey butlers, people!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Demonstrating uncanny timing, we left the swanky hotel bar just in time to see a wedding party dance down Bourbon Street. The band played and everyone dance for nearly fifty feet before it abruptly stopped and everyone entered the nearby reception hall.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

As I took this photo looking down Bourbon Street, a woman to Jerry's right spotted my camera, hiked her dress, and "shared her best wishes." Lesson learned: don't frame shots quite so tightly.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Our next stop was [Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar](https://www.lafittesblacksmithshop.com/) which was supposedly owned by the pirate [Jean Lafitte](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lafitte).

Saturday, May 8, 2010

For obvious reasons, I have little interest in photographing Jerry.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Jerry's *foot*? Now that I'll photograph.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

We hadn't anticipated stopping by the hotel each day for a midday break and shower before going out in the evening, so we had to stop and provision fresh (ahem) supplies. Keeping it classy, we discovered [Molly's at the Market](http://mollysatthemarket.net/) had the best selection.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Lisa plays to her strengths.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

And she's never too busy to call the kids and wish them a good night before continuing her night of debauchery.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The guys of Engine Number 9 constantly stand guard. In rolling office chairs.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Mimi's in the Marigny: be nice or leave. It also appears that we just missed a really awful bicycle wreck.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

"Commuting" to our next stop, we passed by [Washington Square](http://bit.ly/aJx5qk).

Saturday, May 8, 2010

[Jackson Square](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Square,_New_Orleans) and the [St. Louis Cathedral](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cathedral,_New_Orleans) at night. We were partying crazy-late -- it must have been nearly after eleven.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

A donkey cart plus traffic equals high-brow art.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Since it was our last night in New Orleans, Lisa and I went out for one last drink. We went to Bourbon Cowboy where we met these two lovely Australian gentlemen on the balcony. They had purchased an [Astro Van](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_van) in LA and were spending four months driving across America. An adventure across the country driving and sleeping in one of our crappiest vehicles -- there's a certain poetry in that. They were great guys and we wished them well.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Beads. Always with the beads. We spent Sunday morning, Mother's Day, in the French Market before going to the airport. While there, we heard a red-neck Mom snippily tell to her 3 year-old son: "When it's Gavin's Day, then we'll do whatever *you* want to do."

Monday, May 3, 2010

Whoever said it's a dog-eat-dog world hasn't met our dog.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The end of May means dance recital time. Here, Cate gets amped-up before the show with her favorite companion (bar none).

Saturday, May 22, 2010

I think this is Cate's favorite day of the year. She's extremely proud of her dancing and rightly so.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

As a father, this worries me. A lot.