Good morning friends! I hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend. We had a really good one in New Orleans with family and running the Crescent City Classic 10k. Today I wanted to tell you a little about the expo, but I feel like I must back up for you to fully understand why I needed to drink by the evening.
That. See that? We left the house at 11:30, grabbed Chick-fil-A (duh) and headed south. Our 2.5 hour trip took 4.5 hours because. of. that. We got about 40 minutes south of our house on the interstate…and we came to a complete stop. For almost two hours. Baby girl was asleep until we came to a stop then was NOT happy. Eventually everyone was getting out of their cars to walk around (including many men like my husband going to relieve themselves in the woods, hey, you gotta do what you gotta so) and people walking their dogs. Poor Emma Kate hates the car seat as it is, so she wasn’t doing too well. I admittedly got VERY frustrated. We saw a couple ambulances go by as well as tow trucks and heard a car was on fire, but we knew nothing more. I was frantic because I had our day planned out perfectly so that we could spend a little time with my parents before driving into New Orleans for the night. At this point I was worried we wouldn’t even make it to the expo before it closed.
We finally got moving again after making friends with the folks in the cars around us (hey, we are in the south, it’s what we do), and headed to my parents house where we encountered more traffic as well as a bridge being up to let boats through. It was just not a good driving day for us. I later found out a car was driving very slowly in the right lane and was rear ended by two other cars. The first car caught on fire and they were not able to save the person inside. I then felt really bad for being frustrated with the wait considering someone died in the accident. It really puts things into perspective. 
We finally made it to my parents house and dropped off the dog and the baby before heading into New Orleans for the night. Thankfully we were staying at the Hyatt, which is where the expo was and where our blogger dinner was being held. We quickly checked in and headed down to the expo.
The Superdome was right outside the elevator bay.
I saw a couple friends as we headed into the expo, and told them we would see them up at dinner, but had to go grab our race packets and shirts.
The Crescent City Classic has over 20,000 runners and walkers. Thankfully, the expo wasn’t crowded since it was the second day and almost closing time! We got in line and got our bibs.
We glanced at a couple booths as we walked by, and Bobby was sure to get free red beans and rice, while I was sure to grab some free beer.
How adorable is this set up for photos at the expo?
We got our shirts and unfortunately didn’t have time to do anymore looking around at the expo. There were lots of booths, local races, etc. but we just ran out of time. We headed upstairs for our blogger dinner and had a great time with friends. The nice part about it was walking right upstairs to go to bed after it was over!
We got a picture with the chef and our waitress before we left. Because…why not?
Bobby and I headed upstairs about 8:00 to get ready for bed. Staying at this hotel was the best decision ever, no driving around after dinner, and the race start was literally just outside! But more on that tomorrow.
QOTD: Have you ever been stuck behind a wreck on the interstate? Favorite part of a race expo?
So sorry about the wreck but you’re right – it definitely puts things into perspective! Glad y’all made it in time for everything! 🙂
I used to get stuck behind wrecks all the time on the Florida Turnpike in Miami. It’s hard not to get frustrated at the time when you’re at a dead stop on the road! Glad you were still able to make it to the expo in time!