Thailand here we come!!

So we are at the airport, aggressively early at our gate. But we've been ready for 2 says so it's definitely time to go. I don't think I've ever packed so light on a trip before. This rivals Ecuador when I packed a duffel and a backpack for 8 weeks. 

I made this cool itinerary map on a free website to demonstrate our plans. I'm not sure what the quality will be when it's blown up om a computer but hopefully it's discernible. I'm so excited to start this journey with Kerry and Patrick!

(In case it's not, you can pop over to Kerry's blog because she typed out our itinerary with the dates we are in each place.)

Nashville, land of bachelorettes and Kentucky fans... 3/8-3/12

I was very excited to visit Nashville. My mom had previously been for work trips, and said it was a fun place to go out on the town. But when we started looking for AirBnBs, I started to think maybe it was a bit too pricey of a city for us, being on a medical student/living-on-loans kind of budget. So we went the hostel route, booking the Downtown location of the two hostels total in all of Nashville. And it wasn't until we were wandering around the city looking for dinner, that we realized why it seemed like a financially insurmountable city: SEC Tournament. College basketball. While I love watching the Terps in person and on TV, I was not exactly thrilled to share the city with hundreds and hundreds of Kentucky fans, dressed completely in Royal Blue, taking up space in every bar and restaurant, gobbling up the reasonably priced AirBnBs, and even invading our hostel. Kerry and I agreed we would have enjoyed Nashville more if it hadn't been saturated with blue.

That being said, we did have a good time. It definitely is a more expensive city than we are used to, but it just posed a challenge of finding good ways to spend our money, and fun free things to do. The things we always spend money on (food, beer, souvenirs) didn't change much, but our two splurges were pretty great:

Belle Meade Plantation: A very cool manor house with grounds that was active for over 100 years in the various economies of Nashville, now a museum, restaurant, and winery. We got a tour of the house by a man in period dress and a wine tasting of 4 of their house wines at the end. It was a beautiful, sunny day when we were there, so we enjoyed wandering the grounds afterwards.






Musicians Hall of Fame: I'm sure some people are shocked that we bypassed the Country Music HoF, because it's the big attraction in Nashville. But Kerry and I are admittedly not huge country music fans, and were worried we wouldn't appreciate the homage to country enough to spend $20. Our trusty free map from our hostel showed us that there was another HoF in town, and Kerry found a Group-on bringing the admission down to $14.50 each! This wonderful museum is dedicated to all the people behind the albums we enjoy so much, as well as the Grammy awards. I really enjoyed learning about the process and all the un-sung heroes. They even had an interactive section which was awesome! Well worth the price.

I don't have a long list of free things to recommend, but they are definitely worth checking out:
- Tennessee State Capitol (free tours but we did self guided)
- Tennessee State Museum
- Hatch Print Show (you can just wander the gallery and watch them work for free)
- Warner park (two different parts, lots of trails)
- Frist Art Museum (just had to show a key proving you were staying downtown!)
- Bicentennial Park and Centennial Park
- Nashville Farmer's Market (we didn't make it but it looked really cool to wander in)

And as always, we ate amazing food and drank some delicious beer. Yazoo Brewing Co. gives an awesome tour that includes 3.5 samples, so it was pretty much a flight + a fun tour.

We were super excited to get home on Sunday, and finally sleep in our own beds. I think Nashville is a place I would enjoy even more if (1) it weren't SEC weekend, (2) it didn't snow and drop to such cold temperatures, and (3) I wasn't on such a low budget. Definitely a place to consider re-visiting later in life.

Austin, aka our dream home: 3/3-3/7

We had such an amazing time in Austin, we didn't want to leave! I'm so glad that we made this part of our road trip, because it is now a must see in my opinion. Every day was filled with new food, new beer, and new sights to see. We didn't even get to accomplish everything or taste everything we wanted, so I guess that means we have to go back!

I think one of the coolest things we did was a mural tour. Kerry had looked up some murals that are great photo spots throughout the city, and then discovered that someone had made a Google maps tour that we could follow around. Since it was drizzling Sunday morning (and parking was conveniently free downtown), we decided to embark on this tour. It was like a Chinese fire drill tour! I would pull over in a nearby parking lot or street parking spot, all 3 of us would climb out and take photos, and then run back to the car out of the rain! We realized about halfway through that this mural tour from Google maps was incomplete, so we quickly drew up our own additions and pretty much doubled the number of spots. It definitely made the tour a bit on the longer side, but there were just so many murals to see! We didn't even get to them all (even more things to do on our next visit). The coolest place was the Hope Outdoor Gallery, which is often filled with people but was abandoned on this soggy Sunday morning, so our photos turned out great.

Another one of my favorite experiences was getting to eat breakfast tacos at Taco Deli with Aditi! She is a friend who I met while doing my away rotation in San Francisco, who goes to Texas A&M School of Medicine. Ironically, she was in DC for the last month on a rotation, but got back the night before we left. Without her recommendations, we wouldn't have had such an amazing time. And it was great to catch up and hear about what she has been up to since I saw her in September. I can't wait until we meet again!

