I was sitting in my nest on the porch this morning, trying to figure out the perfect way to celebrate John's birthday on 1/1/11. However, after 40 years of being together, I'm still not sure what he would consider an "ideal day", other than time spent napping to the sound of a football game. So, I decided to plan my birthday instead, which is almost a year away. I believe that if something is important to you, you shouldn't just leave it to chance or expect people to read your mind, then get all bent out of shape and pouty when they don't. Not that I've ever had any cause for complaint. John is the world's best gift shopper. It's just that people change, and at this point in my life there is nothing left in the material world that I need or want. The things I most yearn for now are experiences, and to make as many wonderful memories as I can with friends and family.
We had quite a few exotic adventures in our younger days, but have done almost no travel at all here in the states, and neither have our kids. Sooo, on my next birthday, we are going giftless. Instead, we are going to hop into the car or onto a plane, and we are going to travel to a town or city that is just brimming over with a "sense of place", if only for a couple of days. Here is what I plan to do, once we arrive:
- Check into an inn or hotel that was built in the town's early days, and which has a sense of history.
- Ditch the car, and walk the streets instead.
- Take frequent breaks at sidewalk cafes, and do some people-watching and -listening.
- Find a great outdoor market, and see how the locals shop.
- Find an activity that local people would attend -- a play or a concert, or a place they might go dancing.
- Eat food that is so good, it will make me moan.
- Soak up the feel of this place.
P.S. Many thanks to dunalastair.co.uk for the street market scene above, french-at-a-touch.com for the sidewalk cafe image, and to nicholls.edu for the image of Rosie Ledet.
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7 comments:
Happy birthday planning! =) New Orleans is on my list to visit too!
Synchronicity! After Bayou Woman posted her walking tour of a day in New Orleans, I commented that I was left feeling that it had been farrrrr too long since I'd seen New Orleans:
http://bayouwoman.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/photo-essay-fall-day-in-new-orleans/
For sense of place I've always wanted to visit Charleston and/or Savannah---still on my bucket list!
Two of my best birthdays revolved around events I planned myself so I heartily 'second the emotion.' Planning and anticipation are half the fun!
Autumn in New Orleans is tres bien, cher!!! I answered you at length over at Bayou Woman, so come on back and bring your notepad!!!
Tell your friend Teri H to come, too!
BW
M.E.- As you can see, I ran straight to B.W.'s blog after reading your comment.
Teri - And as you can see, B.W. sent you a message!
B.W.- Thanks for stopping by!
This is the way my husband and I love to travel. We love to stay in a central location and just walk. We have some of coolest experiences this way.
Most memorable was on our honeymoon in Rome. We were eating on the patio at a local pizzeria. We were the only foreigners there, the locals were all inside loudly watching a soccer game.
While we were eating we saw a man on a motor bike with a girl on the back waving the Italian flag. Interesting, but we kept on eating. By the time we finished our pizza, there were 10,000 people in the plaza in front of us. A seething mass of people waving the the Italian flag and pulling up and throwing the landscaping. It was wild.
Girl Powers: We had a similar honeymoon. John was taking me, a young girl who was fresh out of school and who'd hardly been out of Texas, off to live in Indonesia. We stopped in Hong Kong along the way, and John had a blast watching me "experience" it all - especially the guys who would grab me right off of the street and drag me down a back alley to their little shops, then expect me to haggle with them over prices. He said my eyes were as wide as saucers the entire time! Another time we were strolling along a cobbled street in Athens, when a guy on a Vespa came careening around a corner, bumped into my elbow (tearing a hole in my sleeve) which caused him to lose his balance and crash. We tried to get over to see if he was OK, but suddenly the crowd started pushing us in the opposite direction, saying "OK, OK!", and wouldn't let us get near him. I was semi-hysterical, thinking it was all my fault, but John was convinced the guy was trying to snatch my purse, and that's why the people were trying to keep us away from him. I should write a book called "Educating Becky!"
Just read this article in the NYTimes and thought about your N.O. trip and things to do. Isabelle Cossart sounds like such an interesting woman.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/magazine/12food-t-000.html?hpw
Hmmm, then again 65-70 per person seems steep. Oh well, you can add it to the wish list and winnow it out later!
http://www.toursbyisabelle.com/tours_neworleans.html
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