The AOA/AAOA Conference was in New Orleans this year and because I'm the Vice President of the RVU SAA, I and the President were able to attend this year. It only lasted 3 days, but we sure crammed a TON in. We arrived on a Sunday evening, checked into the Renaissance Arts Hotel in the Arts District, and took a dinner cruise along the Mississippi that evening with a local Jazz Band. The next morning, we attended our required conference sessions, then headed down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter for lunch. I tried the typical red beans and rice, jumbalaya, and gumbo, and finished up by walking the dirty streets back to our hotel. That evening, we ate dinner at a French Restaurant named Cochon, and I had my first ever fried rabbit liver, hogshead cheese, and paned pork cheeks. Yep, I know....it sounds disgusting! But, it was seriously amazing! We sat at the chef's table and we were lucky enough to have a complimentary appetizer sent out for us to try. It was absolutely a FABULOUS, contemporary place in the corner of the Arts District and I would go there again in a heartbeat! The next morning, we boarded buses to Audubon Park where we did a 5:30 am 5K, then attended a few conference sessions later that morning, and caught our cab for the airport by 2:00. So, yes, it was quite a whirlwind, but a TON of fun.
Would I go back? Never! It was filthy, stinky, and one of the dirtiest, rudest places I've ever been. Fortunately, next years convention is in San Francisco and I am on the national committee to help organize it. So, hopefully it will be a much cleaner experience :)
This is us getting ready to board our river cruise Sunday night
At the Convention Monday morning with some local entertainment :)
Checking people in to the first session
Voting
Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street
And, Bourbon Street again. Not much to look at :)
A bunch of pelicans in the trees along the 5K early Tuesday morning
After the 5K
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