JK's thoughts

Day 7 I get up at 7am and decide to head to the Ruby Slipper cafe, which has won some best Restaurant awards. I go with their signature Banana Foster French toast, as I've been eating a lot of eggs and omelettes on this trip and I've been craving some pancakes and French toast. It seems to take forever for my food to arrive, having been placed at the bar and seeing people on my left and right ordering after me, eating, and leaving. I wonder if they were catching the pigs out in the Bayou for the bacon and sausage in the moment to fill out my order. The French toast is tasty but wish it didn't come drenched in syrup. For lunch Kevin, being a food aficionado, suggests a place called Acme oyster house. At 3pm there is a line for a table and when we sit, we all order the jambalaya, as Kevin says it's famous for it. We order the gumbo soup as well. Both turned out delicious. I found a new kind of Tabasco, buffalo style, which I tried with my gumbo soup. It wa...

Day 6 I get up at 7am. It wasn't a productive night of sleep as I got up twice and was up about an hr both times. A combination of room temperature and high caffeine intake are the culprits for my lack of sleep. I decide to take a walk and get breakfast somewhere. As I stroll down to the Mississippi River, I pause and take a moment to reflect on life and everything. As I look over the Mississippi and the grandeur of it all, I think about how God made all this possible...the river, this beautiful city, my life, the people in my life, blessings in my life, and I say a prayer thanking him. I walk the street where I met the homeless kid a couple of days ago, and decide to eat breakfast at the same place. I never noticed but it's on Decatur. I've been thinking how New Orleans is similar to Las Vegas in a lot of ways...and this just adds to it. The city has really grown on me (maybe because it is similar to Vegas, it's easy for that to happen). I told a co...

Day 5 Got 4 hrs of sleep so I can try to get on a somewhat normal schedule. Also I wanted to hang out with my roommates a little because we've been on opposite schedules. We head down to Bourbon St for breakfast, a place called Cafe Beignet. We get kind of lost on the way there but it's ok because it's pretty fun seeing the French Qtrs. I will say I was surprised by the number of "gentlemen's clubs" in the area.  Once there, there is a live band playing in the patio area. I order a muffuletta Italian sandwich. It originated from Italians in the New Orleans area. It was pretty good. We also order some beignets. It was the first time I've had'em and they were ok. They're bread with powdered sugar (lots of it). I got quite messy and looked like a character out of Pulp Fiction (male version). I hop into a $2/$5 game around 3pm and the game is hopping. I'm sorry, but old guys in the south can't play a lick of pok...

Day 4 The first night in my room, the thermometer read 67, 67! Sorry but that's freezing! I like it warm, somewhere between 72-75. So everyday I've been raising it 1 degree on the thermometer so it's a slow gradual temperature change that I'm hoping my roommates don't notice until it hits 72 (2 more days!). I'm hungry and decide to eat somewhere outside of the hotel and casino. I find a little cafe/dive called Daisy Dukes. It really doesn't get more southern than. It's off on some seedy side street that looks straight out of a movie (any Batman movie). I order the seafood gumbo. It was alright. As I'm sitting here on the table eating, I decide now is as good as any to do my devotional... Daily Devotional It's 11:30pm so I'm barely squeezing in my daily devotional for May 15. Better late than never! Instead of reading the verse of the day or Swipe Right, I decide to reflect on the Great Commission. Reason: I was checking F...

So I'm looking to get breakfast and at Adam's suggestion, go to Mother's (same restaurant I went first day) to try the best breakfast (he claims), the crawfish etouffee omelette. On Mother's Day at Mother's I'm greeted to this.  I would think business would be booming if they were open today. Anyway I wander around looking for a breakfast place. Along the way a kid comes up to me asking for 75cents (oddly not a dollar) for food. I offer to buy him breakfast instead. He accepts. I ask him about his story. His name is Josh and he just left Mississippi to get away from his violent past. His older brother and mother are locked up and he never knew his dad. We have breakfast and I ask him to come to church with me. He agrees.  We spend an hour just talking and hanging out near the French Quarters before church. During service I notice his tattoo on his arm, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be disc...

Day 2 I wake up at 1pm to my roommates Kevin and Paul talking about Kevin missing $7k in cash. After a couple of mins of tracing back his steps, Kevin realizes he stuffed it in his wallet and forgot about it. Glad I'm not the only poker player that forgets where I place some of my roll from time to time. Also gonna admit, super relieved he found it, because Kevin doesn't know me that well, and even though I could just be assuming this, it's very likely I would be a suspect of stealing that cash, because how else could it be missing? Remember, this blog is aptly titled, "JK's thoughts". I spend way too much time trying to figure out how to upload pics to this blog. My views from the room. Verse of the day “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ ...