Trip to New Orleans

First, I would like to give thanks to www.MegaBus.com  for giving major discounts.  By booking my trip weeks ahead, I was able to purchase the tickets online for $10 round trip each.  So for my daughter and I, I only paid $20 for our bus fair.  That left me with spending money.  Yeah!!!

River Walk @ New Orleans

Sunrise at the River walk

Street Car headed to Cemeteries on Canal Street

Cemeteries in New Orleans

Breakfast @ The Ruby Slipper Cafe in New Orleans

3 Little Pigs

St. Charles Royal Hotel

The Bed were awesome

French Quarter @ New Orleans

waiting for food

Taste of New Orleans

met Tina from Mobile Alabama, hey girl!

inside the Troley

plenty of art galleries at the French Quarter

I wish they were close.  I love the crochet wear.

all kinds of wheels shares the Rd

Travel to New Orleans on a budget

I recently traveled to New Orleans and I did it on a budget.  Listed are ways that I saved.

1. I traveled to New Orleans on a bus.  No, not the greyhound but the MegaBus.com.  As millions of Americans know by now that www.MegaBus.com is really inexpensive way to travel.  So, from Macon Georgia to New Orleans (which is about 9 hours ride) it only cost me $10 round trip.  And because I bought two tickets, it only cost me $20 (a ticket for my daughter).  O fcourse, to get the discount price, you do have to book your trip days or even weeks ahead.  I booked mine about 3 weeks ahead.
2. I didn't want to have to spend money on hotel.  So I wanted to make sure that we arrived early and depart late in the evening.  We arrived in New Orleans at 6am and departed at 11:30 in the evening.  That gave us plenty of times to sight see, shop and eat our heart out.  But we did meet this lady, who is also spending a day in New Orleans, on a budget, like we are, and we decided to go split a bill on a hotel, to get fresh up and rest for a couple of hours.  and it turned out perfect.  I logged online on www.priceline.com and was able to get a room for $51 (regular $99) in the heart of New Orleans, ,right downtown, Royal Hotel on St. Charles.
3. Because I saved on transportation cost, I was able to splurge on our dining experience.  So we did spend money there and didn't slouch.  We had two breakfast and dinner.  I knew we were taking a 9 hour trip, so I bought snacks from Walmart (Trail Mix and Springles) to avoid making purchases on our break.  and we did took two 15 minute breaks in Alabama.
4. RESTROOMS - So as we were sight seeing, my daughter had to use the restroom.  But all businesses on Canal St, only offer restrooms to paid customers.  I had to buy a drink for $2 at Arby's so she could have the key to use their restroom.  Later on we found out that we could have just gone inside Sheraton Hotel on Canal St. to use theirs.  And they have Starbucks inside.  which would have solved the problem of our battery running out of juice.  So be sure to have a spare battery, or an instant cell phone charger device to charge your smart phone.  The restaurants didn't have any plugs either.  
5. Trolleys.  We also saved money on Trolleys by purchasing an all day pass for $3 and its valid till 4am.  Instead of paying $1.25 each way.  and believe me, we must have hopped on the Troley atleast 10 times.  

I didn't know anything about New Orleans, so I didn't have an itinerary for this trip.  The good thing is, the trip was only for one day.  and I am planning on returning and this time, I have experienced and knowledge on how to save more and spend less.

What's in my bag - traveling techie

I've been getting lots of request to see what kind of tech gear that I bring with me when I'm traveling.  So here it is.

What I wanted to show you at, towards the end of this video, was how I got a great deal on our bus ticket to New Orleans from Atlanta Georgia.  I purchased the ticket online from www.MegaBus.com for $10 round trip ticket.  The deal is so good, that I purchased two tickets, so my daughter could come too.  By purchasing my ticket online and over 21 days in advance, you can get a great deal and discount on your ticket.  and I'm pretty sure, because we booked the ticket for Monday travel and not the weekends, also help in getting the discount.

Greyhound also offers 21 days advance discounted ticket.  Last week, I traveled to Savannah, from Macon and it cost me $4 for a round trip.  Again booking it 21 days in advance and during the weekdays and not the weekends gets you discount. 

I'm heading to New Orleans on a Greyhound bus tomorrow.  This is what's inside my bag.

