 Dustin (Dr. Bones) in front of Cafe Pontalba |
 St. Louis Cathedral, where we met for our Ghost Tour |
 A distant image of the Cathedral |
 A beautiful Statue inside the Cathedral |
 Another statue |
 Gorgeous view of the Altar |
 I Love this sign |
 Bottom of the Cup Tea Room |
 One of New Orleans' famous Gas Lights |
 A cool doorway to a Witchraft shop |
 A Horse Drawn Hearse in a Souvenier Shop |
 Voodoo display in same shop |
 Stained glass coffins in a Vampire shop |
 Another Voodoo Display |
 Stage at House of Shock |
 Reverend B. Demented |
 A cool monument |
 A very detailed mausoleum |
 Memorium for Porn (didn't get it until it was pointed out to me months later) |
 Great Gazebo Mausoleum |
 Tribute to John Burton |
 Bones in Crypt |
 Bayou House Facade inside House of Shock |
 Frontrrom/FCG room |
 Beautiful portraits & faux fireplace |
 FCG's (Flying Crank Ghosts) |
 Coffin & FCG's |
 Dustin in Detailed Doorway |
 Cave made up of foam sheets |
 Cool Skull Header (I need one of these!) |
 Bourbon Street! |
 Bill, Sandy *Furby*, & Stacy on Rucker's Balcony |
 Rucker's Gals (Sandy, ME *Witchypoo*, Rucker, & Stacy) |
 Deanna (Me)eating my favorite Beignets at Cafe du Monde |
 Dustin hiding behind a Cafe au Lait |
 A statue at the Mardi Gras Museum |
 Me & another statue |
 Bourbon Street marker |
 Stacy, Bill, Leslie, Terry, & Dustin at Cafe du Monde |
 St. Louis #1 |
 Archway |
 One of the many beautiful Mausoleums in this Historic Cemetery |
 Very old cover stone |
 Interesting empty crypt |
 Gorgeous Mausoleum |
 My favorite.. an Italian Memorial, made in Italy, I believe |
 The cross on top of the memorial |
 This Memorial is so huge, I couldn't get a whole shot of it without bumping into another crypt |
 Gate detail |
 Brass Doorway into Memorial |
 Eerie headless statue & a fern growing in the stone |
 Fountain at Pat O'Brians |
 Our Ship, the Carnival Holiday |
 And more ship......... |
 And MORE! |
 Our Stateroom |
 The Closet, er, bathroom |
 More of our Stateroom |
 View from our room of the Ocean |
 Formal Night - Terry & Leslie Hill |
 Sandy & Stacy |
 Rucker & Annette |
 Stacy & Bill |
 *The Boys* |
 The Ladies - (top) Annette, Sandy & Leslie (Bottom) Me (Deanna) & Stacy |
 Our Crazy Waiters singing *Happy Anniversary* to Bill & Stacy |
 Cool Statue in Cozumel |
 Stacy & Bill Hamming it up |
 Me getting ready to make Shark Bait out of Dustin |
 Panorama of Cozumel |
 Cozumel |
 Cozumel.. BYE! |
 Bobbie Beating up, er.. applying FX Makeup to a Haunter |
 Voila! Instant Domestic Violence |
 Mr. & Mrs. Mike Bruner *Argh!* |
 Costume night! Terry & Leslie |
 Stacy & Sandy |
 Dead Rucker & Annette |
 Jeannie & Leonard Pickel |
 *Beauty* a fabulous Sprite |
 Crazy Bob Turner & the costumes we lost to (Booooo!) |
 Our Table of Haunters - together always |
 Dustin, *Welcome to the Caribbean, Love!* |
 The handsome, dastardly, Pirate Bones! |
 Closeup (hey, I spent a lot of time on his costume!) |
 *ARGH!* na na na na... & Really Bad Eggs |
 ME! A Colonial Vampiress |
 Closeup |
 Dinner _ Sandy, Stacy, & Bill, With Jason (the boys) Mom & Auntie Tye |
 Terry & Leslie |
 The Bruners & Rondeaus at Dinner |
 The ingredients for FURBOSAS! |
 EEEK! A face only a wife could love |
 The Boys, Jason & ??? (Help!) |
 Mom & Auntie Tye |
 Dustin holding up the post |
 Pirates of the Caribbean |
 Hey Baby, wanna drink some RUM?!? |
 I Love my fangs |
 The snow fall at home 3 days after we got back! |
 More &%#$$% Snow! |
 Serena enjoyed it, though.. she had 3 days off school |
 Cheap Labor.. Make your kids shovel LOL! |
 Our Morton Manor Arch, made by Ironman.. all purty in the snow |
 Forgotten tombstones from Halloween under the tree |
 Dustin making an igloo... We had over 4 feet of snow in 2 days! |
Bloody Mary Haunt Cruise
Well, we left our house on Thursday evening, to drive to my dad’s house near Chicago, where we would leave Serena. Dustin went to bed early & I finished polishing my nails because I was too wired to sleep- Just thinking about those Tropical Breezes! We got up around 5 am,, so we could make it to O’Hare Airport by 7. Traffic was a breeze this time of morning. In fact, we got there so early & had no problems getting through the airport, we had well over an hour to sit & wait for the plane.
