Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry

As most of you can probably relate, I love free stuff. This has become a bit of a downfall in college and in my post college years because it means I am more likely to eat crappily. At work, for example, I get a free pastry so of course I take advantage of that every shift. Even though pastries are sugary, fattening, and have no real nutritional value, I choose to eat them on a regular basis. I also get free soda. In college I had nearly stopped my soda intake for 4 years, but all that is a waste because now I'm addicted to Coke Zero and Sprite Zero. I hate you stupid genetically engineered sweetener that makes the diet taste just as good as the regular!
Now my "acceptable soda" scope has broadened because today I tried Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry. There were people handing them out for free at the corner of Canal and Bourbon, what was I supposed to do, say no? Yeah right! Free means my money stays my money so I'll take you free samples and I'll love you!
Ignatius likes Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry
And so do I

The taste is about as good as any diet drink can be. It tastes a lot like regular, but you still get a weird diet aftertaste that I can't quite understand. But I like drinks without sugar. It doesn't yet bother me that the acid from the carbonation is probably destroying my insides...

New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co.

Seriously, this is my fourth or fifth time eating at New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Co., I can't get enough of it. I usually go for the Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger because I have a weakness for bacon (everything tastes better with bacon), but I have also tried the Big Ch-easy and loved it!
The restuarant is nice, you order your food at the counter (like a Sizzler-->once my family's version of "classy" eating) but the cashier hands you a number and a server will bring it out to you. The food comes without toppings, but there is a small bar with lettuce, raw onion, tomato, and pickles that you can add to your plate. All the burgers come with garlic fries, DELICIOUS! I love garlic fries, I'm so sad that it wasn't until college that I learned of this marvelous creation. The fries here are more like wedges and the garlic seasoning they use is superb. I try to wipe off every last bit of it because I don't want to see anything wasted. Surprisingly, my plate was left nearly spotless because I devoured my burger and fries without hesitation. I didn't know my stomach could still handle that much food.
Of course the devouring would not be possible had I not been able to rinse with a delightfully cool beverage. For a drink I always order a tea. Your cashier hands you a cup and the fountain drinks and teas are out in the dining area. You get to drink endless tea while you dine. The tea options are unsweetened, sweetened, or raspberry. I generally get a mix of the three, 3/4 unsweetened, 1/8 sweetened, and 1/8 raspberry. I love tea.
Today they had a soft serve ice cream machine in the dinning space. I think this must be either a) new, or b) seasonal. Since it is now consistently in the 70s-80s ice cream provides a much needed cool down. And I'm pretty sure ice cream can't be bad if it is soft-serve. It's so good you may find yourself wanting to steal your neighbor's cone, such was the case with Natalie.
Overall, the burgers and fries are great. I've also heard great things about their catfish.
Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger!

I generally don't like to mess with a great thing, but I need some plants to counter the meaty goodness so I took my plate to the topping bar where you can decorate your burgers. I added some lettuce and tomato.

Oh how I miss you Mr. Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger, but you are now safe in my stomach and I am a happier person because of that.


Price: Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger-$8.95, never ending beverage bar-$1.95, soft serve ice cream-FREE
Additional: Every time I've been here the service has been really great. Actually I think I've had the same server at least 3 times and she is really friendly. If you go at non-peak hours she'll offer to refill your drinks for you.

The Prytania

Tonight I visited The Prytania theatre in Uptown with some friends.
The theatre was on my NOLA bucket list, I forget when I first heard about it but I remember hearing from multiple sources that I should really check it out. In A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius visits the theatre. I have not gotten to that part in the book yet, but I imagine the Prytania of Ignatius's time is different.
Why is it such a big deal? It is the only single screen theatre in Louisiana, and the oldest operating theatre in New Orleans (opened in 1915).
It is located in a really plain brick building that does not give off the vibe of a theatre, at least not one I've ever visited. On the website there are pictures of the old building, and I prefer the look of the older building.
You walk into the building and the concession stand is immediately in front of you. To either side of you are small sets of stairs, each leading to a different side of the single theatre. The interior of the theatre looks like many small theatres I've visited.
All in all, it wasn't anything spectacular. Then again, maybe I'm just being negative because I didn't really enjoy the movie I watched, I'll save that for another post though.

Price: $7.75
Additional info: the screen is really large. The friends I met there had parked it in row 4 and as soon as the previews started I knew the movie was going to be hard to watch from that close proximity. It ended up not being so bad, but I really don't recommend sitting that close. Since the theatre is not very busy, there is rarely ever going to be a "need" to sit there.

Superior Grill

Tonight was bitter-sweet. The team went to Superior Grill for some "Fabulous Mexican Dining" which was sweet, but it was our LAST time together which makes for the bitterness.
In three weeks I will be leaving on a jet, and I don't know when I'll be back again. This means the next couple weeks will be full of bitter-sweet memories. *le sigh*
Well Superior Grill was great, per uzh. We went last semester as a team for Happy Hour (4:30-6:30pm) for some frozen drinks, but this time we had dinner to go with our drinks and it was delightful. The drinks are quite strong, I'd like to challenge someone to finish more than one and proceed to walk a straight line. Actually, I'd prefer not to be a part of that nonsense.
I finished my drink but not without feeling some light-headedness and having some serious reservations about standing up afterwards.
The food was delicious. Or maybe the drink is just telling me to say that?

