I LOOVVVEEEE July more than any other month. This is the month I usually get to go on some sort of nice vacation with my family, visit the lake often, and of course its my own personal Christmas in July thing. With my birthday on July 4th, my brother's on the 10th, and my sister's on the 12th, it's like we get to celebrate my second favorite holiday twice a year. Of course at my parent's expense. Which does indeed suck for them. =)
While my life is all-around boring, I do admit that I have fun. It may not be Hollywood Premiers, large parties, or lavishing vacations at the spa; but, it is still my time to relax and enjoy life. July started in New Orleans, Louisiana. Which I believe I already mentioned in a previous post. I was there for the National Education Association (NEA) Conference, which lasted from July 1st-July 6th. The actual conference consisted of sitting and voting verbally. Some of the issues brought up were definitely educationally focused, while others were not. Those were the ones that seemed to make the meetings last forever each day. I made some new friends at the conference, and I got to do a service project in one of the New Orleans high schools.
On July 2nd my family came out to New Orleans to visit over my birthday. Due to unforeseen events I actually turned twenty-one in the bathroom of Arby's. At least I like Arby's. The day of my birthday was full of conference meetings, which left me quite restless. But getting to celebrate with my family and new friends that night was a great bonus. We ate at Margaritaville, I got to try a few drinks, and then we watched fireworks. My cake was Toy Story 3 and my big gift was a real-life Woody doll with a working pull-string. This is why my life is boring and I want to teach Kindergartners.
My family left on July 5th and my boyfriend, Garrett, came down. I didn't get to see him much the day he came, because he got there so late at night, but I did see him a bit on the 6th after the convention was finally over.
So, even though I believe no one reads my posts, I am going to include some New Orleans Tips (maybe just reminders for myself if I ever go again.)
1.Bring a good bit of cash for transportation. The taxi services make you pay a minimum of $10 for any location. Most of our trips, which were just a few blocks, would cost us anywhere between $10 and $25. Even if you are bringing your car, the average parking cost is about $12. Most transportation venues only accept cash.
2. If you are taking a streetcar for transportation it is $1.25 each time you get on. One round trip will cost $2.50. They only accept cash or streetcar tickets which can be bought at most hotels. If you are going on a scenic route, don't go at night. You won't see anything after 8pm or so.
3. If you are anywhere Bourbon Street or Canal Street, watch out for people who are looking for easy cash. That means that women should make sure to hold the bottom of their bags, as cutting purse straps is common. The men mostly get hit up with "bets/wagers". This means that someone will come up to you and give you a rhyme or riddle while claiming to bet you, and then try to hit you up for money after you agree with them or shake their hand. The most common is, "Let me give you a shoe shine", "I can tell you where your hat/shoes/shirt/etc is from". They will harass you if you do not pay them.
4. Don't expect to take pictures with someone dressed up unless you want to pay them. There are no freebies in New Orleans.
5. Don't drink the Jester drink unless you have a strong stomach. Each person I knew, over six, who drank it on different nights, got sick off of the drink.
6. Riverwalk closes by 6pm most nights. This can be news to a traveler who assumes since the rest of New Orleans doesn't sleep that the Riverwalk will be open all night.
7. Watch where you get cash out at ATMs, where your cards or cash are at all times, and if new people want to come up and befriend you. One of my new friends lost nearly $400 dollars when someone, a random stranger who hung out with us, made off with his ATM and cell phone.
8. There are no Wachovias or Wells Fargos located in Louisiana. Other large branches are in the city, but this is not one of them. Its good to know this before hand because the ATM fees can be quite expensive once added up.
9. My last tip is to bring an umbrella or poncho that is easy to carry. It rains often there from what I have heard and witnessed.
So moving on to the rest of July...
I took the train both up to New Orleans, and back down from New Orleans. It was a new experience, cheap transportation, and pretty neat if you have never rode one for long distance before. Unfortunately I was one of the people who drank a Jester and became sick, so on my way back from New Orleans I was unable to take as much pleasure out of my seven hour train ride. I was actually unable to enjoy a lot for the next week.
We went to the Gulf Shores two days after I got back from New Orleans to celebrate my brother and sister's birthdays. The big treat for his 20th and her 10th birthday was to go see Jimmy Buffett live during his Gulf Coast Benefit Concert. Unfortunately, I was still feeling pretty under the weather come concert time. It was super hot outside, humid, and the thought of standing near alcohol covered beach-goers made my stomach turn. So I actually watched the concert on CMT from our room, and from the balcony of our beachfront condo. It was quite an experience to watch the concert live and on national TV at the same time. I probably had a better close up of Jimmy than my family did from the sands.
Since being back in Birmingham I have not done a whole lot. I believe the highlight of the past few weeks was my trip to Huntsville to see Garrett and watch the movie Inception in the VIP Lounge of the Monaco. By the way, I loved the movie. It was by far the best I have seen all year. Other highlights include my trip with my roommate to watch Despicable Me with a run to IHOP for cina-minions, and finding a new apartment to move into with my brother. I will actually be moving into the two bedroom, two bathroom apartment this Friday. My favorite part of the whole apartment thing is the fact that it has one HBO channel included in the cable package, so I will get to watch True Blood each Sunday night!
I believe that sums up my July. While no Disney trip was included (which usually occurs in July), at least I got to go to New Orleans and the beach. Goodbye to my favorite month, and welcome August.
August = Me finally in the Teaching Program!
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