And On We Roll... Until We Stop!

We did go for a run through the French Quarter and over into the Warehouse District on Wednesday morning. It involved some stopping and starting to cross some of the larger streets but it was pretty fun. Jumping from sidewalk to street and back again to go around trashcans and people and leaping bad places in the concrete or potholes in the street.

Watching GA Tech lose!

We had lunch at the French Market at this great place called Meals From the Heart. They had plenty of healthy and/or vegan options and Rob said the crab cakes were the best he had had the whole trip.

Then we walked over to the other side of Jackson Square from the Market to the Louisiana State Museum. Our entrance included an exhibit on Hurricane Katrina and its after affects – it was very well done. Lots of first person accounts of the events and plenty of artifacts. We skipped the Mardi Gras exhibit upstairs in that building so we could go over to the Cabildo and go through the exhibit on the history of Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase was signed on the second floor of this building. We had to rush through the second half of the museum because we spent too much time reading all the details and it got to be closing time. That's the problem with being History Nerds.

After several days of lots of walking and standing around in museums, we decided to take it easy for the evening and went back to the apartment. The Corner Market across the street had a little deli counter in the back, so we got beans and rice from there for dinner. It made a great dinner along with a bottle of wine we had brought from Lafayette!

A frock for purchase

We got up early on Thursday morning to get to the City Park by 8:45 to meet the Kayak tour company to take us on a tour of Bayou St John. We rode the streetcar to get there and because of its schedule we arrived about 8:15. It was much colder closer to Lake Pontchartrain and much windier! After a phone call from Sonny with the tour company we decided to postpone the tour until Friday due to the wind and cold.

It was too early for the art museum to be open and too soon for a return streetcar, so we walked back to the French Quarter. It was a 4 to 5 mile walk, but the alternative was to stand around in the cold for an hour waiting for the streetcar. Besides, it meant we could eat more!

Island Rookery

We got back to the apartment, I put on warmer clothes and we headed to the St Charles Avenue streetcar to ride it over to the Garden District. We just wanted to see a little something different. We walked around Audubon Park, which has a bird rookery on an island in the middle of one of its waterways. The island was full of water birds we did not recognize and some of them made lots of noise.

At this point we were getting really hungry so we tried to take the streetcar back toward the French Quarter but alas, we did not have the right change! The kiosk that takes the money only gives change in the form of a credit you can use for future rides and our change would have been far more than we could use up in two days. So once again we walked.

What Am I? Coopers Hawk?

We were on a very residential section of St Charles Avenue with few to no businesses. When I was close to chewing on Spanish Moss we finally found a restaurant and it even had a veggie sandwich! Once we had been fed, we dropped down a few blocks to walk along some very quiet streets with lovely big houses. We even saw some kind of bird of prey patiently waiting for a squirrel to saunter out of a crepe myrtle so the bird could have some lunch!

View of French Quarter

Once we made it back through the Warehouse District and to the edge of the French Quarter, we jumped on the free (for pedestrians) ferry and rode over to Algiers Point across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Algiers Point is about as old as the French Quarter and has lots of historic houses as well. The top level of the ferry had great views up and down the river as well as of both river banks.

We planned to eat dinner (yes we ate a big, late lunch, but so?) at a place called Carmo in the Warehouse District, but it didn't open until 5:00 pm, so we dropped into The District to sit down and have a beer. After all that walking I had a Guinness for strength!

Dinner was delicious! May have been my favorite meal on the trip, though I thought that several times along the way. They even had a vegan tiramasu.

We headed back to the Home Away From Home for another early night since we planned to get up early to try for the kayak tour again.

Friday morning was much nicer than Thursday. I had dropped into a place called Uptown Anglers to buy some pants since I didn't bring any and found a great pair, on sale no less! So I was toasty warm and the sun was shining.

Make way for ducklings!

So we did the streetcar drill, arriving about half an hour early again due to the streetcar schedule. We got some coffee and a coke and sat on the bank of the bayou in the sunshine watching the world go by. It was very pleasant.

