My boss kicks all kinds of ass. I just got back home from a short notice mini-vacation. Originally I was going to take today off and the family and i were headed to New Orleans to go to the zoo and aquarium. Well we ended up having to cancel due to a memorial for friends that had passed recently being scheduled for tomorrow. On hearing this my boss told me to take Thursday and Friday off, as extra paid days off beyond my normal vacation time, as a thank you for carrying the load while he was on vacation the past couple of weeks. He told me he'd make arrangements for us to stay at a hotel and cover it. Just before we left I got the email with the reservation information, i'm expecting a Hampton Inn or Ramada something like that, nope he put us up in the Ritz-Carlton in the French Quarter. We were able to walk everywhere yesterday and checked out to drive to the zoo today.
The only bad part was we were so afraid to do anything and end up with a huge bill. That and we really didn't fit in, you get some strange looks walking through the lobby full of guys in suits making power deals and you are in shorts and a t-shirt carrying a 2 year old.
Things to do if you are ever in New Orleans (listing prices to show how you can do it on a budget if you can get there): Get tickets to the zoo, aquarium, imax, and insectarium ($35 a head and at least 3 days of stuff if you do anything else). Eat at Deanies (there are 3 in NO and I've been to 2 of them) get the seafood platter and bring friends (it is $50, feeds 4 people hungry adults and a 2 year old, and really good). Walk the French Quarter and just window shop, i suggest the French Market as it is an open air flee market offering a lot of little things.
