Day Nine: Houston, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana

For the first time, we skipped the free breakfast and headed to Denny's.  Well, it wasn't much better.  We were up early today and on the road by 9:00am.  It was already 86 degrees.  No stops other than lunch (Gatti's Pizza) and gas (Pilot).  After several sunny days, we finally hit rain again.  Just as we got into Lafayette, Louisiana, it started to pour, monsoon-style.  The heavy rain lasted 30 minutes or so and before long the sun returned for the rest of the day.  We crossed Lake Ponchartrain on the 24 mile long Lake Ponchartrain Causeway.  Traffic in New Orleans wasn't too bad.  We found the New Orleans Hilton-Riverside pretty easy.  It's a pretty nice hotel, but not really that nice.  We're staying in a $200 a night room, but thanks to the Hilton Honors rewards program, our stay is free.  After checking in and seeing everything that was going on around the hotel, we decided to stay an extra night instead of heading to Biloxi tomorrow.  After checking in we walked to the French Quarter to find something to eat.  Let's just say it was an eye-opener for Justin and Josh.  Justin couldn't wait to get out of there.  We found the Hard Rock Cafe and had a nice (loud) dinner.  Back at the hotel the boys swam in the chilly outdoor pool for an hour before we headed back to the room for bed.  Tomorrow we check out the Aquarium and a cool-looking insect museum.

License Plates spotted: Washington, Connecticut, Nuevo Leon, Mexico