Our guide arrived, unloaded the kayaks and we were off! Sonny told us some of the history of that area of New Orleans – we were in Mid City. According to him, the area around the bayou, which is the access from the Gulf through Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans that does not require going up the Mississippi River, was actually settled before the French Quarter. Due to all the twists and turns of the river, New Orleans is actually 100 miles upriver from the Gulf. The Bayou St John provided a back door into the area.

Beautiful day on the bayou!

We saw several important historic houses from the bayou. We also saw some gar breaking the surface, lots of ducks, a hawk, turtles and at least one parrot. We were on the lookout for an alligator, but never saw any sign of one. Sonny is 6^th generations New Orleanean, so we waved to lots of people on the riverbank. We got out at the top of the bayou and crossed the dam to look at the lake. They are building new, better levees following Katrina. These levees are much higher and more robust.

After our exertions on the bayou we walked down to Cafe Degas on Esplanade Avenue. The co-owner of the kayak tour company also works there and recommended it. Another delicious meal! The chef made a scrumptious veggie medley for me that included half an artichoke, asparagus and super yummy mushrooms, among other things. Rob had a cheese plate and bisque and soft shell crab and dessert! After lunch we walked back up to City Park and went through the sculpture garden. Then it was back to the streetcar.

Egret

When we got off the streetcar on Canal St, we saw a Second Line wedding procession turning off a street and onto Canal! It was so much fun to watch!

We went back to the apartment and got packed up for the very early morning trek to the airport. We had planned to go down to Frenchman Street to hear some music, but all the fun and activity of the week caught up to us. We decided to make it an early night instead. We did have a bottle of wine left, so we opened that, had some spicy picked okra and red beans and rice from across the street at the Corner Market and went to bed.

We are on the final homestretch to Salt Lake now and can see snow on the ground from the airplane window. The forecast in SLC today calls for an inch of snow on the valley floor. Our systems may go into complete shock after yesterday's NOLA weather.

Though we did a lot and saw a lot, we didn't do and see many other things. We would very much like to go back. I think next time we would stay in Mid City near City Park. Things are a little slower there and we can get to the French Quarter quite easily. Mid City reminds us of Savannah and some of the neighborhoods farther from the river there.

Unpacking!

There is a half marathon in New Orleans in March!

Les Bon Temps Keep On Rolling!

French Quarter Tour

I am sitting outside in our shared courtyard, enjoying the gentle rain falling on the old bricks. I can tell you lots about the typical New Orleans French Quarter courtyard after our walking tour of the Vieux Carre yesterday.

The courtyards were much more than pleasant places to enjoy some quiet and sip morning coffee. They were private spaces away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but they were work spaces as well - places where laundry was washed and cooking that wasn't done in the kitchen was undertaken. Children played here. 

Typical Creole Cottage

We learned about the history of the area and about important characters who played pivotal roles in the development of early New Orleans. We also learned that most of the houses did not waste space with interior staircases - those were outside in the courtyard. As you can imagine, the streets were a little yucky, so people drove their carriages into the courtyard and got out on the brick and used the doors located there to enter the house.

It is a wonder that the French Quarter is here at all because most of it burned down twice in the late 1700s!

Rob's Second Breakfast

We have been continuing to eat our way through the trip. We had First Breakfast before we left the apartment yesterday morning, then stopped for Second Breakfast in the French Market. 

 After our Walking Tour of the French Quarter we went back to the apartment to put our feet up for a bit. Then we walked a block north to Louis Armstrong Park. It is under renovation so other than the construction not too much was happening there. So on across the street to Basin Street Station Visitors Center we went. It had some interesting exhibits and information about the French Quarter, as well as the other neighborhoods of New Orleans. We then walked over to St Louis Cemetery #1, but it was closed.