The plane ride was uneventful. Full load on the plane, Dustin & I had to sit 5 rows apart. Ah well, we had a whole week to get sick of one another. LOL! We landed early in New Orleans, Around 11 am. WOW! What fabulous weather they were having. Of course, I needed a jacket, but MUCH better than the 20 degrees we were having back home.
Checked in early at our hotel, The Raddison
in downtown New Orleans. A bit run
down, but we only paid $50 per night as opposed to the $150 in some hotels in
the French Quarter. We had time to
kill before our 2 pm Ghost tour, so instead of napping, we decided to head out
to the French Quarter. Strolled
around this beautiful city, I don’t think my silly grin ever left my face! Amazing & beautiful!
I had always wanted to see New Orleans, & here I was.
The architecture just took my breath away.
And the History!!
We bought some souvenirs right away for ourselves & family. We bought some hot sauces & recipes for ourselves, a cool Don’t Make Me Poison Your Food Apron for me, some magnets for Mom, Alligator Jerky for Dad, Beads for my sisters, & Beads & a Mardi Gras Kitten T Shirt for Serena.
We wandered up & down the streets,
making our way towards St. Louis Cathedral, where our tour was supposed to meet.
We were getting a bit hungry & decided to find some food.
Now, I had done some research prior to leaving, on what I might want to
find to eat. We would have loved to
have eaten at one of Emeril’s restaurants, but were on a tight budget (well
not so tight, but that would have cut into my souvenier shopping).
I did get to see a few of his restaurants from the outside & took
some pictures. At least I can say
I’d been there. Well, we ended up
right out in front of the Cathedral & just Kitty Corner to it was Café
Ponalbon. Looked at the menu &
all that I wanted was there, plus the prices were very inexpensive! Dustin was more than happy to let me order whatever I wanted
to try & we would both share. He
ordered a local beer to drink & I had Iced Tea (save the booze intake for
later
So, we met our group at the Cathedral. Our group was so large, it was split into two. A very nice lady from Haunted History Tours (http://www.hauntedhistorytours.com/), Kalila Katherina Smith, gave us our tour. She was hugely informative & very dramatic in the presentation. I was enthralled & amazed. If you get the chance to do any sort of walking tour in New Orleans, I highly recommend this company. Each one of them were especially nice. We finished up rather early, went to clean up & get ready for our party & tour of House Of Shock – New Orleans Premier Haunted Attraction (http://www.houseofshock.com/). There was a bus waiting for us at LeCirque Hotel, where most everyone was staying. We decided to do the party bus. Apparently the party started well before we got on, but was great fun. We got to House Of Shock & had a buffet dinner.. New Orleans style. There was Crawfish Alfredo, Jambalaya, And Alligator (for Po boys). I tried a bit of everything! Funny, people said the Alligator tastes like chicken. Nope, tastes like Rabbit. Anyone who has ever eaten game meat, knows what I’m talking about. It was less not quite tender, a little greasy, like dark meat, but very flavorful, with just a bit of gaminess to it. I had it dipped in a bit of Hot mustard sauce, with my bread on the side. We then got the tour of House of Shock.
First we got a bit of the stage show with Reverend B. Demented (forgive me if I made a mistake). Then we got to walk through the haunt itself. Loved it, loved it, loved it! If you get a chance, check it out. I don't care for the *satanic* theme, but the haunt itself is awesome! HUGE & detailed, it must be freaking packed at Halloween. I'd love to go back to see the whole show in full swing. I was truly impressed by the detail work & what they do. On top of all that, they didn’t have 90% of their actors, or any of their pneumatic props working, and it was STILL amazing.