1. 15" HP Laptop bag
2. Nook color tablet
3. Nook Simple Touch
4. laptop charger
5. sunglasses
6. Virgin Mobile not so smart cell phone (cause someone recently stole mine) 
7. flat wireless mouse
8. sony cybershot digital camera
9. sd cards and card readers
10. Nook tablets charger
11. inflatable neck pillow, eye shutter and ear plugs
12. toothbrush, deodorant, extra underwear, hair brush
13. headphones (not shown)
14. Large Gorilla tripod - must have
15. Bobble Water Bottle (not shown)

Front Post Crochet Stitch video Tutorial

How to execute a "Front Post Stitch".  In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to execute a Front Post with Triple crochet stitch.  It creates a raised texture in your crochet pattern.

Here'a sample of a completed work done using the "Front Post" crochet stitch.  This is a crochet case for my Nook tablet.

Below are more samples of some of my completed project done using "FRONT POST STITCH"

What's inside my backpack

I recently traveled on the greyhound bus to Savannah Georgia, which is about 2-3 hours on the road.  and I wanted to bring some of my tech gear with me to keep me occupied.  So take a look inside my backpack.

I wanted to stay as light as possible, since I'm on foot during this trip.  I didn't want to be sluggish by carrying  a heavy backpack.  So I tried to minimize my content to the bare minimum.

1. HP Laptop 15"
2. Flat Mouse
3. Sony cybershot digital camera (not shown, because I used it to take this pix)
4. Gorilla tripod
5. Laptop charger
6. Nook Color (the one in pink)
7. Cell Phone 
8. Headphones
9. hair brush
10. Bottle of water (I bought along the way, because I left my Bobble Bottle)
11. Hat (cotton and light weight)
12. Laptop crochet cover ( for extra protection for bumps and bruises)
13. Sunglasses (bought along the way)
14. wall outlet, in case I needed one.

What I wish I would have brought:

1. My Camera Cord - but definitely buying some kind of adapter to eliminate this in the future.  Because my camera is a sony, my laptop can't read this type of card.  It only have a slot for an SD card slot.  
2. Bobble Bottle - bought a 20 oz bottle of water for $2!  that's expensive.
3. Umbrella or rain poncho - although I wasn't caught in the rain, this had me worried, because it was cloudy and gloomy on my way to Savannah and a flood flash warning was in effect.  Luckily it turned out to be a wonderful bright and slightly breezy day.
4. Sweater or blanket - on my way back, the bus was cold, luckily I had on two layer of shirts, a tank top and a Tshirt on.  So I just slid both arms in my Tshirt because it was chilli in the bus.

Inside Greyhound Bus

It has been a while since I last traveled in a Greyhound bus.  I felt a bit more comfortable this time. Maybe because of the new additions and accommodations.   

in front of you, there's a spot to hold your books and bottle drink holders, one per each seat.

next to my Dr Pepper is my phone, charging to an outlet.  That was a major plus, I was constantly on my phone, checking the surrounding of my destination.  Googleing restaurants and cafes in Savannah.

The bus on the way back home had the outlet right in front of you.  

watching videos on my Nook Color Tablet and charging my phone while on greyhound bus, and did I mentioned both greyhound buses had WIFI, yes, free internet.

Sight seeing in Savannah

Here is a quick video of one of the many parks I visited in downtown Savannah Georgia

I love the fact that is truly a bike friendly city.  I want to move here just for that reason

I lived in Macon Georgia, which is about over two hours away, North West of Savannah Georgia.  And when I ran into a bargain deal of $4 round trip ticket (on Greyhound bus) to Savannah, I couldn't resist.  Of course you do have to book your trip over 21 days in advance  to get this super discount, but its worth it.  I left Macon Georgia at 10:40 am and departed from Savannah at 7:40 pm.  It took over two hours each way.  So by the time the bus arrived in Savannah it was about 1pm.  That left me with 6 hours of sight seeing, grab lunch, and desert in between.  And it was plenty of times.  I was on foot carrying a light weight bookbag with my tech gear inside, to help keep me occupied during the trip.

Anyway here are my photos of Savannah Georgia sight seeing downtown.

River Street, literally walking by the river.  Plenty of shop and a haven for tourists. 

I took an elevator to get to the River street

one of the many eclectic shop on River street.

this is a candy factory, I stop taking photos, because I grabbed a chocolate sundae cone

River Street in Savannah Georgia

Horse carriages are a thing of the past, but in Savannah Georgia

I was really taken that Savannah is a bike friendly city

bicycle cabbies 

Tourists trollies, you'll see them every few minutes all over the historic midtowne of Savannah Georgia