Back to the apartment to change and then we were off to meet the bride's sister Leslie for a drink. We ended up going to The Columns Hotel in the Garden District. It is immense! What is amazing is that it was originally built as a single family home in 1883.

We ate dinner late and I finally got lots of vegetables! I had a huge salad with lots of spinach and some hummus. It is actually quite hard to find veggies to eat here!

The forecast today called for lots of rain, but the slice of sky I can see from our courtyard looks to be clearing. I will go awaken sleeping beauty and see if he wants to go for a run. I think we will plan on touring museums today just in case the monsoon does decide to come!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

We have just completed our first full day here in New Orleans and we are tuckered out! But, though it is our first day as tourists in New Orleans, we have been in Louisiana since last Wednesday night. (Probably part of why we are tired - this is a stay-up-late-and-eat-and-drink-lots kind of place!)

At the airport!

We flew into New Orleans on the one non-stop flight from Salt Lake City per day and spent our first night at the airport Days Inn. We had our first-ever meal at a Denny's - our choices were strictly limited. Then Thursday morning we picked up our rental car and headed to Lafayette for our friends' wedding.

We traveled along I-10 across the Atchafalaya Basin, stopping for an excellent lunch of Cajun seafood along the way.

Rob in Loft #5

We had excellent accommodations in Lafayette at The Buchanan Lofts in loft #5. It is an old building that has been renovated into short and long term stay condos. Most of the out-of-town wedding guests stayed here, as well as the bride and groom, so we all had a good time hanging out. We spent our first afternoon walking around Lafayette's downtown area.

In the evening we were included in a Toasting for the bride and groom and had the chance to meet Caleb's and Juliana's families. It was great fun talking about who looked like whom!

The Ceremony

The wedding took place on Friday at Acadian Village. The ceremony was sort of modern hippie and beautiful. The music was not at all traditional - the bride walked down the aisle to The Beatles' "All You Need is Love". The ceremony included a Choctaw sealing to celebrate their Native American heritage and connections. And, of course, the food and dancing that followed were exactly what you would expect in the middle of Cajun country!

Plant at Vermilionville

On Saturday we visited Vermilionville, which is a created village of houses and shops moved from elsewhere and recreations of "typical" buildings to demonstrate early life in the area. Vermilionville was Lafayette's original name. We then drove out into the countryside (lots of sugarcane out there!), stopping for a few minutes in St. Martinville. This town is connected to Longfellow's Evangeline: An Epic Poem.

On Sunday we took Highway 90 back to New Orleans, stopping to tour Rip Van Winkle Gardens and House. It is beautiful with long vistas made possible by its position atop one of the handful of salt columns found in that area, creating an "island".

We also, of course, stopped at Avery Island, home of the world famous Tabasco Sauce. We toured the factory and shopped 'til we dropped at the Country Store. It really was interesting to see how the sauce is made and a key component is the salt that is mined right there on the island.

Then it was time to head for New Orleans and our digs for the week, ditch the rental car and grab some dinner.  Our Home-Away-From-Home is in the north end of the French Quarter just south of Louis Armstrong Park in an old house that has since been divided up into apartments. It is on a fairly quiet street conveniently located across the street from a little corner grocery store, i.e. a booze store that sells a few other things.

St. Louis Cathedral

Today we walked around Jackson Square and walked through St. Louis Cathedral. Then we walked over to the Warehouse District reading about buildings of historic import along the way. We also stopped for beignets as we went.

Our destination was the National World War II Museum. The museum is excellent. The only problem was that we ran out of time. We arrived about 12:15 and also purchased tickets for the 4:00 showing of "Beyond All Boundaries: The War that Changed the World." We only saw the exhibits on the European and African theaters of war and never even made it to the exhibits on the war with Japan! The museum closes at 5:00 so we were done for the day. So we went to dinner to console ourselves. Consoling oneself with food is easy to do here in New Orleans!

In fact, we are so well consoled that we are spending the evening in our Home-Away-From-Home rubbing our fat bellies and planning the rest of the week!