Here was where I got to finally meet Bobbie Weiner (aka Bloody Mary)& ‘Crazy’ Bob Turner. Bobby Weiner is a great gal, very down to earth. Crazy Bob is a laugh a minute & a gem to get Halloween ideas from.
I met Sandy ‘Furby” Kimball from the Halloween-L for the first time, she had brought 2 of her friends from California Stacy & Bill. Nicest people you’d ever want to meet.
And Leslie & Terry, also from California & also on the Halloween-L, Leslie is a lurker, but I hope I got her to start posting on the list. Also representing the *List Group* were Mike Bruner, Pete Rondeau & their lovely wives.
After the haunt, we all decided to traipse through Bourbon Street. Sandy & group had already been in New Orleans for a day or so & had known where our friend Rucker Posey & his wife Annette were staying. We grabbed some drinks & headed over to the Hotel. Rucker was staying right on Bourbon St., with a balcony.
OK. I thought women showing various body parts for beads was a bit exaggerated, or perhaps just during Mardi Gras. Not SO! I saw more than I ever needed or wanted to see in my lifetime. EW! So, we had a great time, just hanging out on the balcony & decided around 1 am to head back & catch some zzzz’s.
Saturday morning, we got up as early as we could to a Dark rainy morning, packed up & headed back to the Quarter for some Breakfast & some last minute sightseeing before heading to the ship. We decided to grab a cab, rather than walking the few blocks in the pouring rain, & headed over to Café du Monde. Of course, there was a wait. Grabbed the first table we saw available & ordered Café au Lait & beignets. Dustin was moaning about getting the same thing somewhere else faster & cheaper, til we got our order. He took one bite of a beignet, said ‘OK, this is REALLY good*, & shut up. LOL!
I could have eaten a dozen of those & drank a gallon of the Café au Lait! And I don’t even like Coffee (Tea Drinker)! Wandered a bit more while the rain let up, then walked back to the hotel. We then took a cab to Hotel Le Cirque where we were supposed to have a free shuttle to the Ship Docks. The shuttle ended up with a flat tire & we had to take yet another cab to the docks.
We got there around 2 pm & waited, & waited, & waited…. I started to worry, as the ship (Carnival Cruise Lines “Holiday”) was scheduled to leave at 4 pm. The Wind & Rain gathered strength again & apparently knocked the gangplank down. We were stuck out under a pavilion in the pouring rain for over an hour. Til a security guard decided to do what the union workers wouldn’t. Just kick the thing. HooRay! We got on board. Our luggage was already outside our cabins & didn’t even have time to have our strawberries & champagne that was in the cabin, or wash up before we needed to have our safety drill. By this time, I was crabby & needed a drink. Ah well.
It was an adventure! After, we unpacked & readied ourselves for our cocktail party, where we met everyone else we hadn’t already met & got fabulous tie dyed ‘2nd Annual Bloody Mary & Crazy Bob’s Moonlight Fantasy Cruise’ T Shirts.
Here, I had Rum Punch for the first time. Now, some of you know the fight I had with Rum at the 2003 Ironstock event & lost. Well, I now (Thank God) have my tolerance back for Rum.
The next 4 days on ship were fabulous. Our dinner table was the most fun, the loudest, & usually the last to leave the dining room. Seated with Dustin & Myself, were Sandy, Stacy & Bill, Leslie & Terry, and 3 folks from Crazy Bob’s Haunt, (Haunted Hydro), Eeek! Can’t remember their names! But, 2 we called ‘The Boys’. For our Formal night, we thought we would be short a few people at our table, so we invited Rucker & Annette Posey to join us. As they didn’t know anyone at their table & we’ve known them for a few years, we thought it would be fun. After that night, they joined us every night at dinner to add to the party. And each night, after dinner, we generally went to the dance bar, or just listened to music while enjoying the company.
For dinner each night, you could choose from whatever was on the menu… as many things as you wanted. I started out light at first, only ordering soup or salad. But as the trip went on, I said, ‘what the heck’ & dived in.
Forgive me if I get my menu’s mixed up, as it was in January & I’ve been a lazy bum writing up this itinerary. I’m trying to recall all details as best I can.
The first night I had Rack of Lamb, the second night, for our formal dinner, I had Prime Rib & Lobster, along with a fabulous pumpkin soup, Then there was Chateau Briand, then Beef Wellington another night, then for the last night I had Pork.
Each night, I had a different appetizer, sometimes two, different dessert, and always Tea. These waiters on ship were so wonderful & accommodating. They also have a great memory. They remembered from the first night the type of tea I requested & each night, I didn’t have to ask for it. They just brought it to the table! Dustin also ordered a bottle of wine to drink at dinner each night, he would have a glass or two & they would re cork it & the next night, the bottle would already be on the table when we got there.
There were also Midnight buffets a few nights, as well as wonderful breakfasts, whether in the dining room, or in the buffet area upstairs. We never seemed to eat lunch in the dining area, but usually opted for the Sushi bar, or Pizza Parlor (open 24 hours), or grabbing a burger.
The days that we were out on shore we would eat in Mexico, eating (of course) Mexican food.
First full day out to sea, we had a Demo with John Burton who was on hand to give a discussion on detailing & warping haunts. Giving a well lived in or abandoned look to your haunt with painting techniques. Very cool. Poor John, though, had most of his stuff confiscated before the cruise, as some of it was thought to be flammable. Shame on them! This is stuff I’ve been wanting to do in our haunt for some time now. Dustin is finally sold on the detail ideas.
Bobbie gave lots of great makeup tips & we had not only a big makeup class (on the last day out at sea), but she was happy to give a few of us some one on one time. I learned so much from her & got to play a bit in her makeup. Wheeeee! I ended up ordering even more makeup at Transworld from her than I already had. I’ll be showing some of her ‘Bloody Mary’ makeup, along with Cinema Secrets prosthetics at Ironstock, for my FX Makeup Demo.
That first full day was our formal night & we all had fun dressing in our best attire. There was a Captains Cocktail Party (free drinks-I’m there!), and another wonderful dinner (The Prime Rib & Lobster night). After dinner, we rolled up to the stage show & watched a great Las Vegas type musical show & dance. After, we decided to change into our Jammies & head back to watch the Stand Up Comedian. I can’t remember this guys name, but he was HILARIOUS! Apparently he had caught wind of us haunters on board & warned the audience about the 95 of us & told them ‘ Watch out, they’ll scare your butt off’. And the first 20 minutes of his routine were all about Halloween, Haunted houses, and getting scared. Some of the audience didn’t quite get it when many of us cackled at the references to decapitation. But, we LOVED it. I couldn’t tell you the last time I laughed so hard.
Mexico was fun & WARM (mid 80’s)! The first day we were in Playa Del Carmen. We had trouble deciding where to go, but knew we wanted to snorkel. I had already been to Xel Ha (http://www.xel-ha.com.mx/default.asp?com_id=0&idioma=1), and would have liked to have gone back, but they didn’t have a separate tour for it. So we went to Xcaret (http://www.xcaretcancun.com/). Sandy, Stacy, & Bill also decided it looked like a fun trip & went as well. Sandy went off to enjoy solitude, while Stacy, Bill, Dustin, & I, snorkeled through the underground rivers for hours! The water was warm & clear & we saw lots & lots of fish & sea life. There’s also an aquarium, mini zoo, sea turtle farm, bat caves, & butterfly pavilion. Though, the ship wasn’t scheduled to leave til late that night & we could have stayed for the dance show, we decided to head back to the ship to clean up, have cocktails & enjoy a wonderful (and Free) meal, with our friends.
The next day saw us in Cozumel. Our Snorkel tour was cancelled, as the water was choppy. We could have bought another tour package, but decided to just take it easy & wander the streets of Cozumel with our new friends Stacy & Bill. Though, I’m sure they were sick of us at this point, they were ever the gracious travel companions & I can’t say I’ve met nicer people. We got some good jewelry bargains in some of the shops (I love Silver!), and had lunch & drinks at Carlos & Charlies. What a great place! The waiters & waitresses are all there to have fun & make you laugh. They started up some music & had everyone get up & dance! One waiter was there playing practical jokes & got me MORE than once with fake bugs on my plate. I hate bugs.
Again, we headed back to the ship, did a few last minute buys in the stores off the dock & stayed on deck to watch to ship leave dock. All our ‘usual gang’ met up there for drinks & discussion about our days, measuring up sunburns & tans, & showing off our new found treasures. Bobbie even joined us up there for some wonderful conversation. (I love that gal!).
At this point, I should share, that though it was much warmer than Chicago, it was still Breezy & in the low 70’s on ship. The fast breeze from the ocean, didn’t help much. So, I wasn’t able to continue with my deep dark tropical tan. Darn!
