You've Got To Be Kidding Me [Update 2/4]

Back in the day, I used to live this recurring nightmare.  Imagine this - you are lying in your bed on a Saturday morning, knowing that you have nothing to do but sleep in, eat food, and watch TV.  But then you hear it, "beep. beep. beep."  It's a truck in reverse?  Wait, but why?  It's Saturday.  You start to realize what's happening, but you're in denial.  And then the beeping continues, so you get out of bed and look out your window, and your worst fears are confirmed...Dad had mulch delivered.

So after spending years of my life hating mulch, and being thankful to no longer be home on mulch d-day each year; we show up to City Park to work with Beacon of Hope on Monday, and what are we doing?  Yup, you guessed it...mulching.  You've got to be kidding me.

I must admit that it turned out ok though - we went through the entire delivery and made the Park look great.  City Park is actually a family amusement park in the area, complete with rides, swings, slides, etc.  They don't open for a few weeks, but they are a big-time business despite seeming like a small-time park, bringing in more than 7 figures per year.

What was also cool about the park is that I learned a lot from the people we worked with.  Lisa, who helps manage the park, filled me in about Drew Brees.  Apparently, as many of us have heard, Brees went to New Orleans not just to win a Super Bowl, but to help rebuild the city of NOLA.  Turns out that he has several foundations down here - one of which helped fund the construction of two football stadiums that are used by the local high schools, since they don't have fields.  Lisa also mentioned that it is not uncommon to see Drew and his wife out and about doing work in the community.

We also worked with a girl name Ashley, who was our Beacon of Hope contact person, and she pointed us in the direction of a Po'Boy lunch stop at the end of our long morning.  So "Po'Boys" are the "hoagies" or "subs" of the bayou.  There were so many different options, and I wanted to make sure that I made the right choice.  So, after consulting with two waiters and soliciting a customer while we both washed our hands in the bathroom, I decided on the surf and turf, consisting of roast beef and shrimp.  Now my reasoning was that Tyrone and Harold (waiters) had talked up the shrimp, and my bathroom buddy said that this grill was rumored to have the best roast beef in the city...surf and turf was the only logical choice.  It did not disappoint.

Oh yea, we also drove around town afterward and stole some beads from a tree in the median.  Solid.

Later Monday night we met the President of St. Bernard Parish, who came to speak to us at ACC.  But that update will have to wait till morning.  I'm running out of steam here, but will try and get the rest up tomorrow morning.  Halfway through the updates...we'll be caught up soon.

Good night, people. 

Not bad for a day in the park.

Even the plastic flamingos are Saints fans.

Check out our victory stamp, left by the mulch pile that we dominated.

The owner said this ride literally cost $1 million to purchase, AND they had to build it themselves.

Surf N Turf - Roast Beef was ok, shrimp was BEST I've ever had.

My wise food consultants...and some lady who wants a piece of the action.

Carrie & Pat went souvenir shopping.

What a great quote to pass on the way home.  That's how they really act down here.