Blogs from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, North America - page 16

Day 5, Monday July 1st: Another sunny day in the Big Easy. As we travel we always enjoy meeting new people and hearing their stories. This morning we met an extraordinary woman who shared her story about life after Katrina. We all watched the storm from our homes and have in our own ways donated time, money, and prayers for the rebuilding of the damage the storm brought. The part that we can never understand or fix is how communities and families lives changed because of the storm. The losses that most of us could never imagine and how the people of this area have had to begin anew are astonishing. Our day got off to a curious start with a trip to the St. Louis Cemetery#2. We took the streetcar as close as we could, ... read more

Day 4 on our adventure started a bit unusual for us. We slept until almost 9:00 a.m. We couldn’t believe it! We tossed on some shorts and hurried down the grand staircase as to not miss our breakfast. A few other late sleepers soon graced the dinning room, and as everyone’s coffee kicked in, the conversation began to flow. Two of our fellow travelers were from California, and the other two were from, of all places, Pennsylvania! After we all discussed the interesting New Orleans jellies, Mayhaw and Voodoo Pepper, we moved onto some of the articles in the morning paper. Soon we were swapping travel stories and adventures. The two from PA are off to explore the west. Nothing will elicit travel advice like the mention of a cross-country road trip! An hour flew by ... read more

Day 14 May 17, 2013 I left Tallahassee early, the sky was still dark and it was cool. When I got on he highway there was very little traffic, it almost seemed like I was on an open road in the west (almost). I am excited to be riding without all of the congestion. I love watching the sun rise, the period of time before the sun actually rises and the sky is starting to get light, is very beautiful and peaceful. As I mentioned, it was very cool and my hands got really cold. After about a half an hour of cold hands, it occurred to me that my hands would be warmer if I turned on my heated handgrips. It is about 1600 mi from New Orleans to home and 7 days to do ... read more

Our beloved New Orleans continues to enthrall us as we revisit the Musician's Village (where now flowers are blooming and children are running about) that we had worked on several times with Habitat for Humanity after Katrina and listened to the music in clubs throughout the city. Of course our first and last stops are Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets as we watch this amazing city's countless tourists and locals.... read more

Hi, All -- My first couple of days in Louisiana were spent driving around the outskirts of New Orleans with Sandy (Sandy driving), visiting a couple of plantations and enjoying the countryside. The first plantation stopped at, Houmas Plantation, has an outstanding garden and that's where we spent our time as the plantation house didn't look that interesting. The second -- Laura: A Creole Plantation -- is well visited as you can see from the sign. On a good day, hundreds and hundreds of tourists pour through the house and grounds. The poor tour guides were bumping into one another on the day we were there. Fortunately, our tour guide was excellent, quite a good story teller. And there's a lot of story to tell here. By the way, this is where Br'er Rabbit originated. According ... read more