Just kidding, I think the food would have tasted great even without the drink.
Look at that goodness, that picture does not lie. I ordered the ground beef tacos and I was so full after 1 and a half taco, but I trekked through number two and came out a victor. I guess perhaps I came out a loser, depending on your perspective. If you see gluttony as a sin, than I was a loser. If you deny the existence of gluttony than I am a gold star winner!!!!!!!!!! On second thought, I am a loser in that I wore a tight fitting shirt so after the meal I had to uncomfortably suck in my food baby so as not to have a bulging belly. Ok, I guess I'm a loser no matter how you look at it.
Now I must sleep away the full stomach. I'm so lethargic from the meal that I can't do anything productive.
Price: $10-15 for a plate of food, drink is extra.
Additional info: We went at around 6pm and sat at a table inside to escape the humidity and heat (it seems every place in New Orleans invests in air conditioning so you are always deceptively cold when you are inside a building); however the table was facing west on Antonine Street, so a couple people at are table had some serious sun glaring into their faces as they ate.

My Southwest

God heard my praises and wanted to shower me with even more reason to luv Southwest:

I booked my flight to the Bay Area for the summer, May 26th-June 9th (two FULL weeks!)

$35 each way! I've never spent less than $39 for a one-way flight on Southwest, this is truly a glorious day of celebration.
Of course with taxes and stuff I end up paying a good bit more than $35 each way, but still the round-trip ticket was less than $100 when all taxes and stuff were included.

When I'm finished with Cru stuff (if I ever decide to finish, that is) I dream of being a flight attendant for Southwest. It's a serious dream, I even contemplated pursuing it earlier this year when I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do next. Could I luv an airline any more than I love Southwest Airlines? I don't think so.

Southwest

I luv Southwest Airlines!
They have remained consistently loyal, through the good and the bad. but even before this whole mess where other airlines started adding charges for checked baggage and stopped offering food on flights I luved Southwest. My very first flight was on a Southwest flight, so maybe my loyalty stems from that, but my loyalty remains because they continue to surprise me and make me feel special.
Last summer while I was flying back from San Antonio (after the best road trip ever!) my flight got stuck in Phoenix for several hours. There was nothing the airline could do because the reason for being grounded was weather (Arizona has beautiful thunderstorms in the summer) so it's not like I was angry with the airline or anyone really because the situation was beyond being controllable. However, when I moved home later that month I found a letter from Southwest that apologized for the inconvenience and included a $200 voucher!
I luved Southwest before that because Rapid Rewards has flown me for free to New York, Annaopolis, and Oakland for weddings and visits.
This weekend I found one more surprise from Southwest that only intensifies my luv.

Honey-Roasted Peanuts! This does not often happen, I have grown use to being handed the little blue bags of Dry-Roasted Peanuts and I eat them. I'm grateful for whatever they have to offer because I know other flights aren't offering anything. But man, it was like my birthday because on both my flights the flight attendants handed out two gold little bags of Honey-Roasted Peanuts and I luved the feeling.
Dear Southwest Airlines,
I luv you. Please don't stop luving your customers and please continue the pattern of Honey-Roasted Peanuts. I also enjoy the 100 Calorie Snack Paks you offer on longer flights. If you stay loyal, I promise to stay loyal.
Luv,
Devoted SW Flyer

Cajun Critters Swamp Tour

When Adam told me we could do a swamp tour if the price was good, I immediately went to google for help. After a quick search on "New Orleans swamp tour" I discovered Cajun Critters Swamp Tour in Westweego, LA. The tour is two hours and costs only $24/person. I reserved a spot on the 9:30am tour the day before but when we got stuck on the Huey P. Long Bridge it became clear we would not be there in time. I called the gentleman who does the tours to inform him of our lateness. He was really nice, explained to me what to do once we got off the bridge, and instructed me to call him when we were near. Fortunately, swamp tours are not very popular on a Tuesday morning in mid-April, so he held the tour for us. We didn't step on the boat until 9:50am.
I don't remember the man's name who gave the tour, he is the same nice man who I spoke with several times on the phone. He and his family have been in New Orleans for over one hundred and fifty years, so he knows his stuff. The tour is great even without alligators, birds, and turtles to watch for. The scenery is beautiful, the bayou is a beautiful thing.

We did see a dozen alligators or so. Some were off on a log basking in the sun, others swam up to the boat. They were not very big, the largest we saw was probably around five feet, the smallest was around 2 feet. The tour guide and his grandson would throw marshmallows at the alligators to get them to swim nearer, it was fun to watch. I want to take one home, they are so cute!

There is a lot of neat stuff to learn about and see, the tour was really enjoyable and since there were so few people on the tour (the five of us plus 3 Chinese tourists) it was really easy to see the animals and take pictures. The guide even brought some pictures of his own for us to look at, including some photos from when Elisa Donovan and his wife swapped places for a week.