Heading Home (NOLA day #7)

Bob asked us to head out a bit early (he has another guest coming) we we left the Jazz cottage at 10:30.  We took one last trip to the French Quarter.  So nice....

We had lunch, grabbed a famous Muffuletta sandwich from the Central Gocery, then took in some live jazz.

After lunch we did a quick tour of the famous cemeterys.

Although we headed to the airport from here, we wanted to make sure you saw some other fampouns New Orleans views:

Garden District

The other garden district

Left over Mardi Gras

And now, back to Denver.

Until next time, we remain, UNDAUNTED!

L-A-Z-Y Days (NOLA days #5-6)

Aftyer pushing so hard at the stgart of the week, we dcided to take a couple of days to just DO NOTHING!

We had one pair of clean skivvy's between us (hers, but I won the coin toss!).  So off to the local lauyndry.

There is something kinda cool about visiting a beat up place like this.  The soap dispenser was made in the thirty's. very run down, but still worked!

While we waited, we grabbed a cup of Joe at the Fair Grinds Coffe Shop.  Yum!

After that, we read books, sat in the sun, and lounged for two days!  Nice....

Slithery, creepy, crawly things (NOLA day #4)

Woke up early.  And I mean before the inebriated frat boys had evacuated Bourbon Street.  The blurry hands on the clock read 4:30.  Now, this is explainable:

1. We are old
2. We went to bed at 8:30
3. We are old

But because we are old (so responsible), we got dressed and hurried to see what the French Quarter had to offer in the early morning hours (oh, and we saw that the Cafe dumonde is open 24 hours and no lines in the early morning!).

We arrived and walked up to see the early morning river view and were not disappointed!

Taking pictures woke us up, so we headed for the classic New Orleans Breakfast, Bignet's at the Cafe Dumond.

The wait staff are all Vietnamese.  And as you can see, Marci did like the tasty breakfast delights!

We were pretty tired (because we are old) and went back to the cottage for a nap.  We had a swamp tour booked for noon, so we slept from 8 until 10.

We tried to eat at Willie Maes' (a hole-in-the wall chicken place) the day before, but it was already closed for the day (they only open for lunch).  We arrived at 10:30.  Through they were having plumbing problems (all orders had to be take out - fine with us) we both ordered chicken and enjoyed the time in the "joint".

 This is a true "bucket list" experience.  DO NOT MISS this.  Best chicken in the south, and a true experience...

The swamp tour, no matter how cheesy you think it might be, is a MUST!  We had a fantastic time and saw so much we'd never see otherwise.  Do yourself a favor and book it if you are in New Orleans!

After this nice little adventure, we decided to go for a drive.  Of course, for us that usually means a hundred miles or so!  We drove to the very tip of Louisiana where the Mississippi dumps into the Gulf.  Pretty cool.

There is a large oil facility there, many ships, a whole LOTTA families (we suspect oil rig workers because of the MAJOR league helicopters) and even Fort Jackson (where the Union Navy won the first battle of New Orleans to take the city for the north in the early days of the Civil War).

We meandered back and headed to the Crazy Lobster for dinner.  I bought a Groupon a few weeks ago anticipating this feast.  It didn't disappoint!  We sat on the patio and listened to live music, watched ships go by, and savored fresh gulf shrimp and snow crab (imported of course).  Delic!

Now it is off to blog and bed.

PS  Our hearts go out to the people of Ft. Hood Texas.  This has to stop.

Swamps, battlefields, and a house fire...BUSY day! (NOLA day #3)

We woke up slowly - vacation mode having fully set in.  Nice to ease out of bed.

By 9:30 we'd had a quick bite and were out the door.  Heading to history that is more modern - some might say uncomfortable.  The flood ravaged blocks of the lower 9th Ward.

Nine years later, there are still obvious signs of the massive flooding.  Many houses are boarded up and graffiti adorns the exteriors.

The housing projects show a water line on the rusted metal stairs.

It is eerie. But there are other houses close by which have been restored.  And there is construction everywhere.  Note the sign.. "NEW DAY NEW ORLEANS".

After this sobering morning, we headed to the Jean Laffite National Park (Brataria Preserve).  What a great day!  We casually walked the swamp and saw bugs, birds, and even alligators!

After that, it was back through the 9th Ward to the 1812 Chalamette Battlefield and National Graveyard.  To be honest, one of the worst National Parks we've ever visited.  Dirty, unkempt, and not at all unique.  There were some cool grave stones.  "U.S.C." means United States Colored Infantry.

After getting out of this pit - we meandered through the French Quarter and then weaved the back streets to our cottage.  Amazingly, we stumbled on a house fire just as the NOFD arrived.  We jumped out and took some breaking news pics (The Times Picayune even published these).

Now we are tired!  We tried to get Willie Maes chicken (but it was closed).  Guess we'll eat in and chill out!

Night, y'all...