I am here again on South Padre Island running my 4th Turtle Trot 5k. Compared to my last 5k on October 31st, I was a bit slower by 40 seconds but still within my normal range.
This year’s medal looks really good with the sun as a back light.
This time I had their Garlic Chicken Tortellini and it was very filling.
I’ve been cooking and eating at home more lately and I’m finding that eating out I come away extra stuffed. I really should learn to take some to go, because the portion sizes are almost too much for me now.
After the race this morning, I went to Josephine’s Kitchen on SPI. They have really good waffles and good coffee.
Don’t try to go here for dinner; they are breakfast, and brunch only – 7 AM to 2 PM. One day I need to try one of their mimosas.
After finishing breakfast my body, mainly my legs and knees told me I’d put them through too much trauma and they were planning on staging a protest so I am limiting my adventure this year. So it’s Diet Dr. P, Pringles and this view from my hotel room. I love upgrades, it sometimes pays to have brand loyalty, thanks IHG.
I’m hoping to get a picture of the moon rise tonight so I’m going to test out the hotel’s restaurant.
Camarón Al Tequila
Tomorrow’s breakfast will be at the Grapevine Cafe, because I love their crab cakes and eggs benedict.
Setup my big camera to capture the moon rise on November 9, 2025. The moon rose further north on the Eastern horizon than I thought. My misconception was the moon and sun rise in similar locations.
To pair with the moon rise here is the sunrise on Sunday, November 9th, 2025. Seems plenty of other people had the same idea as me to wake up early and watch the sunrise.
Well, it’s time to head home and return to reality. Until the next adventure.
It’s time to go to war; The National World War II museum that is.
After getting your tickets, you first are given your dog tags, board a train and you are off to the war.
During the short video on the train you register and are given a soldier or civilian to follow. I was given Bob Hope.
The Train
Quick tip: If you want to pick your service member, skip the train registration and head up stairs. There you have the choice to select civilian or military and the person.
I signed up for the 10AM, 2 hour highlight guided tour so I had a short wait. So here are some pictures you can see in the lobby area.
German Artillery Landing Craft
Oh, I’ve forgotten twice now to add this tidbit of info… These landing craft are made of wood, I know.. they look metallic (mind blown 🤯) and they were assembled in Louisiana.
(Also, I write my blog on the go and edit on the go so it’s sometimes jumbled especially in my head. 🤪Back to “normal” )
The guided highlight tour was a good idea if you want to see the museum in 2 hours.
British Gas Masks the small one is for a child.German Civilian Metals German metals for mothers. Make those babies.Size of Japanese Military Size of America’s Military Size of Germany’s Military
Quick comment about the German medals for mothers. There were 3 levels women could earn, 4 to 5 kids for bronze, 6 to 7 for silver, and 8+ was gold. If you want to read more check out History.com
I gave myself an hour for lunch after the tour and I enjoyed the pie.
Bob Hope Lemon pieHistory of Tootsie Rolls
I also purchased an extra feature film. It is in a theater where the audience seating rotates and screens for videos drop from the ceiling or come out of the walls. It’s a good film. Tells how close the world came to the death of Democracy.
Theme of the film
I went back around the whole museum again, a bit faster so I could use the dog tag feature. This is an interesting idea, giving those viewing the museum a method to make it more interactive and scratch the itch of those of us that “gotta catch’em all”. But seriously, each of the 6 stations lets you hear and see related topics to that area. Some is just text and others is video.
The exhibits are very engaging and there are individual soldier stories throughout the museum. Some you can read as seen below and others are recorded video or read letters of actual individuals. I feel the designers want everyone visiting to see the individual lives touched by this war.
Did you see the movie, Monument Men,? I haven’t but after this exhibit I want to watch it.
The Monument Men section has the best interactive screens. You can pick different paintings and learn when they were stolen by the Nazis, when/if they were recoved and their current location. A great experience.
I had a good time and learned some new things about that time in history. If you are in New Orleans, make sure to visit.
