Christmas in New Orleans (the House Highlights)

Merry Christmas, from beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana! Instead of flying to Florida to spend time with Garrett's mom, we all decided to meet in New Orleans and have a little Christmas vacation together. None of us had been here before, but we had our preconceived notions - I envisioned the whole city looking like Disneyland's New Orleans Square, and people partying in the streets all night long.

Not that I was entirely off. The French Quarter is beautiful and very Disney-esque, but it's only a very small portion of the city. And yes, there are people partying on the streets, even two days before Christmas, but we're told it's a very small crowd, compared to the onslaught of people they're expecting for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras this year.

Nevertheless, getting out of that part of the city felt pretty good. We hopped in a cab, and told the driver to take us to Chartres Street - where we'd heard the fancy people live. It did not disappoint! Check out some of my favorite houses from our impromptu tour...

You know I have a weakness for yellow houses, and check out that turret! Even the carport is adorable!

But there were many others that were arguably more grand...

Porches are definitely a big thing here, though we didn't see anybody rocking on them, or drinking mint juleps while fanning themselves. Maybe it's just not the season... 

Disaster Watch 2012: Um, what?

I may have mentioned that I sometimes find evidence that people have been traipsing through our yard. Sometimes it's that things are moved, sometimes it's beer bottles or cigarette butts. But today I saw something that made my heart stop a little bit. 

My first thought was "how did my crutches get out here?" Then I looked closer, and saw that these were not my crutches. Just to be sure, I went inside and checked - my crutches are in the closet, right where I left them.

So someone entered my yard with a pair of crutches, possibly used them to vault up the side of my neighbor's garage, and then left them behind, laid neatly in a little stack.

Is it just me, or is this a little chilling?