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| Hmmm where did all these boxes come from, girls??? Found this pile outside of Amber, Briana, and Larissa's room this morning. Veeeery interesting. |
6:45AM - meet in the hotel lobby to leave for breakfast and walk to McDonalds. We thought McDonald's for breakfast was the smart way to go since it was so early and no one else would be seeking out breakfast yet since the doors didn't open at the dome for general admission until 8:30. WRONG! We were at McDonald's with about 200 other people. Some ate in McDonald's while the others took their food on the road as Dave transported the group via Van to the dome.
7:45AM - doors were SUPPOSED to open to let the communion assistants in so they could pick up the elements and get in place.
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| Some communion assistants waiting to get in |
8:10AM - enter the dome and pick up umbrellas, bread, wine, and anointing oil
9:30 - 11:30 - closing worship
The service was lead by Bishop Hanson and Rev. Andrena Ingram. When it came time for communion, our group from Hope was assigned to section 145 in the stadium. We spread out and served communion to the hundreds of people in our section and gave a blessing while making the sign of the cross on everyone's foreheads. Wow!
12:15 - lunch at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant. The wait staff assured us we would be out in time for our Hurricane Katrina tour at 1:00, but as 1:00 rolled around, we still didn't have all of our food yet. We asked for to go boxes and threw all the food into the boxes to take along. Dave was already at the tour and asked the bus driver if he would be able to pick us up right at the restaurant which he agreed to do. Thanks!!
1:15 PM - we began our 3 hour tour of New Orleans on an air conditioned bus with very comfy seats. The kids told us later they were all very tired and worked super hard to stay awake during the tour because they thought they would get in trouble. That was until they saw this...
Throughout the 3 hour tour, just about everyone fell asleep for at least a little while. It has been one EXHAUSTING week. The tour was very informative and we learned how the flooding happened, where the flooding was the worst, and saw lots of flood damage. It was incredible to see how poor some of the living conditions still are. In the middle of the tour we made a stop for ice cream! Even though we had just eaten lunch, almost everyone hopped out for ice cream.
4:00 PM - Cafe du Monde
We made a stop at the famous cafe to try out their beignets! I think everyone agreed they were delicious! The only problem was they were messy. While we were waiting in line, the kids met a street performer and talked to him for a little. Alex offered him a large white umbrella we had received and used during our communion after the man expressed amazement claiming he had never seen a white umbrella before.
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| Waiting for beignets |
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| Giving up the umbrella |
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| Like funnel cake, but thicker |
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| These sure are messy! Notice the powder on Tiffanie's face , hands, lap, and cell phone! |
After a little souvenir shopping, we returned to the hotel for about an hour to rest and get ready for dinner.
6:40PM - meet in the lobby for a walk down Bourbon Street and dinner. Everyone needs to at least see Bourbon Street before leaving this city of New Orleans. We walked on it for 2 blocks and the kids had had enough.
7:00PM - dinner at Oceana
This was the first time our entire group got to sit together at one huge table... and we loved it! This was the dinner to experience the seafood and cajun side of New Orleans. Nearly everyone showed their adventurous side and tried some of the gator bites we got as an appetizer. They loved them... "tastes like chicken" - Jon. "Oh, it's really good!" Vicky
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| A catfish mustache... just because |
Our meals arrived and Krista had quite the eye opening experience. "Shrimp have legs and heads????" - Krista. She's never had to peel her own shrimp before. Lucky for her, she was sitting next to Mikayla who had experience. She peeled the shrimp and Krista ate them. Unlucky for Krista, Mikayla didn't remove the vein and later informed her she probably ate shrimp poop. Covering her mouth, "oh no, I think I'm going to be sick!" - Krista.
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| Table for 2?? This one is for you, Pastor Mraz! |
9:00PM - walk back to the hotel (NOT on Bourbon Street)
Since there was no hotel life scheduled, the kids made their own in our hotel. They met up with friends from other churches, swam, played dead in the hallway, had make-up put on (boys!), chatted and laughed, and posed for pictures.
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| bathtub + bathrobes + umbrellas = this |
10:45PM - our last Final 15... which lasted 1 hour instead of 15 minutes.
Highs - church service, serving communion, going home tomorrow, dinner, hotel, dinner conversations, seeing Devin, Caleb, Jon, and Andrew run out of their room after Scott used their bathroom
Lows - going home tomorrow, being tired, falling asleep on the tour bus, Scott smelling up our bathroom, dinner (upset tummies)
Back to the Lehigh Valley in the morning. Good night one last time, New Orleans. We will miss you!!
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