I wanted and didn’t want to return to my room so I headed to an Irish pub, Molly’s. The Guinness pour was in a regular pint glass, but they also had Smithwick on tap so I was happy; however, their internet was out so I had to use the last bit of my cash. This wasn’t limited to them. I went to the Vampire Apothecary for dinner and their internet was out too. They’re computers could at least scan credit cards and proccess them when the internet came back. If you’ve read my other blogs about New Orleans you will notice I’ve visited this restaurant 3 times now. I wanted to try their boudin stuffed quail, but they ran out. The last time I visited they were out of their baked salmon. That was the menu so I finally was able to sample that menu item.
Baked Salmon
Seriously, why do people say brussels sprouts taste awful? The ones here were very good and the salmon was moist and flaky. Sidenote: the restaurant was saying good bye / happy birthday to one of their employees. I found that a nice touch. People that weren’t on shift actually came in to the restaurant to say goodbye and wish the person a happy birthday. That says something about the establishment, at least to me.
I was tempted to go for a few more rounds at one of the clubs on Bourbon Street, but I did have 2 beers in the hotel and seriously the hotel bar wasn’t that more expensive than the bars, so… That is if you wanted a nice cocktail. Another side note: something I find interesting about bars in New Orleans, in my mind Jack Daniels and Jim Beam are on the same level; yet, some bars charge $1 more for each and it seems to be random. Just an observation.
Well, that is going to close out my trip to New Orleans. I didn’t make it to Caesars Place like I wanted, but that might be a good thing. I don’t know if the Black Jacket gods were on my side.
Until the next adventure… which will be in July can anyone say Comic Con.. no not the one in San Diego, another one in Texas.
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the picture first… It’s freaking hot here compared to my visit in December.
Now that’s out of the way on to this trip…
The drive here was pleasant nothing to talk about; however, the stop at the Louisiana Tourist building and trail is worth mentioning.
I tried to record some video so you could hear the insects, but the video is not stable for some reason so, but here is a video of a swamp with insects buzzing. Thank God there weren’t any mosquitos.
I made good time on I-10 and arrived in New Orleans with time to visit a Barnes & Nobels. I found a paperback copy of Terry Pratchett’s Wee Little Men. If you want a nice summary of Pratchett’s work check out this YouTube video. With time wasted enough and a free tote bag collected from my Barnes & Nobel membership it was time to head to the hotel.
Check in was quick and the valet took my truck off to the magical parking lot that vehicles play in while their owns are on vacation.
After unpacking it was time to grab a drink at the bar before heading off down Bourbon street.
I wanted to visit an “Irish” pub so I went to Erin Rose just off Bourbon Street. The Guinness was poured correctly and the bartender could give some good “craic” the prices were good too, a pint followed by a Jameson on the rocks was only $12.
By now its 7 PM and way past my dinner time so I went to try out The Court of Two Sisters. If you want another take on this restaurant check out Shaun’s Visit. I came in the back door, found the hostess and looked over the dinner menu and decided for the Chef’s Three Course Meal. I started with Turtle Soup, my main was blackened chicken with brussels sprouts and mash potatoes ending with bread pudding in a whiskey sauce.
My only complaint is/was the soup was too salty, but that is a common issue I have after 4+ years of not adding extra salt to anything. I would recommend this meal to friends that were coming to NOLA and need someplace to eat.
Now unlike Las Vegas, my body knew it was 8:30 PM and the adult beverages were starting to hit so I headed back to my hotel and started/completed this blog post.
Going to start today with a big breakfast and off to Hoover Dam.
The Sphere says “Good Morning” 🌞
Side point.. The rental car is a sporty Mazda with lots of AI driving settings. I really like the adaptive cruise control; however, if you get behind a slow drive you will stay at that speed until you get away from them. Back to the regular schedule ramblings…
The first view you get of the Hoover Dam is fantastic. I wish I had a dashcam to show you, but maybe this will encourage you to visit on your own.
On to some pictures…
The highway that was built over the dam is crazy.
Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
Here are some pictures from Nevada and then Arizona.
Nevada
Right in the middle of both states
Panoramic Picture
Arizona
I only took the 30 minute Power House tour. Which shows you one of the by-pass pipes they used to divert the Colorado River back in the 1930s so they could build the dam on dry land.
Then we went up a few levels to the power house.
The other tour takes you deeper, sees more tunnels and lasts about 90 minutes and you get to wear a hard hat. If I visit again it gives me something to do.
