It was always a need to visit LSU once again and had always wanted Abhijith to be a part of Mardi Gras. Tried planning for it last year but due to logistical reasons it didn't work out. This time, we laid the plan well ahead of time (September 2014) and booked all our travel for the Feb 2015 Mardi Gras in New Orleans (NOLA)
Flew from Oakland to Houston - Met Sunada and Madhavi (LSU Buddies), had some super duper dinner at FADI's and settled for the night talking about an assortment of topics right from LSU to the Universe :-)
Drove from Houston to New Orleans, detour BTR - Pratap Home (LSU Buddy) and had some awesome besebelebath, carrot payasa along with a great company of Pratap's family.
As expected we were stuck in NOLA, due to in-coming traffic and the on going parade. Made the most of it by enjoying the parade with our luggage on the street and Abhi trying to catch all the Mardi Gras beads throw from the tabloids. Reminded me, how different I felt about Mardi Gras when I visited for the first time 4 years ago!!! Checked in at the hotel late night and slept while watching the EPIC India V Pakistan WCC 2015.
Day 2 in NOLA was a late start, with us brunching at Olive Garden, seeing off Sunada and Madhavi and pick out car from the Airport. We left the hotel at around 4 PM and till 10 PM were on the streets of NOLA - Walked through the whole of Canal Street, bourbon Street, visited Jackson Square, Cafe Du Monte and the famous french quarters till our legs gave up on us.
Day 3 was a more relaxed affair, drove back to LSU to met Praveen, Pratap and Kavya and did some shopping at the LSU sports store. I would have loved to re-visit some of my favorite places in LSU, but time didn't permit that :-(..had some nice Italian lunch and boarded the plane back to Home!!!!
The views of Las Vegas was really a treat to our eyes while transiting, and though I couldn't capture it, we got to see some beautiful sunset colors in the sky.
Our way back home, we had a near escape from a fatal accident, luckily all of us were safe and that ended the much awaited visit to NOLA, LSU and meeting friends!!! :-)
