New Orleans or Bust!

Feb 5

Sooo, we have just returned from an epic road trip that began in Atlanta, Georgia and led us to Montgomery, Alabama —> Gulf Shores, Alabama —> New Orleans, Louisiana —> Seminole Canyon, Texas —> Gila Mountains, New Mexico —> Suprise, Arizona —> Hawthorne, Nevada —> Home Sweet Home, Oregon.

Why Atlanta, you ask? As hard-working farm people of the north, we like to take a few weeks every January to rest and restore in warmer climes, so we thought a Deep South adventure would be just the thing. At the same time, we’ve been wanting to purchase an official Nymph and Woodsman van that we can use for farmer’s markets. Seth had the crafty idea to fly to Atlanta (affordable flights), buy a van there (cheaper than the same models here), and drive it home, camping along the way.

We’ve also both had a long-held dream of visiting New Orleans, probably the only US city I’ve ever actively wanted to visit. This yearning was only magnified by our recent deep dive into all four seasons of Treme—a fantastic show circa 2010 about post-Katrina New Orleans. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!

We checked the weather before we left and noted that it was going to be a chillier trip than originally expected, but I still packed sandals and a bathing suit, imagining long sunny afternoons on the white sand beaches of the Gulf. Ha! I didn’t put on my sandals once, and the only time I wore my bathing suit was for the hot springs in the Gila Mountains of New Mexico. It was freezing and/or raining during every walk on the Gulf. But we did see dolphins!!

By the time we got to Louisiana the sun had come out and, even clad in down coats and leather boots, New Orleans was amazing!! We were there during the lead-up to Mardi Gras, which was just perfect. We’re both a bit crowd-shy, so we were able to experience the festivities without overwhelm. And we even got to participate in a classic Treme neighborhood second-line parade! That, along french fries smothered in Cajun alfredo, were the icing on the cake of my New Orleans dreams.

I’ll let the pictures below tell the rest of the story. And for a special treat, scroll all the way down to watch a short video of the real-deal second-line neighborhood parade we got to join on our last morning in town.

In the meantime, please note that we are officially out of hibernation. If you placed an order while we were gone, you should be receiving it soon. Thank you for your patience. And if you place an order now, it should arrive in a timely manner! We will be at the Grants Pass Indoor Farmers Market this Saturday, 9-1 and hope to see you there!