Time to head back and get some lunch and rest my feet. The next thing I have planned is a Big Bus Tour with a visit to the Neon Sign Museum. That’s at 8 PM.
I’m currently sitting in my room, listening to a thunderstorm rolling by.
I really enjoy a rain storm, but when I’m inside and don’t have to get out in it. 😇 Sadly the rain just teased me. Everything stayed north and moved fast. The news did mention that a few areas got it with some flash flooding and showed some videos that citizens sent in to the news showing streets flowing like a fast moving river. EMS even had to rescue someone that got swept away in a storm drain. Lucky for that person they were able to be rescued in time.
I couldn’t sit still anymore so I headed out to shop, well look at shops. This is crazy… Between, underneath or beyond, I’m not sure, The Venetian and The Palazzo, there is this HUGE shopping area with various restaurants and retail shops. They made it look like a Venetian City. You can even ride a gondola along a canal.
So many ways to be entertained in Vegas.
And finally the final tour of the trip off to see the old signs of Vegas. Learn more here.
There is a lot of history in these signs and what is the current Las Vegas Strip is the new part of Vegas some of the oldest casinos are in the downtown area, such as El Cortez Hotel and Golden Nugget.
Now off to the welcome to Vegas sign to end the tour and my trip.
It’s the next day, for real this time, and my body didn’t get the memo that I’m in a different time zone. I was awake again at 4:15 AM, at least I don’t hurt as much as I thought I would. I should have brought my new shoes instead of an older pair (I’m using them for hiking later, still need to replace my hiking boots after last summers issue.) And good news, Red Rock Canyon has a scenic drive loop with parking at the easy trails, so that’s today’s plan. I should even be back before Weather.com says hiking is bad.
Red Rock Canyon is beautiful and is designed to be driven with set parking locations and trails branching from them so you can get better views. I tried recording a video driving the route but my setup didn’t work. If I really want to record a drive I’m going to have to buy a dashboard camera. Here are some pictures. I only hiked one trail and it was short, 0.2 miles out and back.
Since I got back from Red Rock, I’ve just been relaxing. I baked a pizza while my laptop did some updates. I’m tempted to take a nap before heading out again.
Seriously, I think whoever designed Las Vegas and how the casinos connected worked for Elder Scrolls Online and learned the “you can’t get there from here” principle. The signage in the casinos is no help either. Now I do admit, once you figure out the system I think you can go from the north to south via casino lobbies and shopping areas. Now learning the pattern probably takes a life time 😆
Sherwood Bar
Well, I’m in The Excalibur drinking overpriced old fashion, but at least I’m not walking and in the sun anymore. My dinner and show starts in about 2 hours. I just signed up for the MGM Rewards and guess I’ll figure out how they work playing slots.
Gave slots a try.. didn’t go well. I saw people all around me with small wins, but I bust each spin. The odds are not in my favor.
I did watch a bit of black jack play and there was a lady killing it. Never changed her bet just kept winning and banking the win. Tempted me but the odds are not in my favor. So off to drown my sour in $6 draft beer. At least I have the show to look forward to. Before we chat about the show, I want to mention it’s worth looking for happy hours that are near the casinos. Was able to enjoy a few beers and even had a bartender originally from El Paso.
I’ve been seated for the king’s tournament.
The Tournament of the King was cool. Be prepared for indoor fireworks and the evil wizard has a flame staff. Wow you can feel the heat. But why did they only give me 4 baby potatoes? Seriously, half a chicken but only 4 baby potatoes?
The meal (I ate a potato)
After the show, I tried my chances at 2 for 1 blackjack table… OMG.. I only lost 1 hand. Risked $20 and walked away with $70.. $50 profit. I so wanted to go back and keep trying; however, the King’s Mule kicked in and I couldn’t math… So walked, no ran away… 😆
Looking north from the Skybridge by the MGM
Every wonder where the MGM live happens well here it is
And no, it isn’t one way glass. These people are doing their job with us, average Joe public, watching them. How I know, one of them smiled at me when I asked out load if it was one way glass.
Off to bed now, well maybe going to take a bit to come off the winning high.
