Southern Sunshine - New Orleans & Tampa

Today was the day I was supposed to fly home from Florida, but guess what? I said heck with that, so I slipped Dad’s credit card out of his wallet, called up the airline, and extended our stay for another week.

Because I haven’t finished my tan yet, of course.

That, and I’m not really looking forward to going home to the snow right now.

My “presumed” girlfriend Paisley even posted this picture today.

“Come play in the snow with me”, she said.

That’s when I sent her back this selfie and replied, “do I look like I’m ready for snow?”

But I had to clarify, “you do look stunning in it, though! 😉 ”

Seriously though, I’ve been having a lot of fun here. I spent a week in New Orleans where I explored the city and met the local fans, and am now spending the rest of my vacation at our Florida home, where I also met with my Tampa fans for my biggest event turnout yet!

It was my first time to New Orleans, and even after reading and seeing so much about it, it was still better than I imagined.

The very first thing we did was undoubtedly try one of their famous “beignets” at the equally famous Cafe du Monde.

I don’t know what the heck kind of service they offer though, because this beignet was served to Mum with two huge bites already taken out of it! I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! Not only that, but Mum had the nerve to say it was I who did it!

So you bet your butt I had a strong word to say to the waiter next time he came around…

Out front the cafe, a local saxophone player was entertaining the guests with his jazzy tunes. I also noticed people were giving him money for it! So I figured, heck, I’ll join him for a couple minutes and it’ll pay for my beignet!

Luckily, I always keep my saxophone with me for such occasions.

For our week there, we pretty much did everything all the New Orleans tourists do. Eat, drink, eat some more, and walk around.

I visited the Bulldog beer tavern for some tasty local brews…

Had a hot dog at Dat Dog…

Was a “naughty” dog on Bourbon Street…

And was a regular dog in the beautiful City Park!

Which is also where I happened upon a particularly enticing squirrel… In fact, I don’t think I’ve even chased a squirrel since my surgery!

I gave chase to the creature until it cowardly fled up a large oak tree. I subsequently began to scale the tree until I heard the “click” of my leash being attached to my harness. I turned to see Mum with a grasp on the leash, yielding me from ascending further.

“What on Earth are you doing, woman?” I exclaimed. “I was about to climb this tree and catch that squirrel! Now you’ve embarrassed me by throwing me off my hunt!”

And worse, she seemed to find the whole situation comical.

Hardly. But oh well, “Mums will be mums.”

I went on a dog-friendly walking tour of the beautiful Garden District with Historic New Orleans Tours, who were so kind as to show me some real estate I might consider purchasing one day, such as that of Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Our guide also pointed out a lot of interesting historic facts, such as how these old concrete blocks were designed to help wiener dogs step into horse-drawn carriages.

Fascinating.

While in New Orleans, I also teamed up with the infamous ‘Wild Bill’ for an interview on ABC’s WGNO, which you can watch here:

Everyone was so impressed I spoke French, but I’m just like, how did you expect anything less? How could I not speak the language of love?!

I also received some special permission to take a ride on the enchanting Creole Queen paddleboat tour down the Mississippi River.

I was so excited I skipped all the way up the gangway.

It was one of my favorite things we did there!

Then it was time for my New Orleans book & calendar signing.

Luckily, a few people turned out to meet me.

And by that I mean a few hundred! 😉

But from New Orleans, it was back to Florida to enjoy my “official” vacation – almost.

Before I could start my vacation clock, I had to do one last interview. This one was with Good Day Tampa Bay and lovely host, Jennifer Epstein who happened to be a big Crusoe Fan herself!

She even let me take over the news desk for one segment…

“This is your anchor, Crusoe, with some breaking news: Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund, the adorable mini wiener dog who looks sensational in a tropical shirt, will be taking over the role as news anchor for this segment during his visit to Fox 13 in Tampa this morning… That is all. Back to you Jennifer”.

I was on such a role that I even hopped over to the weather desk.

“Crusoe your WeatherDog here… who cares what these maps say, I’m the weatherman and I say everyday is going to be a sunny day!”

But my question to you is – why would all the weathermen of the world ever consider NOT making it sunny all the time?! Seems stupid to me…

Then it was time for my Tampa book signing! And guess what, this turned out to be my BIGGEST event yet! We had an estimated 700 people! Some people were even camped out on lawn chairs outside the store since the early AM.

I can’t believe people would go to such lengths just to meet little ol’ me! 😉

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But, then I was FREE! Time for my official vacation time. So what did I do?

A whole lot of nothing, that’s what.

Actually, that’s not entirely true.

I did go fishing, which I documented through real-time “Story” videos on Instagram. So if you’re not already, follow me here!

Notice that huge fish at the end?! Wish I could have caught that one…

Then I also went to the beach, where it was clearly indicated by signage that this is a “sand castle-free zone”.

So when I noticed a bunch of insolent children everywhere building castles, I took it upon myself to be the sand castle police.

“Nope nope nope!”

(You may notice that on this beach, sand castles are prohibited but nudity is graciously encouraged).

You can see a video of my sand castle destruction here.

But as I kept digging and digging, I noticed I had created a cool little bed for myself. So I flipped over onto my back, brushed some sand back over my body to keep me cool, and just “chilled”.

Now if only someone would bring me a margarita and hold the straw to my mouth, I’d be all set.

After a while, I need to stretch my legs and wash off the sand though. And what better way to do so than to try some surfing!

I just need to wait for that perfect wave…

“I’m about to Hang 10! Er – would it be Hang 8? Maybe Hang 16? I dunno”

And what would a day at the beach be without a little strategic product placement?!

Now that’s a beach bag! Find yours & more in my store.

Anyway, that’s pretty much been my vacation; fishing, beach, suntanning, nap, and repeat. Perfect.

So if you’ll excuse me, “nap time” is next on the list.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Keep policin’ sand castles,

~ Crusoe

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