NATA in NOLA

I recently went to new orleans for the National Athletic Trainer's Association's annual conference; for about 5 days, the city of new orleans probably had the highest athletic trainer per square mile it's ever had and was very well equipped with health care providers for all sorts of potential injuries and emergencies.
The conference was great and I met with a bunch of grad schools, and needless to say the dining and nightlife was awesome, but very very pricey. I've never appreciated Athens so much (although not having an open container law bought some brownie points for nola)

Restaurants visited:
-Felix's Restaurant and Oyster Bar
had a soft shell crab po boy. the line was out the door here and the prices were kind of steep but it was soooo worth it. The bar, Jester's was conveniently located right next door and boasted the strongest drinks in the french quarter, so I think those libations made the wait seem faster and more enjoyable
-Cafe du Monde
a new orleans staple!! we passed the original restaurant in the french quarter but actually ate at the "stand" because it was closer to our hotel and the convention center. Allison and I split an order of beignets and washed it down with some chicory cafe au lait
-Cafe Maspero
went here twice thanks to their large portions and reasonable prices. I had a fried oyster po boy one night and jambalaya another. The seafood platter was another popular choice which was HUGE and under 12 dollars. yummmm. also served $1 strawberry daiquiris that my friends seemed to enjoy. I personally thought they tasted like sunscreen..
-Howling Wolf
went here for a quick lunch (was definitely sick of subway; it's a bar with a small menu and I had a cuban sandwich to die for. seriously, amazing
-Serio's Po Boy and Deli
this was in a throwdown with bobby flay for mufalettas and won. since i don't like olives, i passed on the winning dish and went with a specialty po boy and split cheese fries with christina. very tasty and very filling. SUPER friendly staff

annnnd of course we had to visit tropical isle (hellO hang grenades) as well as other classy institutions with clever names such as Bourbon Cowboy

if only hugh had been there...

so today my parents came up to celebrate my early birthday at...drum roll please..the five and ten!!!!

token birthday picture of me and ellen. please note the matching squinty eyes and skinny arm pose..further proof that in 36 years, I will be this precious woman (just kidding, she's not that old!!)

so the five and ten is one of Athens' best restaurant owned by Chef Hugh Acheson aka my favorite unibrowed Top Chef Masters contestant. The website says it best actually...

To Athens he is a guy who owns those restaurants, has one eyebrow, a wife far better looking than he is and two young children who are the apple of his eye.

He also owns the National...and has the best sense of humor EVER. needless to say I prayed the entire car ride there that he would just happen to be chilling at his restaurant today. no dice. Before my parents even had a chance to glance at the menu I made them promise there would be absolutely no singing today. For my 18th birthday at Paula Deen's Lady and Sons, they let it slip it was my birthday and a freaking opera singer crooned to me for about 27 hours. hello embarrassing. Annnnd then the hard decisions began; Dad and I decided on the eggs benedict and Mom got coerced into getting the special omelet of the day-somehow I don't think she was too disappointed

this eggs benedict was served on a delicious potato pancake instead of an english muffin!

the omelet was perfectly seasoned and stuffed with thick braised bacon, cheddar cheese, and spicy kim chi. it also came with a little side salad and this great potato pancake (different from the eggs benedict though)

Our meals were delicious and we wolfed them down in record time. Surprisngly we were satisfied but not stuffed, so our interests turned to the dessert special on the board. We decided that instead of drinks (since I don't turn 21 until a week from tomorrow), we surely could split two desserts). At this point the waitress brought us our check, and we had to inform her that we were not done stuffing out face, dessert menu please!! We decided on the Vanilla Creme Brule and the Special of the day: Peach Cobbler with Whipped Cream and Spiced Plum Sorbet

yes, those are cookies accompanying that delicious jar of vanilla creamy goodness, and yes they were equally delicious. that plate was all but licked clean

also all but licked clean. the spicy sweetness of the sorbet cut right through the sugary sweetness of the peaches. even though by the end of this I was pretty full, I definitely could have eaten another one of these

Overall, this was probably the best brunch I've ever had in Athens. Yeah, we have some good ones (The Grit, Mama's Boy, The Last Resort..), but nothing really beats fine dining. It was pricey, but worth it fo sho. But let it be known, I will keep coming back until i catch a glimpse of my beloved chef unibrow

floating the broad? clearly we paddled...

it's pushing 100 degrees in Athens and the pool just isn't cutting it to beat the heat anymore; when my neighbor Patrick told me that he was getting a bunch of people together to float the Broad, clearly I couldn't say no. Why you ask?

1. sun=hot, river=cold
2. something in athens i've never done before
3. new friends yay!!

so we loaded up the car, met/picked up some omni people, and headed to the Broad River Outpost. When we got there, the parking lot of packed and we were worried that there may not be any kayaks left, but luck was on our side and we got the last six (note to self: next time call ahead). We paid our 20, strapped the coolers onto the 'yaks, and put in the river. Apparently there are two parts of the river you can "float", the upper and the lower. According to the website, the upper portion is about 5 miles of moving water and the lower is 6.5 miles of class II beginner white water containing 7 shoals each with individual ledges and sloughs. I don't really know what this means, but in Gabi language it means lots of opportunities for me to get stuck on rocks, scream really loud, and possibly slip (yes, i definitely fell down and went boom, but it only happened once. win). Aside from getting stuck like 8 billion times, and one flip of the kayak, things were pretty uneventful until the end when we realized that Patrick was nowhere to be found. After 20 minutes of freaking out, we see him paddling towards the pick up point. thank god. apparently he hit "30 rapids, lost the beer and sunglasses,....and his dignity". Could be worse. While waiting, I saw one guy that broke his foot, jumping off a rock. Reason #87 why i don't jump off anything but a diving board.

After a good four hours on the river, we were all starving, which leads me to another first in my life: all you can eat pizza. I pass Stevi B's almost everyday but have never EVER had the desire to go and find it a little bit (ok a lotta bit) ironic that I went with a bunch of trainers from the Omni, but seriously BEST IDEA EVER. I probably ate the equivalent of half a large pizza (and had room for a late night fro yo binge later). My OCD food and exercise tracking told me that I burned about 1300 calories kayaking (not to mention the 600 from fight club), so honestly I didn't even care that I ate more for one meal than I usually do in a day.

Operation try new things so far has been a smashing success-hooray!!