Christmas in New Orleans

Last year we visited my parents at their new place in NOLA at the beginning of December so this year it was time to spend the actual holiday with them.  We were down there for about a week.  The city really knows how to be festive and Christmastime is no exception.  The beautiful mansions in the Garden District look like postcards and many of the restaurants have special Reveillon menus.  We were introduced to the music clubs of Frenchman Street (an authentic departure from Bourbon Street) and saw the annual holiday lights at City Park (with a charming train ride through "scenes" made of colored lights and music).  Of course, we over-ate too.  It's impossible to resist!

Typical view along St. Charles Street 

 Emeril's, where I tried sweetbreads for the first time (insert Hannibal Lecter jokes here)

The Spotted Cat is a great place to see a real (and very talented) local band

 An afternoon in The Quarter isn't complete without beignets 

and a stroll past the creepiest house in town!

Mr. Turkey in the oil-less fryer

My parents' quiet neighbors 

At City Park there was some really weird-smelling bubble foam flying around and it was a long time before we figured out it was coming from several fake snow generators 

 One of our meals was at the splendidly-decorated Roosevelt Hotel

Joyeux Noel!

Christmastime in the Baltimore-Washington Region

In 2015 I accidentally missed out on the holiday-themed "pop-up" bar in DC called Miracle on 7th Street so this year I was determined to check it out.  The bar is set up in a pre-existing site with a special cocktail and snack menu that's based on popular holiday movies or holiday-references in pop culture.  Due to its popularity (and very long lines to enter) last year they expanded to three adjacent businesses in the Shaw neighborhood.  We invited a couple of friends to join us.  While the cool decorations and general spirit of the experience was fun, it was not really worth the ridiculously-long entrance line and also long time it took to order a round of four drinks.  I understand that the owners want their customers to have the Craft-Cocktail Mixologist Experience but when your menu is only 12 drinks long you'd think that they could have some of the ingredients ready in batches for quick serving.  I'll try anything once, so it was worth a stop for the novelty.  However our party was glad that after the "pop-up" stop there was a rather good brewpub around the corner with far less people, no line, and really excellent beer/food.

The menu, holiday elves making cocktail magic in the narwhal bar

Cheers!  Checking out the Stranger Things bar

(that is a ball of cookie dough garnishing two of the drinks)

Goats in sweaters??

Later in December we visited the Baltimore neighborhood of Hampden, a funky area that is close to Johns Hopkins University.  The main drag has a selection of shops and restaurants I've been wanting to investigate for a while.  The main draw of the evening was their famous "Miracle on 34th Street" light show.  One block of neighbors in Baltimore have been decorating their houses with over-the-top displays for the last 70 years.  People come from all over during the month of December to see the lights and it culminates with the neighborhood "trash ball" drop on New Year's Eve.  Before the light show we stopped for a truly delicious dinner at a local restaurant and I'm already planning our second visit to the area.  On our way back to the car an ice cream shop was selling ridiculously rich cocoa with huge home-made marshmallows.  Yum!

In other news, after having to delay for weeks while our landlady had hardwood flooring installed in the downstairs of the house we finally got our Christmas decorations up - just in time for us to leave town for a little bit...

NGA and Dumbarton Oaks

The National Gallery of Art has a temporary exhibit of sketches and drawings by 17th century Dutch masters.  Some of the drawings are paired with their final works on loan from museums around the world.  The NGA has a small permanent selection and they included a fun digital overlay of visible and infrared photos that reveal underdrawings.  It has probably been at least three years since we visited this museum so it was a nice quick diversion first thing in the morning.

Since this was going to be the very last day of balmy Indian summer weather for the year (70 degrees!) I requested an afternoon trip to the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Georgetown.  After a quick lunch at a small diner we checked out a couple of antique stores and walked through the neighborhoods to our car which was parked by Dumbarton.  The houses are still decorated very prettily with fall swag.

Purchased in the 1920s by a family of art patrons and collectors, the house serves as a research museum and library for Byzantine and pre-Columbian studies.  The grounds are used for garden and landscape research.  The house is undergoing renovations but we still enjoyed a lovely free tour of the formal gardens.  Some of the roses were still in bloom but for the most part everything was in beautiful decay.  Our timing for the day couldn't have been more perfect because by the time we were back in the car to make our way home the weather turned gray and blustery, ushering in a new season of cold temperatures that will probably be here until spring.

