Halloween Weekend / Voo Doo Music Fest 2010

I feel like a year of your life that you'll probably never forget is the year you became engaged.  It's very unique because it's usually (in most cases) the only one year out of your life where you're in this type of transition. With that said, we definitely wanted to touch on some of the fun highlights from late 2010 that will definitely be a year we'll both never forget.

Anyone that really knows me knows that I am a complete music addict.  I have a vast base of bands that I love to listen to ranging from  anything in the indie/alternative, punk and folk arenas.  One of the things in the beginning that attracted me to Kristen's personality was our mutual appreciation for a lot of the same music. I've always felt a good taste in music demonstrates a unique personality and shows character.  Character that I've always looked for;  when you can genuinely enjoy something like music, art or film with someone you're in a relationship with -- it will take you a long way. 

Because of this appreciation of the same bands, Kristen and I go to a lot of concerts.  We love live venues, the atmosphere and seeing bands play in person that we listen to so much in our everyday live.  I had fallen into a slight Muse obsession right around early last year. I was listening to them constantly, so this is a band that Kristen became very fond of as well.  Once we found out they were playing in New Orleans at the Voodoo Music Festival AND it was halloween weekend, it became a no-brainer. 

On top of that, several of my friends were talking about attending the same festival so we were quick to get plane tickets and plan the trip. The full crew ended up being myself, Kristen, my brother Grant and our friends Chris, Mike, Levi and Gino. 

To this day, the show will definitely be in the top 5 best I've ever seen.  The production and sound were top notch.  Muse is like a modern day Queen. The music is very grand and the theatrics during one of their live shows is mind blowing. We basically went to the festival solely to see Muse (although it didn't hurt that Weezer was there), so we all hopped cabs and headed over to City Park on Friday night. 
The band played an amazing set -- here a few shots from the show....

The next day we got to see the city.  Aside from the show, this was something I was especially excited about.  I love the culture in New Orleans;  the food is awesome and I love how you can walk into almost any bar in the middle of the day and there's a dedicated blues band jamming out. 

Kristen and I headed down Canal Street with our friends and hit up the French Quarter for lunch.  We ate at a cafe right in the middle of everything.  There was a live band playing while we enjoyed some mimosas and watched all the crazy people passing by. From there, we turned up the heat a bit with some drinks on Bourbon street.  We found more live music, bull riding and even more live music.  Here's a few more shots...




Krissy danced up to the tip jar and dropped a 5 in for these guys -- they earned it!



That's me being terrible at bull riding.  These few hours were definitely another huge highlight of the trip.  We got to see Kristen "The Piston" come out for those few hours too.  She danced her butt off in the blues bar for what felt like hours.  It was hard to take her away....almost like tearing a kid away from Chuck E. Cheese.

After the sight seeing and drinks, we headed back to the hotel.... because guess what?  It was time to celebrate Halloween!  Kristen and I decided to use True Blood as inspiration for our outfits.

She makes a pretty sweet Sooki and I make a nice emo version of Bill

We headed to the madness on Bourbon street and had one of "those" nights.  Lots of drinking, the place was packed and I caught the biggest pair of beads you've ever seen in your entire life for Kristen.  We all know how girls are expected to obtain beads in New Orleans, so I had to step it up!

We made the best of our last full day and did some more sight-seeing and dining. We headed back to the French Quarter and had one of my favorite memories from the trip.  I ordered a pound of crawfish from a nearby restaurant, we walked down by the Mississippi river, and relaxed while getting our hands dirty with N'awlins best.

On the last night of the trip (actual Halloween night) we decided it would be fun to check out one of the famous haunted houses in the area.  Kristen, my brother and I got tickets and headed over to "The Mortuary."  It was not the same size and scope of something like Halloween Horror nights at Universal Studios, but for what we paid, the entertainment was definitely quality and we had a blast.  Kristen left marks in my back as usual from clinging onto my back like a little spider monkey as we went through the attraction.  All necessary battle wounds when going through a haunted house.

The next day came pretty soon after that (as well as a few hundred dollars lost  in the Harrah's Casino next to our hotel), and we were on way back to Orlando.

This is definitely a trip that I know we'll always remember in the year of our engagement.

- Smitty