Day in the Life

BHHS Convention - New Orleans

Since joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Northeast Real Estate in 2015, I have looked forward to the month of March, not for “March Madness” nor the arrival of my Girl Scout Cookie delivery. March is when the BHHS real estate convention is always held in a fun and typically warmer-than-Maine location. This year’s convention destination was New Orleans. My last convention was in Louisville. It had taken me the whole convention week in Kentucky to learn how to properly pronounce the city name. There was “Loo-a-vul”, “Luhvul”, “Loue-ville”, “Loo-a-ville” or “Looey-ville”. This year, faced with another tricky city name, I was instructed by the locals that New Orleans is pronounced “New Or-lins” and no, they do not say “N’awlins”. 

The BHHS Convention is more than an opportunity to experience warmer weather, it is a much needed time to energize, revitalize, and invigorate my real estate business. I get so excited when I am selecting which classes to attend and speakers to hear. The amount of information and education that is shared at the convention is staggering and I love to absorb it all. It’s not all classes, however, I do take time for sightseeing and fun. 

New Orleans is world renowned for its distinctive music, vibrant nightlife, Creole and Cajun food, and my favorite, its colonial architecture. Of course, there are also its numerous festivals and annual celebrations, most notably Mardi Gras. Thank goodness we were visiting in March and happily missed Mardi Gras with its overload of party revelers. But because it was so soon after, we saw lasting mementos of that celebration with green, gold, and purple strings of beads hanging from trees, fences, and street lights. The historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its French and Spanish Creole architecture, this is the city’s oldest and best-known neighborhood. Its most famous street is Bourbon Street, with its lively nightlife that embodies the life of a party town when the sun goes down. The shops, restaurants, and bars were bustling at all hours of the day and every 10 feet along the street you could hear a different jazz group performing. I enjoyed viewing the architecture of the French Quarter. We even found the building that is used for the exterior shots of the bar on the TV show NCIS New Orleans. Better known as the Tru Tone Bar to NCIS: New Orleans fanatics where you will find Special Agent Pride (Scott Bakula), the R Bar is a local hangout located inside of the Royal Street Inn. We stopped in for a NOLA inspired drink and felt the local vibe. 

We spent one of our afternoons on a river boat cruise down the Mississippi River on the Creole Queen paddle-wheeler. It was a leisurely cruise whereby we could view the French Quarter, the Port of New Orleans, and the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve from the boat. We were entertained by a historian narrator with a detailed description of New Orleans landmarks, city history, vessel information, and river lore. On a humorous note, the tour ended with a recording of John Horton’s The Battle of New Orleans, a number one song from 1959. That was before my time, but the song was made popular again in the 70’s when I first heard it played. It never hit me until that moment on the Creole Queen that the lyrics to the song were describing an actual battle, the final winning battle of the War of 1812. Much to the surprise and amusement of my fellow agents, I had to sing right along with this catchy little tune, somehow remembering the words from my childhood. The song begins with  “In 1814 we took a little trip along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississippi. We took a little bacon and we took a little beans, and we caught the Bloody British in the town of New Orleans.” 

We disembarked the paddleboat for a tour around the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, the location of the Battle. The park ranger was especially knowledgeable of the historical facts regaling us with the story of how the American soldiers dug a ravine between them and the oncoming British soldiers and filled it with live alligators. Didn’t learn that story in any of my childhood history books. 

BHHS always hosts 2 social events for the thousands of agent attendees, one being a fun filled festival atmosphere usually involving food trucks and music, the other is a concert featuring well renowned musician(s). This year’s festival was held at the historic Sugar Mill and Mississippi Heritage Park. The space was transformed into Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ very own version of the city’s annual “Jazz Fest.” There were a dozen food trucks offering such delicacies as seafood etouffee, jambalaya, and po' boys, cubans, pulled pork, and fried chicken sandwiches. Oh and not to forget my two favorites, the charbroiled oysters in the half shell and beignets, those wonderful little powdered sugar covered, fluffy, deep fried morsels. As we strolled around the park grounds stuffing our faces with these Cajun treats and licking powdered sugar off our fingers, we were serenaded by various jazz musicians. For further entertainment there was even a live alligator wrangler. 

The convention culminated in a concert featuring Christina Aguilera. Amazing vocals, amazing concert. The multiple Grammy Award winning singer songwriter, renowned for her powerful voice was on stage exclusively for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Sale Convention 2024 attendees. The concert was free; however, you could purchase reserved seating for a fee of $30. Ticket sale proceeds benefited The Sunshine Kids Foundation. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is a proud supporter of this wonderful organization and over the years has raised millions for this cause. 

With the exception of the tornado alert and deluge of rainfall, gusty winds, thunder, and lightning when we first arrived, the rest of our time in New Orleans was enjoyable mild weather. It was good times, good food, good classes, and good agent networking. Did I mention those delicious beignets? All in all, the 2024 convention was a success. Already looking forward to 2025 in Seattle.