Weekend in NOLA - Part 2

Saturday morning after Jamie and I finally woke up, we went to lunch at this cute little sidewalk cafe.  Jamie was not feeling very well, so he went back to our hotel, and I walked down to the conference.  I met Nathan and Frank there.  Saturday afternoon's speakers were great.  I got there just in time to hear Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.  He is amazing!!  I love him!  We also got to hear Herman Cain.  I'm telling you all right now - watch out for him in 2012.  He's going to be the 'dark horse' candidate for the Republican Party, I promise!  Even though I was able to attend the convention because of Mitt Romney (who didn't come to the convention at all), I am a HUGE fan of Ron Paul.  He spoke Saturday afternoon and had the crowd going CRAZY (not all good, of course, but mostly good).

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I was able to get of Ron Paul speaking.

We also heard Michael Steele speak.  He's the Chairman of the NRC.  He was pretty impressive.  Other speakers on Saturday included:  Representative Thaddeus McCotter, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, Texas Governor Rick Perry (watch out for him in 2012 as well!), former Congressman Rick Santorum (love him), and Senator David Vitter.  Most of the speakers were very enjoyable to listen to and I had a great time and learned a LOT.  The convention pretty much wrapped up around 4:30, so Nathan and I grabbed Tyler and his wife, Mary Ruth, and headed down to French Quarter Fest to meet up with Frank and Kenton.  We shopped around a bit, enjoyed the music, and then went to Margaritaville so some of them could eat lunch/dinner.  After a fun evening there, we all headed back to our hotels for showers and short naps.

Jamie's girlfriend Jessica got into town around 7:30, so when she got there, the three of us met Ron and Nathan for dinner at Acme Oyster House off of Bourbon Street.  I am not a seafood person at all, but that place was so much fun.  The boys tried their hardest to get me to eat a raw oyster promising me all sorts of things, but I just could not bring myself to it.  I actually want to gag thinking about it even now.  After dinner, the five of us wandered about Bourbon Street for a while.  We even ran into a couple of people we all know from Jackson that were not even there for the conference.  I thought that was fun and completely random.  Jamie and Jessica left the rest of us around 11.  Ron, Nathan and I spent the rest of the night going in and out of different bars and wandering the streets.

Ron and I back at the Cat's Meow.

Nathan and me at the Cat's Meow

The boys bought me my first ever hand grenade.  I was kind of excited.

The boys hanging out in a courtyard of some bar.

I wanted a cute picture with the horse but Ron ruined it!

This night was so much fun.  I loved all the people on Bourbon Street and had so much fun dancing and singing in the different bars.  I met some fun people, too, including other convention goers and fans of my friend Paige's sister's company, Southern Proper, all the way down from Chicago!  We stayed out until the sun came up!  I seriously didn't go back to our hotel under about 6 in the morning, but it was totally worth it!

Sunday morning, Jamie, Jessica and I woke up around 8 and we checked out of our hotel around 8:30.  We made a few stops at different places in NOLA.  They dropped me off at my house in Jackson around 1:00 Sunday afternoon. 

I am SO glad that I went this weekend.  I made new friends with some fun, amazing kids from law school that I haven't hung out with in the past.  I got to listen to some amazing speakers and hear some very innovative ideas that will help me decide how I will vote both this November (to win back Congress for the Republicans) and then again in 2012 for the presidential race.  I had the opportunity to re-experience New Orleans.  It was just a GREAT time.  I will try to post more pictures in a couple of days when I get more posted.  There are a lot more fun ones that are on my friends' cameras.