http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Louisiana en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:10:17 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:10:17 +0000 Keating Boys Duck Hunt in Hackberry Louisiana 2009James we miss having you with us.Arrival Friday afternoon we met at the lodge. With wonderful weather we sat outside and visited waiting for the other members of the group to arrive and caught up on what was happening in our friends and relatives lives. After sitting down to a meal of fresh garlic bread etoufee butter beans carrots iced http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/Sulphur/blog-461479.html Yestarday night we drove through a big storm. Lots of rain and wind. Today once again we woke up late and we went for a walk in the French Quarter of New Orleans. We met cousin Billy at the Superdome's truck parking lot and we talked about our route through Texas. We saw lots of damaged buildings abandoned houses and ugly areas. But also we saw a lot of fun stuff. The streets of the french quar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-461283.html Being that this is my first entry on Travelblog I thought it might be a good idea to say that my first few entries are going to be about places I have visited in the past. I am going to the Cayman Islands at the beginning of December and will certainly share what I hope to be an amazing experience but at present I have decided to document destinations and adventures that have already tak http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-452526.html In the last posting I indicated we were on our way to Texas but a funny thing happened along the way. After we left Albuquerque hoping to make significant progress toward Dallas by Sunday evening we headed East on I20. After about 50 miles there was a loud noise and vibrationone of our rear tires was flat. We unloaded the car and jacked it up but the wheel stubbornly refused to come off. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-449753.html October 27 2009Today we had a leisurely breakfast and then Donna John and I took a four hour tour of the cityhellipit was wonderful. The tour started out in the city or business district continued into the garden district then the arts district the French Quarters and then a tour of Ward 9 where the worst damage from Katrina occurred. The guide was great and gave a lot of history. As we pas http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-449083.html October 26 2009Today was an interesting day. We set out early we had a long way to go to get to New Orleans. When we left Galveston we drove a bit and then took a ferry that eliminated many miles on the road to the Big Easy I hate ferry rides but this one was delightful. There were dolphins cavorting in the water the sun was shining and it was hellipshort and the sea did not roll so that D http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-448510.html New Orleans Friday 9th OctoberWe decided to take a slightly different route to New Orleans along highway 90 rather than the interstate as it was a lot more scenic. We stopped and bought some plums from a stall by the side of the road and got two bananas thrown in for free I love a bargain The Highway 90 followed the Gulf Coast all the way round to New Orleans and passed the worst affected a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-447061.html So 5 states in 1 day and 15 hours later we arrive in New Orleans. It has so far been smooth sailing... driving. Aside from breezing through the different states we had different weather. Fog after South of the Border Of which we have a really blurry picture of a huge sombrero. Cold bitterly in Atlanta where we stopped to have a picnic lunch in Decatur. And then windy from Alabama to Louisiana. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-445788.html When Hurricane Katrina called on southeast Louisiana on August 29 2005 it didnrsquot knock first. The wolfwild winds simply huffed and puffed and destroyed more than 350000 homes. Almost 2000 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods. New Orleans didnrsquot escape. Unlike the immovable house of bricks in the fairy tale the cityrsquos metropolitan area http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-441416.html Feb 27 2001 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-441343.html Leaving Australia for a few months as a liaison person at a US medical facility with links to UQ School of Medicine in Brisbane Australia. It's a long way to New Orleans and the jetlag is extreme They say 'west is best' so 15 hours to the East must be pretty bad. Actually the flat bed on the Virgin plane helped and I did get some sleep. Los Angeles International Airport is a lot more confusing a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-438329.html People travel for many reasons health rest excitement but travel for your tasted buds is a new and exciting reason to travel.Many shows on channels such as the food network and the travel channel are now created around travel and taste. Show such as ldquoBizarre food with Andrew Zimmernrdquo focus on local cuisines in regions throughout the world.Sense of taste is one of our strongest sens http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-436588.html The last blog may have been a bit deceiving...Titled Final Blog and all. But that was the final blog of 2008...this is a dawning of a new era Shall we fly through the past eight months together and catch up No Okay go back to your picking dirt out from your fingernails or deciding what to have for dinner when you know its gonna be Ming Wah for the third night in a row. Oh you're in Ok http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-433138.html Leaving Texas behind me I head to New Orleans Louisiana. Most people associate New Orleans with Mardi Gras alcohol beads party Hurricane the drink Hurricane Katrina and good food and well they are right I arrive there in the morning and make it to the India House Hostel great people a pool and one dollar breakfast. Also it is not dangerous to walk around the area at daytime. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-433105.html My good friend Marcos tells me that the subject of MRE's is not as interesting as I seem to think and he advises me to stick with the here's what I did today stuff. I suspect he felt inclined to add that he could have done without the ldquoNoxious Weed Mouseketeer Roll Callrdquo as well but was too polite to mention it. Other feedback or notable lack thereof suggests that he is correct o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-432554.html Memphis New OrleansWednesday 1st October Day 37Today we had a little time before leaving Memphis but didnrsquot have much time to really go back into the city or any last attractions before needing to get sorted so we just had a quiet morning at the hotel. We caught a taxi to the airport bound this time for New Orleans. Of course as with our last two flights we could only get there via http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-432239.html We left Pensacola at 930am and started heading further west towards to Mississippi River. In the interest of time we decided today that we would take the interstate highway I10. We were very quickly leaving Florida behind. The gulf coast portion of Alabama and Mississippi are very narrow and so we were through those two states in a matter of a few hours. We saw the Mobile River and Bay the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/Baton-Rouge/blog-431323.html Well we are traveling again. We have gone on a few things here and there and basically forgot that we had this travel blog. Oops Ella made her way up to Nashville with her Grandpops and she's going to spend a week at her grandparents' house getting spoiled rotten We love you Ella I had a harder time leaving my precious baby girl than she did leaving her mommy. We are in New Orleans eat http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-430602.html Origin of a dumb ideaThe last time I was here I dropped about ten pounds despite the fact that I spent most of my time in the kitchen. You meet a lot of professional chefs around here and I can't say they're a thin lot. I was considering this while reading the nutritional information on an MRE envelope and wondering if combining a volunteer service program with a weight loss regimen might interest http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-430601.html Got woken up early 9.30am but the lovely LV... We were a little mad... and Michelle wasn't feeling the greatest... She was ok though It was more that she did something to her knee when she got into bed... definitely something not right... So she ended up staying in instead of site seeing in New Orleans... As did I I wasn't going to go anyway New Orleans to me is all about the Jazz and nightl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-426787.html