My Favorite Road-Tested Travel Comfort Accessories

I've been on a lot of planes in the last five years and I thought I would share some of my favorite travel products.  I don't carry them all of the time but it's nice to have them in my ready-to-go arsenal.  I won't vouch for any particular brand (except the pillow which I'll explain below) but if you're interested in the ones pictured click on the numbered links.

one, two, three, four, five

1: Small Packable Travel Blanket

For a short trip I can usually get away with wearing a fleece jacket on the plane.  I often struggle with maintaining a comfortable temperature because during boarding the cabin is usually so hot I can't de-layer fast enough but inevitably I start shivering at cruising altitude.  When we went to New Zealand I was so glad that I had a folding microfleece blanket - not necessarily for the planes but for long layovers in chilly terminals.  I get really cranky when airports are unreasonably cold so it was great to have some extra comfort.

2: Eye Mask

If you are sensitive to light you will love having one of these in your carry-on.  Find one that is molded like the one pictured because they keep tight and comfortable contact with your face without pressing down on your eyeballs.  You'll hardly notice that you are wearing one!

3: J-Pillow

I hate hate hate travel pillows.  Except this one.  I will admit it is super freaky-looking but I promise it is insanely soft and comfortable.  The way it works is you tuck the bottom of the "J" under your chin and then place one of the side pads just behind your head.  Then it's kind of like you're leaning onto a soft side-pillow but because of the way it's designed you won't have to worry about your head dropping onto your chest because of the chin part.  It was the "British Invention Winner of the Year 2013" and is apparently one of the best-selling pillows on the market right now.  After watching a lot of review videos I decided to test it out for the New Zealand trip and it performed like a champ!  I really liked that I could lie down on my side during the long, long, layovers and still be comfortable.  Buy it from a discout website though because there's no way anyone should pay the full $50 for one.

The only drawback is the bulkiness.  It is not inflatable nor does it come with a compression bag.  It has a handy snap-close loop so you can attach it to your bag but ultimately for light packers you'll have to determine how much your neck comfort is worth during travel which is why I probably won't take it on flights that are under six hours long.

4: Packing Cubes

I posted about these when I went to France a few years ago but never got around to giving a final opinion so here is the short version:

    Con:  They are an INEFFICIENT way to pack a suitcase and waste of valuable space

    Pro:  They are AWESOME for staying organized and come in all kinds of colors/sizes

Here is one way to compromise:  When we went to New Zealand Hans and I packed old-school style where we rolled up garments into tight bundles for maximum efficiency.  We did this with the empty packing cubes too.  Once we reached our destination, the packing cubes became like little mini suitcases that we could sort our belongings in and then throw around the rental car or grab for wherever we were staying.  For the return trip, everything was emptied from the cubes and they were rolled up like all of the other clothes.

5: Ear Plugs

Last and DEFINITELY not least.  This was probably the best discovery I ever made for air travel and I can't believe it took me this long to figure out.  Get yourself some comfortable ear plugs and put them in your carry-on.  You can find all kinds at Target.  No matter what you choose, they'll drown out screaming babies, annoying talkers on red-eye flights, and loud engine noise.  I am sensitive to loud sounds in close quarters and even the PA system can drive me crazy so I've found that earplugs help to minimize that without being so quiet that I can't understand the announcements.  The silicone ones are the most comfortable because they sit outside the ear canal but the foam ones block sound slightly better.  The only drawback obviously is that you can't really carry on a conversation while wearing them so if you have a chatty neighbor it might be kind of awkward.  You might want to put on your eye mask too so it looks like you're sleeping :)

New Zealand - Wrap Up

On Wednesday it was with much reluctance that we gathered up our things and prepared to head to Auckland's airport for a short flight back to Christchurch.  We spent some time talking to one of our hosts about their bee keeping operation since we were given a parting guest gift of some of their honey.  The valley on their property is littered with manuka tea shrubs.  Unless you were paying close attention, it was difficult to see the honeybees and they zipped up and down the hill all day long.  It was fun to observe during our stay.  At the lodge our hosts had only been "renting" the bee boxes that are managed by a neighbor.  In one year the four boxes had become home to some 60,000 bees and the result was something like 40 kilograms of honey.

