Written by: Kenzie

As you know, Callie is getting married! And the the date just keeps creeping nearer and nearer (less than 3 weeks out now and I am kind of panicking). As one does, we had to have a last hurrah with the girls to celebrate Callie getting hitched. 

I was able to find the most beautiful house on Airbnb in Mandeville, about 40 miles from New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain. Unfortunately, the host is in the process of renovating in order to sell her beautiful home so we were likely the last people to get to stay in it. However, I would highly recommend Airbnb for booking cool spaces in neat places that are hosted by friendly faces. (Hire me for all your bad poetry needs). 

We got in late, so the first night we got settled, drank some champagne, and played What do You Meme? until past midnight before turning in. On Friday, we picked up breakfast from Liz's Where Y'at Diner down the street and ate on the front porch with a view of the lake and big oak trees draped in Spanish moss. We spent the better part of the day lounging on huge floaties in the pool, sipping mimosas and soaking in the sun. 

When we were all getting ready to go out that night, we realized we may have soaked in a little too much sun. Why we decided to forgo the sunscreen, I'm still not sure because you can definitely see my burnt skin in my black jumpsuit I was super excited to wear. 

We were still going out though (after a little photo shoot around the house) because we had dinner reservations on Bourbon Street. Now, I've been to Bourbon Street once before and it was not my favorite. Within fifteen minutes of walking around, some mysterious liquid dripped on me from a balcony and it had not recently rained so there's no telling what it was. Um, no thank you.

This time around, though, we were there a bit earlier (reservation was at seven), but it was still crowded. Saints and Sinners, our dinner spot and Channing Tatum's restaurant (was not-so-secretly hoping he'd be there to lowkey flirt) ended up being right across from Pat O'brien's which we had wanted to hit up so we went there first. It was super crowded as well so we all got drinks and by the time we'd wandered around a bit, a big party was getting up and gave us their table. The weather was nice and the atmosphere was pretty chill here (which is more Callie's style), so this was a pretty good stop.

Closer to seven we headed back across the street to Saints and Sinners. Channing Tatum was not there, but there was a cardboard cutout so I guess that counts for something? Probably not. The food was okay and the staff was friendly, but they kept checking on us FREQUENTLY and REPEATEDLY. Like, too much. Probably because it was early and there was only one other bachelorette party and a few guys at the bar.

By the time, we'd finished eating, we were all kind of over the whole dirty atmosphere of Bourbon Street. It's fun to see and to people watch (we saw two girls walking around without tops on and only glitter across their chests so that was interesting), but we were dressed too nicely to go barhopping. We were almost back to the parking lot when I spotted a woman about a block ahead of us obviously very drunk. She was walking slowly down the street and literally swerving from the houses to the curb. I thought she was going to fall into the street and every man she passed was watching her a little too closely. Brenna was beside me, and I had no idea what to do, so she said let's just get close to her. 

Our group caught up to her and Brenna asked if she was okay. The woman said yes, but when Brenna asked if she knew where she was going she said no. She told us the name of her hotel and Brenna told her we'd walk with her. She sat down on a stoop while Brenna looked up the address. She was heading in the wrong direction and it was about three quarters of a mile away. That doesn't sound that far to walk, but in this woman's state and in her shoes, it wasn't happening. So instead, she handed over her phone and one of our group got her an Uber; we just had to meet him a few blocks over. 

When Brenna explained we'd walk her to her car, she asked, "Why are you doing this?" and Brenna simply said, "Because we're good people."

So Callie and Brenna helped her up and walked on either side of her and chatted about her life while another friend and I walked behind, occasionally throwing our arms up when she lost her balance and I thought for sure this was the time she was going down.

But she never did. We mad it to the Uber, Mom explained what was happening to the driver and helped her in. She was very grateful and very sweet. We backtracked to our car and attempted to make it to the French Quarter. After many U-turns and recalculating of the directions, we just headed home. Lots of streets were closed for a festival so it was nearly impossible to get around. Once home, we spent the rest of the nights watching YouTube (mostly Jimmy Fallon and Carpool Karaoke).

Saturday, we all convened on the porch in the morning and discussed the weather. There was supposed to be a big storm blowing in and you could already see it in the distance over the lake. A few of us went on a short walk and were able to just barely make it back to the porch as it started to pour. So, we headed inside, made breakfast, and decorated the dining room with little things we'd brought from home.

We had plans to go back into New Orleans to explore the city, but this storm wasn't going anywhere. So instead, we re-watched The Greatest Showman and settled back into the YouTube vortex for many, many hours. 

When the rain started to slack up in the evening, we had a dance party upstairs while getting ready and then ventured out for dinner in Mandeville at a place called Lama's St. Roche. 

Sunday, we skipped breakfast and packed up the car - it is not fun deflating and stuffing seven giant pool floaties into the trunk - and went to Cafe du Monde in Mandeville (not the real deal, but close). On the way home, we stopped at Oak Alley Plantation where Brenna had been wanting to go for quite some time (she actually wanted to get proposed to here, but logistically, it wasn't happening). It was gorgeous and informative and they had drinks so all good things. And of course, we had to take some glamour shots of Callie's and Brenna's engagement rings because why not?

Overall, the weekend didn't turn out to be exactly what any of us had planned for or expected but it was still a nice trip for all the girls. Here are some things I learned:

1. Channing Tatum probably isn't a very good cook.

2. Bourbon Street isn't for everyone, and if you're not feeling it, just leave.

3. Women help women.

4. The YouTube vortex is real and it's great on a rainy day with your gal pals.