SATX v. NOLA

As you all know, I made reservations for San Antonio for the weekend for Baby's birthday. We're suppose to do The Riverwalk thing and simply just be together for a couple of days away from Houston. I noticed on the weather websites that rain is expected ALL weekend. Maybe not much, but enough to make trekking from the hotel to any of the historical sights and The Riverwalk somewhat inconvenient. Nor would we get to use the rooftop pool and hot tubs the hotel we're staying at is popular for - the only ones in the downtown SA area. That would suck! No point paying the slight upcharge in hotel difference for that amenity if we can't use it :(

So, I tried to develop a back-up plan. I came up with New Orleans. It's still close enough that it's a short flight back home and (worse comes to worse) driveable with a rental car should we not be able to get a flight back on short notice if my sister goes into labor while we're gone. I'm hoping she can hold out until after the weekend, but no matter how much I've negotiated with my unborn nephew through my sister's belly, he refuses to give me a direct answer.

I haven't been to NOLA post-Hurricane Katrina. I hear that as long as we stay near the French Quarter, which was pretty much untouched by the rains, we'll be alright. The rest of NOLA, however, still looks like Bagdhad. So my plan is to stay at Loews New Orleans Hotel. I would never have picked this place thinking it would be over budget for a quick weekend getaway because it is uber nice...5-Star, I think. However, there is an awesome deal on Hotels.com that I plan to jump on once I confirm with Baby that this destination is ok with him. I figure that since this hotel is only 3 blocks from the French Quarter, we are still walking distance from everything but not in the middle of the craziness. Also, Harrah's Casino is directly across the street. If we get rained out while we are there (which looks like may also be the case), at least Baby can gamble away to his hearts content at the poker tables...while I, on the other hand, will enjoy the free beverages until my face is smooshed and passed out onto a slot machine. Since Baby LOVES gambling and it IS his birthday trip, accessibility to Harrah's is the closest thing to taking him to Vegas - which I said was out of the question since I'm on Baby Watch. We can even set up a couples massage at the hotel spa to give us something to do indoors if it really turns out to be washout weather. Whatever the case, I'm seeing a little more fun in our options with the New Orleans idea even though I generally am not impressed by that city.

What's keeping me from finalizing NOLA as our destination this weekend is that the hotel in NOLA has a 72-hr cancellation policy. If I book now and can't make it because of my nephew's debut into the world, I get charged for it. So, I'm going to hold off until tomorrow night to make those reservations. I still have the SA hotel reservations since cancellation is 6pm the same day of arrival for that one just in case. I'll cancel those the second I get the NOLA hotel confirmed. GAWD! This little runt is ruling my life, and he hasn't even been born yet! JEEZ!