Going to Cumberland Island has become an annual thing for me and my family. This years trip was so much fun. The weather was perfect for us again. No rain and it didn’t get really hot unti the last day or so. There was always a breeze coming off the water which made it much cooler. We even stayed an extra night this time so we weren’t as rushed and we were able to take things a little slower.

We didn’t see as many armadillos this trip but we heard some sneaking around our campsite at night. There were more horses scattered about this time and we even saw a gaggle of turkeys scurry off. The raccoons also pretty much left our stuff alone this year.

Took all digital this time around. Had my new 50-200mm lens I wanted to get used to and it worked out great for some of the wildlife shots.

The Flickr set is here. Both years are combined here so if you start at the end, you can see the ones from this year.

My girlfriend and I recently took a trip up to New Orleans. She’s been there many times and had friends up there we could stay with so we took a long weekend and drove up.

I had only passed through NOLA in the past and was excited to see the French Quarter and eat and drink anything good I could get my hands on. We were successful on all counts.

New Orleans definitely has a feel all it’s own. I compared it to Savannah, Charleston and suprisingly Jacksonville rolled up into one. The food was amazing and the weather was beautiful. We gambled a little and ate seafood. Drank coffee and ate beignets. We discussed the state of New Orleans with the local homeless (“New Orleans is the toilet of America but everyones got to take a use the bathroom sometime” he told us) and Jess had her palms read and fortune told with incredible accuracy.

We spent most of our time in the French Quarter. The undefeated LSU Tigers beat undefeated Alabama that Saturday and the Saints won on Sunday so the city was buzzing.

We stayed with some of her friends that had rebuilt after Katrina. It was very interesting to hear the story about the devastation, the clean-up and also the rebuild that could still be seen throughout the city. I tried to imagine what it must have been like during that time while we were walking around and it must have been another world.

I had a lot more photos but they were all way over-exposed.
I took some shots in a voodoo shop that I wasn’t supposed to so I am blaming the over exposed photos on black magic.
Lesson learned.

Definitely want to get back and explore and stuff my face with the amazing cuisine.

Check out some photos below. Flickr set here.

New Orleans News






Mother’s Restaurant . Had an amazing sandwich here. Great home cooking . Expect a wait here too. Used to be a locals spot but it’s blown up into a tourist spot now. They brag about having the “world’s best baked ham”. I smirked a little at that but I had some on a sandwich with roast beef and “debris” (all the roast beef goodness that falls into the pan when cooked). Didn’t have a chance to get a pic of the food before I devoured it. So good.



Cafe Du Monde . They only serve coffee and beignets and they do both of those extremely well. Expect a wait but it’s move pretty quick and it’s totally worth it.



Cafe Du Monde . Coffee Machine

St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.



St. Patrick’s Cemetery . Amazing Light.