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.

Why tourists willingly drop $5.5 billion a year (NOLA - Day 1)

We were up early.

The lemon tree (that's right folks, we have our own citrus tree!) is a local favorite for the miniature winged locals.  The tree burst with life at about 6:30, and we were happy to hear them.

We crossed the street to the neighborhood coffee shop and injected strong southern caffeine into our veins.

The Community Coffee shop across the street

After some strong brew and buttery croissant, we gathered our things and headed for the French Market.

What a treat!

If you haven't been, this should be on your bucket list.  Warm people, great food, sights, smells, sounds, the French Quarter (and especially the French Market on Sunday) has it all!

We truly enjoyed the bustle, warm weather, and French architecture.

And there is music EVERYWHERE!

After lunch - and a whole lote of walking, we decided to take a drive.  We went over to the lake (Pontchartrain) and drove to Mississippi.  It was lush, swampy, and really fun to see.  We listened to a James Lee Burke book (set in New Orleans) and had a relaxing time seeing the deep wouth.

We drove past AMAZING powder white sand beaches in Mississippi (and cannot figure out why thousands of people are not flocking here).  The beach front homes are the most beautiful we've ever seen.  Stately, not gaudy like Miami or wierd like California, just - southern.  Love this architecture!

We were treated to a beautiful sunset as we drove back over the lake into New Orleans.

We ended our long day on Bourbon street (loud and crazy for sure) and then headed back to our quaint cottage for bed.

What a great day!