After the UCM Mystery House, we went to the Insta-Gator ranch and hatchery in Covington, LA. We went through a tour that taught us all about the wildlife population of alligators and the farming practices, as well as all about alligators themselves.
.. and went straight to the French Quarter to meet up with a few friends and enjoy some beignets and chicory coffee at the famous and original Cafe Du Monde.
the gator pins
Then we had time to play with the baby gators!
These are almost a year old (alligators hatch in August).
(Skips pic of me and baby gator... we have the same smile)
Skip holding a baby gator
They were so much fun to hold and play with!
A caged Caiman (another species of crocodilia)
caged crocodile
After the gator ranch, we headed back to New Orleans...
.. and went straight to the French Quarter to meet up with a few friends and enjoy some beignets and chicory coffee at the famous and original Cafe Du Monde.
yum!
sunset in the center of the French Quarter
And I had to grab a few pralines, another local favorite of mine.
We walked around for a bit, Skip ate some gator on a stick, and we grabbed some dinner on the street. We then headed back to our hotel for the night, The Bourbon Orleans. We took a little dip in the pool before going to bed for the night. Around 3:30 am we were awoken by the hotel fire alarm going off. A horrible loud sound with a voice-over to vacate the building. People poured out of the hotel and we all waited on the curb across the street. It was a big pain and annoying (especially since it took us forever to fall back asleep), but it was quite interesting to see the people out there on the curb. Some people got completely dressed and had their purses and stuff with them, while others walked straight out in their pjs carrying nothing. A fire engine came and after a little wait, we were allowed back in the building. We never found out what happened, but we think someone just pulled an alarm for whatever reason, and there was no fire.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at Clover Grill before packing up and heading home. It was once again super hot outside and our trip was pretty much over. We drove straight back to Atlanta without anymore "fun" stops.
(This was the coin we made at the UCM Mystery House, refer to the last post. It says "Jenn N Skip 1st Anniversary")
(Us in the mirror inside our room at Bourbon Orleans)
More observations from LA- lots of sugar cane files, huge grasshopper bugs, above ground graves, lots of alligator head souvenirs. Also, I remembered to put plenty of sunscreen on everyday, but where I didn't think to put sunscreen was on the tops of my knees and returned home with weird tanned spots on the tops of my knees where sun came through the car windows and sneakily got me.
The End.
