New Orleans- September, 2023

 Today was a long day... Ann started meetings at 8 and then came back to the room for a rest. Bob took the trolley to the French Quarter Open Market and decided to just walk back to the hotel, and take photos along the way The sculpture at the entrance of the open-air market The open-air market has food, crafts, art, and clothing. It spans about three blocks. Lots of souveniers are available at the market. Plenty of nice homes in the French Quarter. It is about 1.5 mile walk back to the hotel Some of the homes in the French Quarter Musical entertainment and psychics along the way. Bicycles are popular in NOLA. They have a bike share similar to Philadelphia, and bikes are available for rent. No comment... Getting closer to the hotel, passing the courthouse. Three blocks to go along this small roadway to the hotel We touched base at the hotel and watched the news about the rain in the Northeast. Ann has a wine and cheese gathering to attend, and Bob stays in the room recovering from ...

 Today we took time to visit the French Quarter for a short time, then back to the hotel. Ann had events all day into 9 p.m. in the evening. Bob took a short walk, but spent most of the day recovering from the golf outing the day before and catching up on some work. We did take an hour out to write cards for senior citizens. It was a craft project where you put together a card, sign it, and it is later sent to seniors. That was a nice break. And then we realized that we were seniors and that somewhere, someone may be making cards to send to us! Bob took a walk later in the evening and decided to stop in a CVS just to have a look. Incredibly, the CVS also sells beer and other alcohol. Why waste a lot of money on prescriptions when you can just have a few beers, see how you feel after that, then decide whether to fill the prescription. The local CVS

  Ann left the room at about 7 a.m. today for more breakfast meetings. After she left, Bob went to the supermarket, returned to the hotel, and got ready for the golf outing to support the GAPNA foundation. The same group plays every year at different locations. This year we were playing golf at the Audubon Golf Course. Since not everyone is an excellent golfer, we play a game called 'best ball.' Here's how it works: In a foursome, each player places their ball wherever the best shot within the group landed. This way, the outing remains enjoyable for everyone.. The course's website features drone footage of the entire layout. After viewing this, I decided to bring plenty of golf balls from home because they are twice as costly when purchased at the course. We were able to rent golf clubs there at a reasonable rate. There were numerous water hazards scattered across the course, so I asked at the front desk about the presence of alligators. The response was quite casual, ...

 Today was a busy day for Ann, with board meetings beginning at 7 a.m. and going through the day until 5 p.m. Then a short break, and then she has another dinner meeting. Bob got up early and made coffee. No breakfast since Ann's first meeting was a breakfast meeting. Bob got some food for his breakfast out of the fridge, and got a tiny bit of work done from the "command center."Ann hooks up her computer to the command center when she needs to print something, Bob hooks up his computer to work, phones get recharged, coffee gets made and there are usually some snacks on the table. The command center with computer, hotspot, printer, coffee machine, snack table, etc. Bob walked Ann down to her first meeting. Then, it was off to the World War II Museum, which is one of the major attractions in New Orleans.  Bob/I decided to walk the 1.5 miles to the museum with camera in hand, and see what interesting photographs might be taken along the way. It was over 90 degrees, and humid...

 The convention hasn't started yet today, and we got off to a late start, still recovering from jet lag.We decided to have brunch at the same Mexican restaurant we visited for dinner the evening before. They served a great Mexican breakfast dish. Ann had board meetings today and they also went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant. I seem to be on the wrong board. The hotel is just across the street from the Superdome and the Smoothie King Sports Center. It is huge and we're on the 25th floor. The elevator ride is like an amusement car ride.However, they seem to have some trouble measuring things, and I'll save that for a later post.  Sunrise in New Orleans from the hotel room A look from our floor down to the hotel lobby. View from our floor to the hotel lobby Bob discovered that you can purchase a $15. transit pass, good for unlimited rides the entire week. The only difficulty getting the pass, is finding someplace that sells them. Bob goes for a one mile walk to find a...

 We got up around 6 a.m. on Sunday morning for our long trip. The trip to the Philadelphia airport was a easy. There aren't many people on the roads at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. The wait at TSA was long, but we had enough time to pick up a quick breakfast. (see below). Breakfast in PHL before leaving Then a changeover in Atlanta (we just caught our flight in time again), and a few hours later we were in New Orleans.  Ann having fun with the onboard movie entertainment There were free movies on board and I just managed to finish one as we taxied toward the gate in Atlanta. I had it timed to the minute but then the pilot kept interrupting with announcements, which automatically delayed the movie. Thank goodness the original time included about five minutes of movie credits at the end. On the way to getting baggage in New Orleans, I noticed a Limo driver holding a sign that said "Kriebel." How many Kriebels can there be in New Orleans, right? I asked him who he was waiting for ...