Still in New Orleans

We're still in New Orleans-----decided to wait out the latest cold front--and I mean COLD!! It will probably dip into the high twenties here tonight. At least the wind is down and it is supposed to begin to warm tomorrow. So, we will leave tomorrow morning and head for our next stopping spot--Rabbit Island. This will be our last anchorage for a while as there are more cold fronts--some wet--heading our way. (We would much rather be in a marina with shore power and other amenities when bad weather approaches)

We have enjoyed our 3 day interlude in NO immensely. I've already mentioned the fabulous dinner we had the other night. Today we did something a bit different---went to an 11:15 matinee movie (Unstoppable) and after gathering ourselves and walking around the mall to relieve the tension from that movie, we headed downtown to the Quarter for a late lunch at Muriel's on Jackson Square--fantastic. We both had one of their signture Bloody Mary's, a cup of the best seafood gumbo I've ever tasted and I had a stuffed squash dish-- merliton squash stuffed with shrimp and andouille sausage in a roasted creole tomato sauce--Ummmmmmm. Diane had a mixed green salad with tenderloin---we'll have the second half for dinner tonight (Aren't we eating sensibly??)
Yesterday I was doing some work on the boat and got in a conversation with a guy working on a sportfishing boat a couple of slips down. Turns out he is Russell Colemar, the boat mechanic that has been helping "The Kids" with some of their engine problems. A good guy to know--he works all up and down the Mississippi Sound area--has tool box will travel---You never know when you're going to need someone like him and its good to know he would be available to help all across this next stretch of water that we'll be navigating. He spoke quite highly of "The Kids" and even acknowledged to me that he had referred to the kids as "The Kids"---and he's not nearly as old as I. So---Kids----you are"The Kids"---officially and affectionately.
It's going to be a cold night tonight but yesterday I went to Home depot and bought 150 feet of outdoor extension cord so even though we don't have "shore power" we can plug into a standard 120 outlet up by the office and run the cord to the boat where I have it plugged into a space heater that I keep on the boat for just such occasions. It will run off one of my generators also and that's what we'll do when we anchor tomorrow night--but as long as we don't have to run the generator to get 120 power I'll take advantage of it.
So, here's hoping for some warmer weather soon and some winds that will favor our eastward journey.
Every where we go we see the Christmas season unfolding in sight and sound and its a bit hard for us in that we are so far removed from the traditional celebration of the season as almost all thoughts are directed toward this journey. We do so look forward to our trip to see our kids and Grandkids and other family in Colorado. We will leave the boat in Panama City, Florida and fly (through Houston) to Colorado Springs to be with Kris and Paul and little Anna, Asher and Elli for Christmas and then on to Diane's brother's place in Vail for a few days of skiing and family fun. Really looking forward to seeing everybody and finally celebrating the season. Hey!! As long as its this cold here we might as well be in the mountains.