Fertile Ground: Spring Break in Nola (Part 2)

On Tuesday we decided to stay close to home. The plan was to walk to Mother's and then go to the Aquarium. Well, of course it was raining, so back in the car. (I am used to walking everywhere in Nola, which is a lot easier when it is just me.)

Anyways, Mother's is always a safe bet for a good meal. It was good to fill everyone's tummies before our action packed day, and also very nice to easily find a table for ten.

Yes, that is the monkeys eating breakfast. I always get the shrimp po-boy and gumbo, natch. (Full review later.)

(Mother's is also where I created my famous "Gumbo dance" in 1994.)

After brunch, we headed over to the Aquarium of the Americas.

It's been several years since we went and while it is still lovely and interested the kids, I felt like it got smaller. Maybe because the kids are so much bigger? We were in and out in about thirty minutes, which seemed like a waste considering how expensive it is to get in.

But, there were lots of cool things to see! And now we know all about the reproductive organs of a jellyfish!

It had stopped raining outside so I forced everyone to walk along the river and down to the French Market.

After a couple of hours, everyone was begging to go home. We dropped off the boys and then me, Marlinee, Apiranee and Sutton went on a girls only shopping trip down Magazine Street. While out we accomplished Sutton's second goal--procuring a Vineyard Vines t-shirt. We also picked up a couple of margaritas at Juan's as well as some burritos for the big kids. Then we made a quick trip through Popeye's to get chicken for the little kids.

Back at the apartment we made sure everyone was fed, gave the older kids a two hour pass to go do whatever they wanted, and then the adults went out for our one big dinner of the trip. It was hard to decide, but we chose Restaurant R'evolution. We couldn't get a last minute reservation so we high-tailed it over early to get a table in the bar area.

The restaurant was awesome: fantastic menu, great service, amazing ambiance. We were in heaven. I really loved the Espresso-crusted Venison Carpaccio, but I think the winning dish was the Death by Gumbo. It was a roasted quail that had been deboned and stuffed with andouille and oysters and other gumbo delights. The servers brought it over in a bowl and then poured file over it. When you cut into it, all of the gumbo madness came out.

We were joined after dinner by Memphis friends Brad & Natalie. After a few drinks, we were invited to Brad's family's apartment that overlooks Jackson Square. The weather was still amazing so we sat on the balcony and chatted until the clock struck twelve and it was time to go back home.