I’m currently sitting in the airport lobby waiting for the ticket agent to go on shift. Seems Southwest Airlines or maybe some new TSA rule doesn’t allow you to check in 2 hours before your flight and the airport I’m flying out of is too small to have multiple flights back to back. I learned about the 4 hour rule when I traveled to Utah ( https://maethar.com/2023/06/27/utah-final-day/ ) but this 2 hour thing is new to me.
Now that I got checked in, I asked the ticket agent and found out it’s a local airport policy. The annoying thing is the kiosk self-checks are also turned of 🤷. Oh well, got my boarding passes and drink vouchers 😇… I’m off to my adventure. Check back tomorrow for details of where I am and what I’ve done so far.
Today, was mainly about driving to Canyon Lake, Texas. I am happy to say that the drive was uneventful and I was able to get through a good portion of Dr. AJ’s book on “The Short Stories of Jesus“.
I arrived at my resort, Holiday Inn Club Vacation, Canyon Lake and this time I learned to use my points to get the fancier room, Presidential 2 Bedroom Villa.
I grabbed a burger and onion rings at Canyon City Grill. If you want a burger and some good onion rings, make sure you stop there.
Tomorrow I’m planning on revisiting Wimberly, Texas and visiting as many Wineries that happen to be open and nearby, on a Tuesday.
Sorry this is so short, but not much really happened.
The final day in New Orleans has arrived. I had plans to get tickets for the river boat tour but all the ones being offered included a buffet lunch and I really didn’t want to eat a buffet. So if I return, I will have to remember to book a tour earlier and probably not travel on a major holiday; however, if I had planned better there was an option to take a tour on Christmas Eve the night that the city lights a bunch of bonfires along the levels to help Santa find his way on Christmas.
This morning the day started with fog.
I had been doing on the days before I made a loop around the French Quarter and worked my way back to Canal Street. I stopped at French Truck Company for a coffee and a chocolate croissant. I also needed to use the bathroom and many of the places have a code to the bathroom. I could have bought a cup of water for $1, but I hadn’t have breakfast so why not eat a croissant.
It was still too early in the morning for any stores or many places to be open, most open at 10 AM. So I went back to my hotel room, finished my coffee and typed up my Christmas Day blog.
I left the hotel with a goal to buy a new bracelet and a new ring. I was able to find both, but not at the same place. I’m pretty sure I paid too much for the ring, but it is very hard to find rings that fit my fingers, so I am happy.
I think you can probably guess what will drive the narrative next, it’s lunch time. I tried the Trio Sampler or whatever it was called at Monty’s on the Corner. The meal didn’t disappoint and I got to sample a variety of New Orlean’s cuisine.
After lunch I signed up for a free Tour of The Sazerac House, which is basically a sales pitch for Buffalo Trace and Sazerac Rye Whiskey. You do learn the history of the cities cocktail, The Sazerac and how bartenders changed the recipe from Sazerac Cognac to bourbon and created a unique bitters to New Orleans.
The fog never really cleared out of the city all day. Here are some final pictures from the roof top pool of the hotel I’m staying.
And so ends my trips. The only thing left if for me to drive home. Until the next adventure.
Christmas day is finally here and the next Doctor Who Christmas Special will be airing later today on Disney+ so I will need to be back in the hotel room by 11 AM to watch before all the YouTubers and bloggers post their reviews and spoil the show. But enough of my nerdiness on to the morning adventure.
So I started the morning off with a 1 mile run, followed by a 1.25 mile walk. I planned on running the full distance but decided relax, knowing I was going to still walk a bunch later in the day. You know after the Doctor Who show.
An advantage to being up before 8 AM Christmas Day, is there is little to no traffic, so you can stand in the middle of an intersection and take pictures. This is the view from corner of Dumaine and Chartres
Looking Down Dumaine
Looking Up Chartres
Looking Up Durmaine
Looking Down Chartres
Yes, I realize you can get a better view if you just use Google Street view, but my picture is from Christmas Day, 2024.
Not only did I need to make sure I was back in my hotel room by 11 AM for the Doctor Who show. I also needed to be inside before the rain storm predicted for mid day reported for duty.
Mid Day Christmas Rain Storm
Once the rain storm pasted by the weather cleared up enough for me to go walking about again, but this time to look for a late lunch. But before that, here is a picture of my Christmas cookies, the green icing was a bit too thin, but I did better with the red.
