On the road again with John & Lynn: New Orleans ~ The Big Easy

After spending the day at the Naval Museum on Friday we drove on to New Orleans. What should have been about a three hour drive took four plus hours because of traffic so we didn't arrive in New Orleans until 9:30 pm. We were tired and just went to bed.

Saturday, March 16 we were up early and ready to see New Orleans. After getting maps and tips from the great staff at the hotel we walked down the famous Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

At 9:30 am it is a different place than most people are used to. It was empty and quiet while workers scrubbed and hosed sidewalks.

We continued on to Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter by day. At 9:45 it was already very crowded.

Jackson Square, is a historic park in the French Quarter. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960. After the Battle of New Orleans, in 1815, the square was renamed Jackson Square after the victorious United States general, and future president, Andrew Jackson.

Drawing the tourists, Jackson square is filled with artists, psychics and musicians.

Located at Jackson Square is also St. Louis Cathedral. This cathedral has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States.

We continued on to the riverfront, French Market Area area where we saw a very long line. We soon learned it was the line for the famous and historic Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand.

The cafe was established in 1862 and is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day (only closing on Christmas Day) and it's only menu items are Beignets, coffee, white and chocolate milk!

Beignets are basically doughnuts covered with a generous amount of powdered sugar as evidenced by the amount of powdered sugar on the ground around the benches where people take their purchases to people watch and listen to music while enjoying their treats. Of course we had to try these little gems but we lucked out ~ a worker came out to empty the garbage and commented to us about the line. I inquired as to whether we had to wait in the long line even if we didn't want to sit in the cafe. He said, "you want beignets? I'll get you some, wait here." Presto, two minutes later we had our beignets and coffee! They were great and we added to the powdered sugared ground around the benches.

Royal Street was home to many art shops and restaurants.

Music Legends Park honoring some of the greats ~
Fats Domino ~ Al Hirt ~ Pete Fountain
A nice place to get a cool drink and listen to some great music.

We continued our walking tour to the north end of the French Quarter where we visited New Orleans oldest cemetery, St. Louis No 1. The most interesting part of the cemeteries are the above ground burial vaults.

Because New Orleans is below sea level bodies are buried above the ground in family vaults. Yes family vaults. In many cases,generation after generation are buried in the same vault.

A couple of the more notable vaults were the decorated vault of renowned Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau

and the pyramid shaped vault where Nicholas Cage will be buried.

Finally John got to have lunch! We walked back to the Bourbon Street area where things were getting lively.
Remember it was St. Patrick's Day weekend in the French Quarter, second only to Mardi Gras. John got a fried shrimp Po Boy, which was very good and he was very happy.

Then we hopped on the trolley and headed to the Garden District where a huge St Patrick's Day Parade was in progress. It was quite an event.

The Garden District was originally developed between 1832 and 1900 and is considered one of the best-preserved collections of historic southern mansions in the United States.

We headed back before the parade ended so we could avoid the rush for the trolley. Then we sat at the riverfront watching the barges and ferries negotiate the Mississippi River.

The river makes a crescent shaped curve around the city hence one of the nicknames for New Orleans, "the crescent city." It also created a difficult turn for the large freighters.

Musicians and "statue" people everywhere ~

By now we had been on the town for about 8 hours so we decided to go back and put our feet up before we tackled the Bourbon Street night life.

We had seen Bourbon Street in the quiet morning, the more active afternoon and then . . . you have to experience Bourbon Street at night to really understand what it is like. On our last trip we went to Beale St in Memphis and Music Row in Nashville but they are nothing like Bourbon Street on St Patricks Day Weekend. The number of people and the outlandish outfits alone were a sight to behold.

Many of the bars had two levels and people hung from the upper levels throwing beads.

A custom in New Orleans must be wedding parades because we saw several ~

John only wanted two things in New Orleans, Dixieland Jazz and jambalya. We walked the length of Bourbon Street before we stumbled across a Jazz Club where we heard it! Dixieland Jazz pouring into the street.

We were led to a seat right up front where we listened to two great bands. We thought the first was fantastic but the second was even better.

After several sets we went next door and poked our heads into to hear Big Al sing the Blues.

Now we only had one more thing to cross off our list, jambalaya.
Even though it was 10:30 pm it had to be done. John enjoyed every bite and Lynn topped it off with a slice of pecan pie.

So, we said good by to the French Quarter.

Sunday, March 17

We had intended to leave New Orleans this morning however we heard so much about the NationalWW II Museum we decided we should see it while we were here and we are glad we did. This is a comprehensive display and it is still growing.

"The National WWII Museum in New Orleans opened on June 6, 2000, as The National D-Day Museum. Founded by historian and author, Stephen Ambrose, the Museum tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world — why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today — so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn."

Part of Hitler's "Atlantic Wall."

Wall Column Fragment from the North Tower, World Trade Center

One of the most moving experiences was the movie produced and narrated by Tom Hanks ~ "Beyond all Boundaries." It is a 4-D movie shown in a huge concave theater. As the movie continues, the seats shake as bombs are fired, snow falls from the ceiling, airplanes come down from above and tanks appear as the horrific reality of war unfolds.
The film makes use of the writings and documented accounts of WW II veterans. Am amazing experience.

Another virtual experience was that of being on the ~

Each of us was given a card telling our job on the submarine. On the back of the card was the name of an actual person who was on that mission. The "captain" calls for all hands to man their battle stations so we all proceeded to the numbered station on our cards as the USS TANG launched the attack on the Japanese fleet.

"Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience places visitors aboard the most successful submarine in World War II for its fifth and final war patrol on 25 October 1944. They will relive the last epic battle of the USS Tang and feel a deeper appreciation for the bravery and sacrifice of those who served in the intense, confined world of underwater warfare."

A display showing our unpreparedness for war in comparison to Japan and Germany ~

The discrepancy between the US army and the armies of Japan and Germany measured in man power.

This museum was well worth the stop. We only spent about four hours but you could spend days.

Traveling on to Natchez, M i s s i s s i p p i.

Sunday evening in Natchez is pretty quiet. Not quite sure what we expected to eat for dinner however we did expect something different than Mexican!?!?
The only casual restaurants open on Sunday night other than McDonalds were two Mexican restaurants, one down the road and one across the bridge in Louisiana. Gotta love America!

We drove around a little and found a pretty park over looking the Mississippi River.