Weekend in NOLA - Part 1

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Southern Republican Leadership Convention in New Orleans.  My friend, Jamie, and I took the Amtrak train from Jackson to New Orleans.  It took a little longer than a car, but it was so much fun.  It also happened that we rode the train down with several crazy ladies that were part of the Mississippi Republican Women.  They were absolutely hilarious and kept us entertained the entire ride.  They even had a life-size cardboard cutout of Sarah Palin.  Mississippi's Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and his wife also rode with us.  Because of our conversations and laughs with these women and Lt. Gov. Bryant, Jamie and I felt like celebrities at the convention.  Every time we ran into one of these women or Lt. Gov. Bryant, they said hello, hugged us, gave us free stuff, etc.  LOVED it.

After we got to NOLA, we checked into our hotel.  It was perfect!  It was in THE best location and we got a great rate.  Jamie and I then went down and had a snack at these fun little bar/grill called Lucy's that our cab driver had recommended.  After going and checking in at the convention, we went to Harrah's Casino to wait for some of Jamie's friends who were coming up to have dinner with us.  We played penny slots.  I won $64 in less than 15 minutes on PENNY SLOTS!  Jamie, on the other hand, lost $20.  We met his friends and had dinner at Gordon Biersch Brewery.  It was DELICIOUS!  After dinner, Jamie and I headed back to our hotel where we were going to wait on some friends to hit the streets of NOLA.  But, we were tired and ended up calling it a night.

Friday morning, Jamie and I got up and got dressed for the convention.  We met our friend Ron and walked down to the convention.  It was so neat.  I used to be incredibly into politics, but since I have started law school, I've kind of gotten away from it.  This weekend most definitely rekindled my love of politics.  Friday's speakers included Sarah Palin, JC Watts, Rick Perry, Tony Perkins, and Bobby Jindal.
                                    

Right after Sarah Palin spoke and got the crowd pretty excited.

We caught former Representative JC Watts in the hallway after he spoke.

Jamie, Ron and I went to lunch at the restaurant in the hotel.  While there, Jamie saw a man he used to work with who invited us to a private party upstairs.  After hanging out for a while longer at the conference, we went up there.  It was quite fun.  It was for the Louisiana Legislature people that were there, so I felt a little out of place, but we made friends quickly.  We stayed there for a while and then went back downstairs to a dinner at the conference, A Taste of Louisiana.  We met up with some more of the people there from MC Law and hung out.

Ron, me, and Jamie at the Taste of Louisiana

Nathan, me, and Blake at the Taste of Louisiana

Blair, me, and Kenton at the Taste of Louisiana

After the Taste of Louisiana was over, we got to go to the live recording of The Sean Hannity Show.  He had JC Watts, Bobby Jindal, and others on the show.  Sean Hannity gave out footballs and then signed them.  It was fun.  I didn't get a picture with him, but I did get to take pictures of some of my friends with him.

Kenton caught one of the footballs and then was able to get it autographed!

LOVE this man!  Sean Hannity after his show!

Sean and Tyler, one of the guys from MC Law

After the show, the convention ended for the night.  We all went over to Harrah's for a while where we hung out with our Mississippi Republican Women friends.  Then Jamie and I went out on Bourbon Street where we met even more friends from MC Law.  We had THE best time Friday night.  It has been so long since I have been to NOLA so I had forgotten what Bourbon Street is like.  I sang karaoke with a strange woman, danced like crazy, and just all in all had fun.

Me, Ron, Meg, and Jamie at the Cat's Meow on Bourbon

We finally made it back to our hotel around 3:30 in the morning.  On Bourbon, time goes by so quickly!  Thankfully, we were able to sleep in a bit Saturday morning before the convention really got going!

I'm going to end this post, but check back for NOLA - Part 2!