The next day brought us our final full day on board ship. We had our Demo with Bobbie, and the guys all were doing, I don’t know what all day. Dustin finally finished the last minute stitching on his Pirate Costume I made & got the buttons on it. I read my book, took a bit of a nap, & got up in time to shower, do mine & Dustin’s makeup, & head out to our Costume Cocktail party (Dustin was a Pirate & I was a Vampire Colonial). There was a Costume Contest, that was fun, but I was a bit disappointed in. Now, I didn’t expect us to Win the big prize, but the ones we were up against, we should have taken 2nd place. We lost out to one GOOD set of costumes (Beauty & the Beast) that I think were hand made. The others were, a guy in a rubber mask & a bottle of viagra, a big guy in a pink tu tu & a cigar, & a family that wore store bought costumes from their costume shop. I don’t think I need to mention that this was a sore spot, as I had spent weeks at my sewing machine making costumes. The one I ended up wearing was made by a very close friend of mine. But, ah well… It was by applause & next year the Hall-L will be a force to reckon with on the cruise.
After our Costume Contest & Cocktail party, we had a parade through the whole ship showing off our costumes. Whoo hooo! We were warned, however, to not touch the ‘normals’. Didn’t want to freak them out too bad. Again we had a marvelous last dinner & went up for Cocktails & Conversation.
We headed off to bed rather late, to pack up & get some sleep, after some teary goodbyes (ok, so I was a bit weepy, not Dustin). We docked early & had to get off the ship around 10. Well, our plane wasn’t leaving New Orleans until 6 pm & we wanted to see the sights again. Luckily the Boys & their family were staying a few days extra & let us leave our luggage in their room til we had to leave for the Airport.
We again, strolled the French Quarter, taking pictures left & right. We were on our way to Café du Monde for a Beignet & Café au Lait fix, when we heard calls & whistles from across the street. What do you know, it was Stacy, Bill, Leslie, & Terry! We joined them & all headed over to Café du Monde, then went shopping in some cool Gothic stores. After a bit, we decided to say our goodbyes, as they were leaving earlier than us & we wanted to go see St. Louis Cemetery yet.
Walked the distance to the cemetery, wandered about & took some pictures. Very beautiful cemetery. Amazing, the structures & artwork there.
It was then around 3 pm & we were hungry. We looked for a place to eat, decided against the Court of Two Sisters, as the price was a bit steep for this trip. And once again, found ourselves at Café Pontalban. We had my favorites & had wonderful conversation with the waitress there, Susan. Nice girl, her & I talked about the food & the recipes I picked up (I still get cravings for New Orleans & have to make my own Red Beans & Rice). She told me what ingredients to change & gave me one of her own personal recipes for BBQ Shrimp, which I’ve yet to make.
We took one last walk around town, said goodbye to the sights, smells, & ambience that is New Orleans, collected our luggage & headed to the airport.
We called Serena to say hi & she wanted to know if we were on Vacation. We told her yes, but we would be home the next day & would see her after school. She was excited when I told her we had presents for her. As much fun as I had, I really missed my baby & wished I could have taken her with us.
We landed late in Chicago, around 9 pm.. It was 5 below Zero outside!!! By the time we got to our van, I was freezing cold, even through the layers of shirts & sweaters I had on. Hat, gloves, & Coat were in the van & Frozen solid! It took the van over an hour to heat up. Man it was cold! Two days after coming home we had 3 days of snow which totaled close to 4 feet of snow if I’m not mistaken. You can see in the pictures the first day of snow. Ick! Wish we could have stayed in New Orleans. LOL!
We already made our plans to go on the 2004 Cruise, which this time leaves from Miami & travels to Jamaica & Grand Caymen. We’ve also talked many of our other Home Haunter friends into going. So Even more fun next year.
So, all in all: The people were great, made new friends, the sights were beautiful, the food was phenomenal, both on ship & in New Orleans. And, if you find yourself in New Orleans, stop by Café Pontalban & have the Shrimp Etoufee & Red Beans & Rice. You won’t be Sorry. Make sure to say hello to Susan while you’re there.
You can see more photos at the Bloody Mary site of both years of the Cruise. http://www.dearbloodymary.com/the_adventures_of_bloody_mary_photo_gallery.html
And make your reservations for next years Cruise at
http://www.dearbloodymary.com/cruise_information.html
Hope to see you there!<
*Join us at Ironstock too!*
Deanna Witchypoo
