Sculpture Garden - New Orleans Museum of Art & Essence Music Festival

Here are the concluding pictures from my trip to New Orleans last year. On the final day of the Essence Music Festival , my friends and I decided to play tourist and head to the Sculpture garden in NOLA. It was an awfully hot day, and after hanging out at the garden for about 30 minutes, we called it quits and sought refuge in a fully air conditioned restaurant. 

The food in New Orleans is amazing, and we got to stuff our faces with some unhealthy yummy seafood goodness. After lunch, we headed to the Super Dome to go watch the concert. My main reason for attending the festival in the first place was to see Tevin Campbell, and as a true 90s R&B super fan, I hustled my way to the front to catch the R&B crooner in action--I wasn't disapointed. Tank also graced the main stage, and belted out some of his panty-dropping hits (lol). Nelly , Naughty by Nature, Jill Scott, 112 also rocked the house, and the night ended with Mary J Blige leaving us bewildered with her powerful vocals.

Below are the moments I captured...enjoy.

A lil meal before the show

Tank

Tevin Campbell

112

Jill Scott

Mary J Blige


It was indeed a great time in NOLA, and I would do the Essence Fest again in a heart beat! Have a wonderful week.

Halloween in Salem Witch Village

Sadly, another Monday is here *insert sad face*, but I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween weekend. Did you guys get to do any fun stuff? As for me I visited Salem Witch Village with a bunch of friends.

Salem is a city in North Shore, Massachusetts, and because of the 1692 witch trials, it is known as the Halloween hotspot of America. I’d always wanted to visit, and I thought Halloween would be the perfect time. Asides, pushing and shoving my way through 70,000 tourists (yes you heard right), my time there was spookily fun. I visited two haunted houses, rode a Ferris wheel (remind me to never do this again!), and had the best cheese fries ever! I also had a great time people watching and observing some of the creative costumes. 

A lot of the outfits were fascinating, and you could tell that a considerable amount of effort was put into these costumes. I on the other hand, took the easy route and "dressed up” as a bunny. Well, bunny ears and bowtie count as a costume, right?

Below are pictures of my time in Salem. Have a fantastic week guys.

Happy Bunny

That's all folks. Have a great week

Travel Therapy: My first solo travel experience --Montreal, Quebec

Traveling alone was something I never thought I'd ever do. With my non-existing sense of direction, I always felt that  companionship was absolutely necessary.

However, last thanksgiving, I decided to ditch the usual family gathering and capitalize on the 4-day weekend and go explore the French-speaking city of Montreal. The trip was a last minute plan, and I knew finding a travel buddy would be hard. More so, it was thanksgiving weekend, and most people had already made plans. So there it was, I was traveling solo for the first time. 

Montreal was absolutely amazing, and the trip is my best travel experience yet. Below are pictures with blurbs of my solo adventure in this beautiful city.

Look who found love in Montreal

Travelling alone was more fun than I anticipated. However, I panicked a tad bit when I got to Montreal. 
For some reason I became extremely nervous and couldn’t function for the first 15 minutes after my arrival. I had saved directions from the train station to my hotel, but for some reason, I suddenly became discombobulated and I started to freak out. I sat down for few minutes, calmed myself, took a deep breath, and then found a policeman who gave me clear and concise direction. 
Getting to my hotel was a breeze, and once I checked in and freshened up, I went off to explore Montreal.

Love sculpture in Vieux Montreal

Since I was nervous about embarking on this trip myself, I planned all my activities in advance. I even looked up directions of all the sites I was going to be visiting and printed out and saved screenshots of the said directions. 

Because I was going to be alone, I did not want to appear lost and make it obvious that I was a lone tourist.

Hotel  room selfie

Place Jacques-Cartier Square

Asides from safety, my other concern was finding someone to take pictures of me with my DSLR camera(yes I am that vain). Luckily I own a gorilla pod(tripod), and  I brought it along with me. For the most part, people were nice, and helped out whenever I asked for pictures. However, the gorilla pod gave me the freedom to take as many shots as I wanted.

Montreal Clock Tower (Tour de l'Horloge) in Old Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The pros of solo travels are vast, and the no 1 advantage is freedom! The fact that I could do things in my own time and on my terms was extremely liberating. I could visit the sites I wanted, eat in the restaurants of my preference, and chill in my room alone!


Travelling alone also helped me be independent. I was alone and did not have time to second guess myself.

McGill University 

It may sound cheesy, but there was also a level of self discovery that I achieved on this trip. It was calming, peaceful and soothing and this led to me getting to know myself better.


The Illuminated Crowd by Franco-British artist, Raymond Mason. The expressions on the sculptures are extremely life-like!

I was also able to immerse myself in the city. Since I didn't have a companion to talk to nor distract me, the only focus was exploring the city.



Since travelling to Montreal alone, I have done three lone trips and I have two upcoming ones before the year runs out

Olympic Park - Parc olympique de Montréal

Embracing solo travelling means I no longer have to wait on friends who usually say "no" at the last minute. I now have the confidence to just pick up and jet anywhere.

Goofing off at the 1976 Summer Olympics stadium

How gorgeous is the frozen river at Old port of Montreal

. 

Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

With love from Notre-Dame Basillica

Cloudy skies in Vieux Montreal

I love how the tree branches frame the statue

I thought this restaurant was cute

I walked down Saint Paul Street, and took a picture of this signage

China Town gate

Stopped for some spicy prawn soup in China Town

I am obsessed with signage, lamp posts, and, old architecture, and I was excited to capture all three in a single photo

View of Montreal from Mount Royal, Monteregian Hills

Marché Bonsecours

So what do you guys think of solo travelling? Have you ever done it, or do you think you have the courage to embark on one? Please leave your comments below. 

Have a fab week.