I drove down on Tuesday morning. It was a pretty uneventful drive thanks to Anna Sale from Death, Sex, and Money and, of course, Ira Glass, my personal driving companion. Although there was some rain as I was driving in and the water looked pretty high as I drove across the bridge. I got into town, went straight to the convention center, registered for the conference, and went to a workshop. After the first workshop, I went to the hotel to check in and drop off my stuff (and take a 30 minute power nap) before going back to the convention center for a reception. The reception was for first-time attendees and after a short presentation, we were divided into regions (Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina). I met a few people, ate some food, and headed back to the hotel.
Wednesday, I woke up bright and early- around 4:30- so that I could hit the gym before the conference. There was a shuttle that ran to and from the hotel that I took this day, but most days I just walked it. There was an opening session and then the exhibition room opened. It was full of vendors- drug companies, hospitals, schools, etc. AKA lots of free swag! While I was waiting to go into the exhibit hall, I ran into some of the girls that I had met the night before, so I ended up walking around with them some. We had signed up for separate workshops, so we exchanged numbers and decided to hang out later. After the workshops, we met up and walked to a brewery for drinks and appetizers. We ate, drank, listened to music, and talked. And talked some more.
We stayed on the patio for about 4 hours before we decided we were all tired and called it a night around 10. I walked back with towards the hotel with 2 girls from North Carolina and we decided to run into Pinkberry for some dessert on the way home. Delicious!
Thursday was another full day of workshops. Liver failure, anemia, fun stuff like that. I went to an industry lunch on Xarelto. It was actually pretty interesting. There was also free food. At the end of the day, I met up with all the girls again and we took the trolley to the French Market. It was only like 3 stops and we totally could have just walked, but the trolley ride was fun. We walked around the French Quarter and looked at all the architecture. And listened to some street music.
Then we decided to stop in a little restaurant called Tableau for drinks and appetizers. We made it in at the perfect time because it started raining once we got inside. We sat at the bar and ordered drinks and a couple appetizers to share. We got tuna, truffle fries, and some Burrata bruschetta that was absolutely heavenly! Seriously, I can still taste it! There was also a live band to provide some background music. So fun!
After drinks, we just walked around and checked out some shops. We went into a chandelier shop that was incredible! They didn't allow any pictures, but just imagine a room filled with the largest, most ornate chandeliers! Once we got hungry, we wondered into another restaurant for dinner. We all decided to go full New Orleans. I got shrimp creole that was delicious. We wandered around aimlessly some more before deciding to walk back to the hotels.
Friday morning came early, but I still somehow managed to go down to the gym before heading to the convention center for the conference. I went to my morning workshops and then met the girls for an industry lunch. There was a break after lunch so we decided to walk over to the mall. I shopped a little, while 2 of the girls got pedicures. Then we went back for another session. This was the Acute Care Forum and it got a little heated. There were some interesting points made though.
That night, we started by going straight to Cafe DuMonde. The beignets were amazing, as usual. I could have eaten like 7, but I decided to refrain. I also got a iced cafe au lait. Yum! After that we meandered towards a restaurant for dinner. This place was amazing! The waiter recommended chargrilled oysters. I've never had oysters before, because they are slimy, but I tried them and they were great. The chargrill gave it a smokey flavor and everything is good with butter and garlic, right? For dinner, I got the seafood pescatore. Incredible!
Then, because it was Friday night, we made the decision to hit up Bourbon Street. We walked around before ending up at a karaoke bar. I think there were 4 separate bachelorette parties there! I obviously did not sing, but it was a lot of fun. One of the girls did sing which was hilarious!
After hours of karaoke and dancing, we were exhausted! We called it a night and walked back to the hotels. Here we are before and after...
It was a busy day with lots of walking!
It was hard to wake up on Saturday morning, but with some extra coffee, I made it to the conference on time. The workshops ended about 4 and the North Carolina girls flew out that night, which meant that I was on my own. It was nice after the busy week! I read and watched some TV and went to bed early.
Sunday, I packed up and got on the road early, but not before I got a few pics of the view from my room...
It was a busy week, but a lot of fun and I learned a lot! I made it back to Memphis around 2 and had time to do some laundry and clean up before getting ready for the long week of work...
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