Advertisement
Published: October 21st 2009
Edit Blog Post
New Orleans - Friday 9th October
We 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 areas of Katrina. It was really quite mad as the beach looked beautiful with newly planted palm trees, the casinos and hotels were rebuilt, yet around 200 metres the other side of the road was bare. Trees with no branches, gate posts to driveways that led to an empty nothing, madness, Mother Nature hey?
Apparently, once the casinos were back up and running and the beaches cleaned up work stopped as the tourists came back, no need to rebuild as large proportions of the inhabitants were given the opportunity to move to Houston and Dallas and never cam back, sad really, still the drive was very scenic, the sun was shining and it was another beautiful day. I especially liked looking
at the vintage car rally that was going called ‘cruising the coast’ it was amazing seeing all the beautiful old cars cruising up and down.
When we arrived at the New Orleans KOA we were both pleased to see the swimming pool still open and soon were in it. Don’t know what Bowks liked the most, the fact the pool was open of the fact that they had Crispy Creme donuts for guests on arrival, which we both took 2 of!
Tent up and a great swim, we were feeling refreshed and noticed our new neighbours had arrived so went over to chat to them. They were Lynn and Sue the Aussies, a well travelled pair to whom we chatted about our travels. That night once again was really hot and humid so we located a fan that we were allowed to use and plugged it into the mains hookup and it helped no end in keeping us cooler. Thanks campsite grounds man.
In the morning we headed into New Orleans using the local street car, it was a great way to see the outskirts of the city. We decided to head to the French Quarter as
Empty nothing
Where a house used to be before the hurricane has many of the traditional New Orleans buildings, bars, museums and not to forget Bourbon Street (ladies, ladies, ladies!) Catching the street car took us down Charles Avenue famous for its traditional style mansions which were simply stunning. After pulling the old pull cord to stop the street car we stepped off into the heart of New Orleans and walked straight down Bourbon Street with neon lights advertising their bars, restaurants and topless and bottomless girls! Hurricanes and Daiquiris seemed the drink of the day and each bar had a guy outside trying to persuade you to go in.
We wandered down the street before taking a side street to get away from the hustle and bustle, definitely a good idea as we were then face with little terrace houses with hanging baskets and flowers over their balconies, very pretty indeed.
The Mississippi forms the boundary of one side of New Orleans and is also home to the French Market which houses an array of gift shops and street cafes where live music can be heard. A walk through Jackson Square and back to the side street where Doddy purchased a cigar, a lifetime ambition to smoke a
cigar whilst listening to jazz in New Orleans!
The afternoon bought more wandering with regular intervals made to watch the local performers who set up ad-hoc on the street. A couple of favorites were the group of college guys playing some lively jazz and the swing dancers complete with piano who were just taking it in turns to dance in pairs on the street. Another ‘sound track’ of the day was the calls of ‘Go Gators’ and ‘Go Tigers’. Florida Gators were in town to play LSU Tigers and there was a friendly mix of fans on the streets all adding to the vibe.
We caught a crowded street car back to the car just before it started to rain. This was no ordinary rain either! The heavens opened and it rained, rained, rained. Luckily we were in the comfort of Jarbo (the car). The rain continued as we drove and the thought of putting up the tent at our next destination was really losing appeal and the possibility of sleeping in the car had cropped up. We pulled into a rest area, checked with the security guard who gave us the A-ok to sleep there so that
was decided car it was.
As we walked over to the rest rooms to brush teeth we noticed a few mosquitoes who appeared to put out the call to their other mozi mates that there was fresh blood in town, they seemed to be landing on us from every angle so with a quick brush of teeth we ran back to the car slamming the door shut with a sigh of relief, but our relief was short lived as some of the critters had got in! We sat there in silence for about 10 minutes clapping at the air to kill them until they were all gone and at last we could sleep, which we awoke with relatively few bites.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.212s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 14; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0583s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb