Day 2: New Orleans
Hey hey, party people! Rise and shine with the Bashfuls! This morning, the alarm clocks didn't stand a chance against the beautiful sunrise and the cheerful chirping of birds—it was nature's wake-up call at its finest. Some of us cozied up indoors last night, while the adventurous souls opted for a night under the stars. Thanks to our expert packing team (shoutout Dopeys), we were off and on our way by the crisp time of 6:45am. Some of us dozed off on the bus, only to wake up to Miss Mary's least preferred stop on our journey: Auburn University #rolltide.
Hold onto your hats because things got intellectual! We had a brainpower showcase with Kelsey diving deep into Georgia, Rachel uncovering Atlanta's secrets, Jordan giving us the lowdown on Auburn (cue the war eagle!), and Lucy taking us on a journey through sweet home Alabama.
A mini tour of Auburn University
Peaches for correct trivia answers on the State of Georgia! Thanks Kelsey!
Da boyzzz
New friends
Girl squad
Looking at the clock to match our watches!
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| Taking pictures with new friends! |
We all fumbled with our watches (some for a good 30 minutes) trying to turn them back an hour. After a quick photo op, we made a pit stop at WallyWorld. Some of us snagged Auburn swag (the bookstore missed our 6 AM spree!), while the cooks gathered breakfast essentials—cue nutritious Great Value pop tarts. Whether it was cherry or cookies n’ cream, we all got our 8 AM sugar fix.
Back on the road, some snoozed while others rocked out with jam sessions and crafted friendship bracelets. It was road trip vibes all the way! Our counselors hosted a morning show with different segments including a sports update, weather update, quote of the day, and international news. It was quite entertaining and featured several commercial breaks with music.
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| Posing with our new Auburn merch |
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| The Happys getting our scrumptious breakfast |
Future tiger?
Hydrate!!!
KS telling Truman no to the on brand pop-tarts lol
Our next stop was at the Mississippi Welcome Center, where we got creative spelling out "Mississippi" with our bodies and snapped pics with an Elvis impersonator lookalike. Back on the road, our first TWB rain shower couldn't dampen our spirits—we turned the bus into a comedy club with card games and jokes flying left and right.
Lunchtime brought pizza wraps, meant for five pepperonis each, though Carson went all-in with 12! Chips and cookies on the side kept us fueled and ready for whatever the road threw our way.
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| Welcome to Mississippi:) |
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| Serving a meal while on a bus can be challenging! |
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| Getting in a quick nap |
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| Fun games on the bus with our new friends |
Zzzzzzzzz
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| Our yummy on the go lunch |
After lunch, we made our grand entrance into New Orleans. Parked up and ready to roll, we hit the Mississippi River for a round of insightful research presentations. Kate, Lillian, Kinley, Bella, and Gabi rocked their topics—Mississippi, Louisiana, Jackson Square, Café Du Monde and St. Louis Cathedral, and Bourbon Street.
Afterward, we admired the stunning architecture of St. Louis Cathedral before venturing out to explore on our own. Café Du Monde tempted some of us with its irresistible beignets—a must-have experience! Many of us purchased postcards and t-shirts!
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| Our Amazing Counselors! |
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| A little rain never hurt anybody |
Todays researchers:
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| Lillian |
Evan
Gabi
Kinley
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| Getting creative! |
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| Exploring Bourbon street |
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| We rate the beignets 10/10 |
Taste of the Big Easy
They begged for this picture
Dallas' famous "ask for a picture then blow the powder sugar picture"
DELISH
Once we left New Orleans, our fearless bus driver, Sean, tackled a 23-mile bridge like a champ. Dallas, our musical maestro, had us grooving to "Dixieland Delight" on repeat, setting the stage for our upcoming showdown.
We were so excited when we arrived at our campsite tonight because it was air conditioned and had bunkbeds! We sure have been lucky these first two days getting to sleep in a bed. While the happy group cooked our delicious dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread and popsicle sticks other groups prepared for our competition for tonight! The happy group had their own singalong while cooking the meal for us!
After we ate dinner and dishwashers worked hard to get our pots and pans sparkling clean, it was time for our competition. Let us tell you—those Happys? They crushed it. Even with the Walmart pit stop and minimal rehearsal time, their Dixieland Delight musical skit brought everyone to belly laughs!
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| Quickly grabbing our next few meals to get back to camp. |
Team no buggy!
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| Pretty sunsets! |
Selfie :)
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| Some evening spike-ball. |
Crew waiting for dinner!
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| Getting excited for Texas tomorrow! |
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| The happys working hard to make another great meal |
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| Music and Dinner, thanks Luke! |
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| Time for our dixie land delight dances! |
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| The Grumpys |
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| The bashfuls!(us :)) |
Gracen may just be a rapper in her next life
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| The Sneezys |
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| Reed showing off his cartwheel skills! |
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| The Sleepys |
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| The Happys |
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| The Dopeys |
Our luxurious slumbers tonight are at a place TWB fondly calls the Taj Mahal (indoors and blessed with air conditioning), but don't let the comfort fool you—we're hitting the hay early for a crack-of-dawn wake-up call. Bashfuls out!
P.S. Happy Father's Day, dads!