Our hosts' "bee expressway"

After departing the B&B the rest of the trip was pretty much a slog of airplanes and layovers.  After a four-hour hop back to Fiji and a three-hour layover, we took off on Thursday night and landed in LAX on Thursday afternoon.  That's what happens when you cross the International Dateline in an easterly direction!  We landed in Baltimore at around 6 am on Friday and have spent the weekend so far trying to be on as normal a sleep schedule as possible.  It's a little tough for me because I have to fly BACK to Los Angeles for a few days of training for work.  Boo....

I don't have much else to add here except that this vacation has been amazing in many different ways and I'm thankful that Hans and I had the time and resources to make this trip happen.  Not paying for airfare helped a lot.  Cashing in our air miles meant that we had to travel during the shoulder season, which means chillier weather for sure, but it was so worth it!

The people of New Zealand were absolutely lovely and I liked their no-nonsense approach to everything.  As for the scenery, it just doesn't get much better.

To end this trip, I've decided to include some pictures that didn't make the cut for earlier posts for one reason or another.  Collectively I'm sure we took over 3,000 photos (and I am being conservative here) so there was a lot to sort through and when you're on the road sometimes images get looked over.  I enjoy keeping this blog while traveling but it is definitely a lot of work.

Downtown Christchurch

Trying to plan the next day after jailbreak.

A hot water bottle was a must in the chilly cell.

Passing the other Interislander in Cook Straight

The tour entrance to the Weta Workshop

Panorama inside the archway at Cathedral Cove

A little touristy fun on our first night in Christchurch

Thanks for following along, everyone!  If you want to return to the start of this trip and re-live the awesomeness, click here.  To read about past trips, click on the Archive link at the header of this blog.

New Zealand - Lord of the Forest

No, the title of this post is not a Lord of the Rings reference.  The Lord of the Forest is a very large Kauri tree within Waipoua Forest, which has trees that have been growing since before the days of Moses.

Before we get to that: After a very lovely breakfast that was brought to us in the lodge by our hosts, we went out to a scenic recreation reserve at the entrance to Hokianga harbor.  It was a fine clear day so the walk was very enjoyable.  This is the closest to the equator we'll be on this whole trip and we could definitely feel it under the sun.

A short drive away is Waipoua Forest, one of the oldest living forests in New Zealand.  Within the woods are two of the largest living Kauri trees.  These giant trees were prized for their straight tall trunks that could be used for ship masts and the Maori used to carve whole canoes and other water craft from the trunk of one tree.  European over-logging seriously threatened the forests of New Zealand until conservation movements were effective.  At Waipoua there are several short walking trails that allow you to see some of the older and larger trees.  There is a human-transported blight infecting the delicate roots of the trees so each trail as a shoe-cleaning station that you are asked to use before and after visiting the trails.

I'm standing next to the 7th largest kauri tree in NZ, Yakas.  

Yakas is about 43 meters tall and the trunk is about 12 meters around.

Kauri tree bark

Top of Tane Mahuta

Tane Mahuta, or Lord of the Forest, is the largest known living kauri tree.  Its total height is 51 meters and its trunk is 13.7 meters around.  It is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old!  I realize that these trees aren't as large as California's redwoods but they are still really impressive!  Can you find me in the below picture?  I'm standing on top of a bench so that I'm not dwarfed by the forest undergrowth.

Seriously.  Incredible.

 Keepin' the kauris safe

Had to do fried fish takeaway here again because it is too delicious! 

(The gulls know this fact too)

 Not the best picture, but it was the view from our dinner table at the quiet hotel restaurant in town.

Hans had the lamb shank and I had the shrimp linguine.  Lovely true last evening of vacation.

We have one more full day in New Zealand tomorrow but it will be mostly taken up by a drive back to Auckland and then a short flight to Christchurch where we'll stay the night not in jail.