Now, back to lunch… Which was 3 crabcakes on a bed of spinach with grilled tomatoes from The Original Pierre Maspero’s. I was surprised to as many restaurants as I did open on Christmas Day. The drink was called a Black Pearl which is made with Amador Bourbon, amaretto, soda, and sweet and sour mix.
I had to look up the drink recipe so I visited their webpage. They didn’t use stock pictures, but took pictures of the real wait staff and bartender. Just found that interesting. Oh, the crabcakes were pretty good. I’d give them a 8 out of 10. They can’t compare to the ones I had in Maryland back in October of 2023. As a sidenote, I’m going to need to reorganize my categories here on the blog. I’m thinking of adding years under the vacation category. I had trouble going back an looking up where I was in 2023 for the crabcakes.
Look at how the clouds are so low they cover the top few floors of these buildings. Just thought this was cool.
Going to call it an early day, I only walked half as far as yesterday, 5.5 miles and the drinks I had at restaurant followed by the mulled wine I made in my hotel room have made me very sleepy. Until tomorrow’s adventure – the last day in New Orleans.
I started the day off with an early morning walking hoping to get some good pictures of the sunrise over the Mississippi River. The morning was very clear, thus with our clouds the sunrise doesn’t have as many colors, but it was still very pretty.
Earlier PictureLater Picture
The pictures above were taken about 15 minutes apart, well maybe. I wasn’t really paying attention to time.
I think I took pictures of this “love lock” gate/fence thingy last time, but here it is again or possible for the first time.
Sorry this is so fuzzy
If you break up with your true love, do you have to come back and cut off your love-lock?
I continued my morning walk through Jackson Square and then down Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street is very different in the morning with all the bars closed and the cleaning crews out picking up the mess from the previous night. If I understood the news this morning, a new cleaning company was hired by the city to clean up the French Quarter and they started this week. However, they started at Canal street and were working their way down Bourbon street, I was walking up the other way so I finished my walk on cleaner streets. I did have the joy of seeing a dead rat, a live rat and some guy on a bicycle offered me marijuana at 7:30 AM. As the guy rode away he kept commenting that it’s legal here… I guess he was hoping I would change my mind. Here are some pictures from along my walk.
Sorry if you looked through the pictures hoping to see the dead rat. I did think about taking a picture but decided I would give the little animal some respect in its death. 😂😇☠️
After getting some breakfast, I headed back to Canal Street to get a street car heading toward the Art Museum and the City Park so I could visit the Botanical Gardens.
Street Car on the 48 Line
I had a nice morning walking around the Botanical Garden; however, it is quite small compared to other ones I’ve visited. It did have a children’s theme park section with playground equipment and mini rides. I didn’t go to that side of the garden.
Taking the street car back toward the French Quarter, I arrive sometime after 1:00 PM and realize breakfast was a few hours in the past, which explains why I was feeling hungry. Time to grab some sea food from Landry’s.
If you are near Landry’s in New Orleans, try their version of an Old Fashion. It was one of the best I’ve had, but it is based off peach flavorings instead of orange. You could easily have a few of them before you realized that last one was one too many. I wanted to get a beignet, but I hate waiting in long lines so I skipped Cafe Du Monde again and tried to get a beignet at Cafe Beignet; however, they closed at 2 PM because of it being Christmas Eve. So I settled for some ice cream.
Oh, I forgot to mention I did do a bit of shopping before the ice cream. I went to two Christmas themed stores looking for, well honestly, I don’t know what I was looking for which is probably why I didn’t buy anything. If I had wanted a statue of Santa or the Grinch I had a great choices to choose from. I was tempted to buy the animated Charlie Brown TV statue, but not so much that I wanted to spend $35. I did stop by a shop selling hot sauces and I dropped $45 on a few hot sauces and spice mixes.
This picture was take on Christmas Day, the day after my visit on Christmas Eve which is why it is closed.
I walked passed this store but the aroma coming out the door drew me back hence the spending of money.
With all this walking, my Garmin watch let me know I had walked double my 8000 daily step challenge for a total of 10 miles of walking around the Botanical Garden and the French Quarter. So with my ice cream purchased I headed back for an early day.
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