Walking Day

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Geo: 29.9537, -90.0778

Up later this morning and had a great breakfast at the café at the hotel. Headed down toward and along the waterfront. Great day for walking. Temp is probably about 20 centigrade and very little wind. We sort of wandered without any specific destinations in mind. Walked in the French Quarter and the Business and Warehouse district. There are a large number of very nice older buildIngs and there are ongoing restoration projects on many others. Lots of higher buildings but most of the older buildings seem to be limited to 4 stories. Bourbon street is a real circus with lots of people and police. All in all there is a sense of order even though many people have been actively drinking for hours or maybe days. On one corner there was a small musical group performing. This seemed to happen in several places along Royal street. Shopping seems to be concentrated depending on the type of goods. Royal street is a lot of antique and home furnishings stores. Part of Canal Street is jewellery and of course there are lots of souvenir stores and daiquiri outlets which are highly automated and basically have slushy type dispensers. The city has several streetcar lines still operating and do an excellent job of moving people along the major corridors. One major line is the Canal Street line which runs down a boulevard with car traffic down either side. Our hotel is a small boutique type hotel. The staff are very helpful. Our room is large and was likely used by extended family or slave quarters many years ago. We have been scouting out a restaurant for this evening to sample some local fare.

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