I could rave about all the food we ate, all the local beer and coffee we drank, and all the cool hikes we did for pages and pages, but I want to keep it brief. We had an awesome time despite the rain, and I really hope to go back some day. Here are some of my favorites:

Favorite coffee: Taco Deli Blend at Taco Deli
Favorite BBQ: Rudy's Country Store & Bar-B-Q
Favorite taco: Fried avocado taco at Torchy's Taco
Favorite beer: Wait you want me to pick just one?! :P
                        but probably Stranger Friends by Austin Beerworks
Favorite hike: to Sculpture Falls in the Greenbelt
Favorite mural:

New Orleans, or Nawlins as they call it: 2/26 to 3/2

We got to see so many incredible things while in New Orleans! I've already written a separate post about the parades for Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras, but there was so much more to explore. I won't go into the details of everything, just the highlights to keep it brief

First, here's a list of the delicious places we got noms while in NOLA:
- Melba's Restaurant, for the best po'boys and a daiquiri to knock your socks off (32 oz for $5 on Sundays)
- McClure's BBQ at NOLA Brewing's Tap Room
- Rosa Mezcal on Magazine St after Mardi Gras to refuel with $2 tacos
- Cafe Du Monde in the Quarter to experience the quintessential Cafe au lait made with Chicory Coffee and Beignets covered in powdered sugar
- Daisy Dukes for southern comfort food like fried oysters and gumbo
- Marigny Brasserie to start our night of live music on Frenchman Street

Some of the cool places we visited:
Mardi Gras World - A museum dedicated to all things Mardi Gras! The warehouse was eerily empty since all the floats that are normally in production there were out in preparation for the parades that night. But we got to have some King Cake and learn about the process of building floats. Definitely worth it.

Algiers - the neighborhood across the Mississippi River, accessible by ferry, to wander around the Levy Walk and see the longest running gas station in the south

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum - the shop of the first licensed pharmacist in the US, a museum filled with cool relics of the pharmacies of the past and narrated by a quirky, sassy tour guide

Frenchman Street - We heard from everyone, locals and tourists, that this was the place to go and enjoy live music. Especially if we weren't the type to enjoy Bourbon St, a sticky and smelly place filled with drunk college kids. We had an amazing time! Every bar had a different type of music, and they were all great. (No pictures since the fancy camera didn't make the trip out that night)
Lafayette Cemetery #1 - we missed it the first time because it closes at 3 pm every day, but once we got to walk around it, I learned so much about the way cemeteries were built and all the traditions associated. I'm so excited Kerry found a self-guided walking tour to educate us!

Overall, I enjoyed NOLA. I wish the public transit had been more reliable, but I think that's a result of being there during the main Mardi Gras celebrations. There are many more neighborhoods and places to explore, but I think I got a pretty good exposure to everything quintessential Nawlins.

Mardi Gras: A Retrospective

I had good intentions of writing this post the day after Mardi Gras, but NOLA got away from us, especially with the arrival of my other roommate Katie. So here goes.

I fully expected Mardi Gras to be a loud, drunken bacchanal filled with underage drinking and other debauchery. I had been warned that pick-pocketing was rampant, and to stay hydrated. Family cautioned against flashing for beads. But these aren't the things I experienced at all.

Lundi Gras: Krewe Proteus followed by Krewe Orpheus
   After arriving at the parade route a few hours before it was scheduled to pass by, we settled in a grass patch next to the road. We watched the rest of the parade-goers pack and unpack various BBQ paraphernalia, open up chairs to reserve spots for relatives coming later, and play with their children in the blocked off street. People of all ages, genders, races, and outfits passed by as they made their way to their chosen vantage point. Music played. I wandered up the street for a few tall cans to drink while we waited. We befriended a French Canadian couple sitting near us, who hadn't had plans to visit NOLA until they saw a Carnival parade in Corpus Christi. And all this, even before parade began.
   As the floats came down the street, we all stood in excitement and anticipations. We caught beads and other trinkets. We were never packed in like sardines, or made to feel like our space was being invaded. I got to appreciate the incredible artistry of the floats, the wonderful music of various marching bands, and catch some awesome souvenirs in the process. It was a thrilling experience, and I couldn't wait until the next day's parades.

Mardi Gras: Krewe Zulu, Krewe Rex, and the truck floats

   Although we enjoyed the Lundi Gras parades, we were not under any illusions that Fat Tuesday was going to be that calm and relaxed. We got up early, protected are important belongings from potential pick-pocketers, and coated ourselves in sunscreen. My friend Will had told me that getting there early ensured a spot and maybe a coconut, an apparently coveted gift from the float riders. Once we arrived, it did take some pacing and scoping out to find the perfect place. We settled between a large family who was already enjoying their daiquiris in the street, and a collection of chairs waiting for the family from the neighboring home to come out.
   AND WE CAUGHT COCONUTS. THREE OF THEM.
   But that wasn't even the best part. The most amazing part was that we ended up befriending three young children along the way, as well as various other parade-goers. We helped them catch beads and stuffed animals, and they in turn shared their energy and laughter. The atmosphere was still extremely relaxed, family-friendly, and enjoyable. No pick-pocketers were ever in sight, and we still never felt like sardines. I couldn't believe it. Bead-laden and sunburnt, I walked away from the parades exhausted but so satisfied with our experience.

While I don't feel an urge to return to next year's Mardi Gras, or even the following year, I am so glad I got to experience it. I learned so much more about the traditions, and the celebrations that continued for the months leading up to these two days that we were a part of. 

Laissez les bon temps roulez! (Let the good times roll)