One of the things that New Orleans is known for is its food. Well it didn't take long for me to enjoy the cajun taste of the city. After checking in at the Ritz-Carlton, I joined Shawn Sparks and Brad Johnson for lunch with one of our agents and his staff. We visited a small cafe called New Orleans Food & Spirits. Among the things that we ate were fried eggplant, crawfish cakes, fried shrimp, fried fish, seafood gumbo and jambalaya. Needless to say, I was stuffed. After lunch I went back to the hotel and enjoyed the spa for a bit. It wasn't long after this that Shawn and I saw Luke Wilson at the hotel bar at the Ritz. We thought about asking him for a picture but eventually just said screw it. Later we met up with one of the advisors that we work with for dinner along with his staff. The restaurant we ate at was Mr. B's Bistro (http://www.bistro.com/) and I strongly recommend it if you are ever in New Orleans! It was a great atmosphere with great food. After dinner our whole group decided to hit up the famous Bourbon Street. We went to Pat O'Briens (http://www.patobriens.com/) piano bar and their famous Hurricanes took a toll on the group here as well.
The next day I slept in and when I eventually woke up I felt the need to hit up the spa again. About an hour and a half later I felt refreshed and was ready to begin my day. And by begin my day, I mean it was time to hit up the local favorite place for gumbo...The Gumbo Shop. (http://www.gumboshop.com/w.gumboshop.com/) This was one of my favorite places to eat..we started out with some chicken andouille gumbo, then creole jambalaya platter, and finished with hot bread pudding with whiskey sauce. It was simply amazing! Later that evening the World Series of Sales kicked off with a cocktail reception and then Terry Bradshaw spoke. You can't really tell on TV all that much, but Bradshaw is freakin' hilarious!! That guy literally had a room of 400 people in tears because they were laughing so hard. Unfortunately after he spoke, Terry had to leave immediately for Chicago because he was covering the Bears/Packers game so I wasn't able to get a picture with him either. Following the presentation by Terry Bradshaw was casino night and all of the proceeds were donated to Sean Payton's "Play it Forward" Foundation. I was able to meet Sean Payton and get a picture with him. I also got to hold the Lombardi Trophy from the Saints Super Bowl victory last year. They are still technically the current World Champions...for two more weeks anyway!!
Friday was a lot of business for the most part. We had several people speak including Cody Foster (One of Advisors Excel's Founders), Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints Head Coach), and Randy Schwantz (Author of The Wedge). That night however, was all play and no business! The owners did an amazing job preparing an evening that I will never forget. It started out with a authentic Mardi Gras parade. I'm not sure how much they paid to do this but they had Canal Street (the main street in downtown New Orleans) blocked off for over an hour so that Advisors Excel and all of our agents could have a huge parade. We had over 15 massive floats with amazing paintings and sculptures built on them. This was a surreal experience that I doubt I ever get to do again!! We rode on the floats for over 3 miles while throwing beads to the locals and tourists along the streets the whole way. It was a great start to the party.
The party did continue after we arrived at a place called Mardi Gras World. This is where we dropped off the floats and got to see exactly where and how they build them. We then walked to the Grand Oaks Mansion (http://www.kernstudios.com/) for cocktails and socializing for about an hour. After this everyone worked their way into a massive ballroom and this is where we had the awards ceremony and dinner. Much to everyones surprise, Cirque du Soleil was there to perform during our dinner. (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/) The show was amazing and everybody loved it! I had seen them once before in Las Vegas, but having them at a private party was a whole new experience!
The next day we did have a few more speakers before the conclusion of the event, Joe Calloway and Bob Fugate. The World Series of Sales was definitely a success this year. Everybody had a great time and much deserved credit was given to some of the top financial planners in the country!
I did stay one extra day to do some site seeing and to wind down from the weekend. I visited the St. Louis Cathedral which is breathtaking and also the French Market. However, I flew home on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 and we had some excitement on our return flight. I had a layover in Houston and that is where we were headed. About 30 minutes out, the flight attendant announced that the pilot was starting his descent toward the airport. Then about 5 minutes later the flight attendant came back on the speaker to ask everyone to remain calm and she wanted to inform us that the flaps on the wings of the plane were not working...therefore we couldn't slow down and were going to be landing at an extremely high speed! Well just my luck...of course I'm not sitting between 2 hot chicks that need support and comfort during this scary time...no, I'm sitting between 2 ladies that are in their mid-sixties. One of them is hyperventilating and has her vomit bag out and the other is tearing up and saying her prayers aloud! This....was a nightmare. Anyway, I was slightly worried myself so I buckled my seat belt as tight as it would go and I braced myself. The good news was that the fire department had been notified of the situation and fire trucks were lining the runway in case of emergency...awesome. After all this, I have to give the pilot props. He did a great job and landed the planed safely. I have never been so happy to have a layover and get on a NEW plane in my life!!
So that's what has been going on in my life this past week. Now it is time to root on the Kansas State Wildcats as they take on the Kansas Jayhawks this weekend!!! GO STATE!!!
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