Rec and Leisure Lady

Next time you are in New Orleans, you should ride on the last steamboat on the Mississippi River- the Natchez. It's a wonderful experience for all ages! The cruise lasts for 2 hours and take you down the Mississippi while providing information about area. Our cruise narrator told us about the levee system, cargo imports and exports, hurricane damages, even old battle grounds and the old Jackson Barracks! A unique view of Jackson Square on the top and New Orleans at the bottom! Visit Steamboat Natchez for more information and reservations!!

Head out north of Baton Rouge on Highway 61 past St. Francesville to find one of the most unique experiences- a prison rodeo. Walk around the offender craft fair to view and purchase all types of crafts made by the offenders throughout the year. There are paintings, rocking chairs, picnic tables, leather goods, woodwork, jewelry, and so much more! I bought a simple fleur-de-lis necklace and my boyfriend bought a belt commemorating the New Orleans Saints win over the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl this past year. After you walk around the crafts fair, head over to the arena to watch a real rodeo! You will see prisoners compete in bull riding, calf wrestling and contests such as seeing who can stand in a hula-hoop the longest with a bull on the loose. A few of the prisoners were taken away by the ambulance due to injuries from falling off the bull or getting run over by the bull, but there were plenty of reasons to smile during the rodeo as well! For example, monkeys wear sequined

On August 6th and 7th, I went to the Balloon Festival in Baton Rouge! There were the festival must-haves such as the food vendors selling funnel cakes, turkey on a stick, coconut shrimp on a stick and many other foods that have no nutritional value at all,,,,, there were festival games such as a rock climbing wall and an inflatable human hamster ball thing.... and then there were the balloons!! Yummy!!! Josh was really into taking pictures as well It's starting to fill up!! Both nights were supposed to start with a mass ascension but they couldn't go up either night due to storm clouds being within a certain distance from the field. The highlight of both nights though was the balloon glow! We got to watch 20-30 hot air balloons fill up with air and then the announcer synchronized their fire lighting so that the field was filled with the lights from the balloons at once and then the balloons would all randomly flick their lights on and off. Both were so beautiful and t

Of course I'm going to be biased towards any trip to Georgia because it's my home and it's amazing, but this particular trip was tons of fun. Josh and I took a day trip to Atlanta and went to the Georgia Aquarium, CNN Center and an Atlanta Braves game all in one day! The Aquarium in Atlanta is supposed to be the largest indoor aquarium in the world. They are the only aquarium that has whale sharks outside of Asia. They also have beluga whales, great hammerhead sharks, manta rays, and about 100,000 other fish! The aquarium is broken down into exhibits like River Scout or Ocean Voyager. They also have a few touch pools where you can touch stingrays, baby hammerhead sharks, horseshoe crabs and anemones. The penguin exhibit was my favorite for sure. It's newly designed so that you can crawl through a tunnel with the penguins swimming around you...They liked Josh's hat...and then you can stand up in a bubble in the exhibit! That's how I was so close to them in my pic

Another day trip that we took while in Maine was to hike Mount Kineo at Moosehead Lake. As you can see from the Google Maps picture, we were basically on an island on the middle of the lake. We took a ferry over to the mountain. People who ride the ferry either hike up Mount Kineo or play golf on their beautiful golf course which is right beside the moun tain. The hike was pretty steep in some parts. Josh, his brother Matt, his dad and I roughed it on the 1 mile hike up the mountain. There were spectacular views of the lake all of the way up the trail! At the peak of the mountain, there was a fire tower that's still in use! We walked up all 4 flights of stairs and ate lunch on top of the tower. We were taller than all of the trees around us! I was a little scared especially when you could feel the tower shake when other people walked up and down the stairs. It was a very enjoyable day hike and I would recommend it to anyone if you ever take a trip up to northwestern Maine!

On a recent trip to Maine to visit Josh's family, we visited Acadia National Park which is located right on the coast on Mount Desert Island. The views were breathtaking! When we first arrived to the park, we started traveling down the Loop Road which takes you all around the island and has many great stops along the way. The first stop was Cadillac Mountain. The fog was so intense on top and visibility wasn't too great. On the way down the mountain, we saw this beautiful view on the left. We loved watching the fog glide over the islands. It was so pretty! The cute little town of Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hah -Bah) can also be seen in these pictures. We later went down into the town to walk around. There are quaint little shops and restaurants everywhere, a park in the middle of the town and of course the harbor. It's very picturesque and I know I could have spent a whole extra day exploring just the town! Josh's dad is a certified Maine guide so he knew many little se

I just spent a weekend at my friend's cottage in Inlet, NY which is in the Adirondacks. It's beautiful up there! No humidity which was a great change for me compared to Louisiana! It was apparently warmer than usual while I was there but I didn't notice. Our cottage was in walking distance from the town of Inlet so we walked to eat dinner and breakfast and to shop or grab a drink, whatever we needed! We also went swimming one day.....the water was around 68 degrees! So cold but also so fun to be in a lake that's surrounding by mountains. I tried not to think about how cold I was!! We hiked one of the mountains, Rocky Point, while we were there and the view was amazing! It was only a 1/2 mile hike and it was worth it! The most exciting thing that happened though is that I almost came face to face with a bear!! Jackie and I were attempting to make a fire the first night we were there when we heard leaves crunching. It sounded like someone was walking around down the hill

So I'm getting behind on my blogging I know but now that the school year is over, I may have a little more free time. I have new travels planned for next month for sure so I'll definitely write on those. This blog is about one of the most fun things to do in the spring in Louisiana = a crawfish boil! It's such a fun group activity! You take a bunch of crawfish, potatoes, corn, garlic and seasoning and boil in all together in a huge cauldron looking pot. When it's all cooked, you spread newspaper out on a table and dump the contents of the pot on the table and dig in! If you aren't up for the adventure of boiling your own crawfish, there are seafood markets around the area that selling them already boiled. The process of eating a crawfish is quite tricky. You have to pull it apart at the middle and suck out the meat from the bottom half. A crawfish boil is a great Louisiana tradition and I would definitely suggest attending one down here if you ever get the chance

For spring break this year, some friends and I went down to Panama City Beach. This isn't to be confused with Panama City, which is known as a major college spring break city I know. Panama City Beach is becoming more touristy but not too bad yet. We stayed in a rental house right on the beach perfectly placed between the high rise hotels by around 1/2 mile on both sides. The best part of this vacation was the fact that I didn't let time govern my day like I have to at school or like others do at their jobs. I woke up without an alarm, ate when I was hungry and went to sleep when I was tired. I spent my days laying on the beach, braving the cold water of the ocean, completing crossword puzzles, and playing dominoes (Mexican train dominoes to be exact- a super awesome game). One morning we woke up and watched dolphins swimming back and forth in the Gulf while sitting on our back porch- fantastic! As far as the "must-see" places in Panama City Beach, I can't say muc

So I've decided to start a blog on traveling and leisure. Being a math teacher is great but I miss using my major which was recreation and leisure studies. I really want to educate people about using their leisure time wisely and positively because it affects their development as a well-rounded individual! I have discovered this year that I love taking weekend trips!! My boyfriend and I have been to New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and Athens, GA for various occasions and we are planning future trips as well! I will record my adventures and findings in this blog. Since I currently live outside of Baton Rouge, most of the trips will be within a day's driving distance of here. You can come read up on cool (and cheap) recreation and leisure opportunities that I find in whatever area I'm visiting!! For now, if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you should get a free application called Goby. It tells you about all sorts of recreation and entertainment options in different areas. I'