Everything I read said to stay in the French Quarter. The neighborhoods outside of the French Quarter can be sketchy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was going over the plan with my sister on the airplane, and the passenger next to me made a recommendation. She said if you love the music, go to Frenchmen\u2019s Street<\/a>. It\u2019s within walking distance from the French Quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guidebooks had me too terrified that I was afraid to leave the safety of the French Quarter<\/a>. We got bored of the Quarter and so we tried Frenchman\u2019s Street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We had more fun there, met with locals and heard some great music. We were so happy that we chose to venture out of our safe zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The scariest part about it was a few weeks after being home, we heard there was a shooting in the French Quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I guess it wasn\u2019t that safe after all. The lesson, don\u2019t always trust what you read. Listen to the advice you get from the locals. They know where all the cool spots are.<\/p>\n\n\n There is so much useful information online, including customer reviews and insider tips. The problem with it is sometimes it\u2019s wrong. I do my best to find reputable sources but that doesn\u2019t always work out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook and Social Media is the worst for this. While companies remember to update their website with new hours, they neglect the other places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ran into this problem the other weekend. I had gotten my Mom a MN Wine Passports, and we wanted to christen it. There are 11 different wineries close to the Twin Cities<\/a>, so we picked the first one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They didn\u2019t have a website, so I went to their Facebook profile. It said they were open and off we went. After a 45 min drive, we found out they were closed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We were now in the middle of nowhere with no direction to go. I looked through the passport and located the next closest winery, Sovereign Estates<\/a>. This time, we called them first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once getting there we had an amazing time. It has become my new go to a winery because of the great service and staff there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson, call ahead. In our case, it was the off season. I should have known better. I was so excited that I had a sitter for a few hours; I forgot one of the basic rules.<\/p>\n\n\n Sometimes things go bad. Terrible actually. You can spend all the time in the world planning out the perfect trip, but it will never go that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Something always happens and you have to roll with it. Even when things go \u2018National Lampoon\u2019s Vacation\u2019 bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My family and I took a trip out to Washington state one summer. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the second day, it was getting so bad I started a list of everything that went wrong. Here is a summary, taken from my Travel Journal, July 2003:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was when we were on our second tire when we all found the humor in everything. It was an amazing vacation. We saw so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we would have let everything affect our spirits, we would have been miserable. But you can\u2019t. At some point, it becomes entertaining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when things go bad, think of how funny the story will be later on in life.<\/p>\n\n\n Not every vacation is what you intended it to be. Some of the major tourist destinations are on a lot of people\u2019s bucket lists. There is so much hype and excitement, it\u2019s often hard to meet those expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you get there, you find that it\u2019s one big man-made destination designed to draw out every dollar out of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had two bucket list trips the past year that transpired to be major disappointments. New Orleans<\/a> and Las Vegas. They are both party destinations that everyone must see at least once in their life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem is, I\u2019m not that much of a partier. I found that these destinations were merely a series of bars that you could visit anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The culture there was nothing but a bunch of partiers from all over the country. It\u2019s fun for about 1 day, but you can get that anywhere. I want to see something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I flew halfway across the country; I want to see the country! When it wasn\u2019t what we wanted, we left. We kept our hotel, but we took a drive outside of the city. As soon as we did that, we got to see what the state was like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We saw a Bayou. I got to walk on some historic plantations. We saw the desert and the Grand Canyon<\/a>. It was some of the most amazing experiences of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find that the destination you dreamed about doesn\u2019t meet your expectations, leave. Do something else. It’s your vacation and money, spend it doing what you want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Local](\"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Frenchmans-Street.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nTrusting Social Media<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/WinterVines-1024x683.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLetting Mishaps Get You Down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Family](\"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FamilyRoadTrip.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nGetting Stuck In A Tourist Trap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"at](\"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/AtTheCanyon.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/daytripper28.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Biggest-Mistakes-683x1024.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"