Second full day in the City

Our camp site in Bayou Segnette is just across the road from the sites that Dee and Paul and the two of us were in three years ago.

This is being written on Thursday, 24 March as we sit in the camper and wait for the thunderstorms to pass.  We have been getting heavy rain for several hours and by the looks of the weather radar they will continue into the afternoon!  Oh well, this is really our first wet day on the trip that has not been a travel day.

Yesterday we were able to take the ferry across the river which was a lot faster than the shuttle bus had been the day before.  We headed right up to Starbucks on Canal Street for our morning coffee and wifi time.  It's a nice shop and we have learned that if there is any kind of line, just open up the Starbucks app on your phone or iPad and order on line.  It will be ready in about 1 minute (at least that has been our wait time so far).

Once on the street we notice that the old Kress five and dime store had been incorporated into the Ritz Carlton.  It is wonderul that they maintained the store front and that little bit of history (5-10-25 cents for products).

We decided to go out to the New Orleans Art Museum and explore the City Park.  There is excellent bus service and, for 40 cents for a senior, one cannot complain at all.  The museum isn't huge, but it has several good exhibits; African Art is probably the best of all.  The photo below shows the museum and the next photo shows the view from the museum looking down toward the main streets.

The museum has a wonderful sculpture garden which we roamed after doing the art museum. We are including just a few photos from the garden for your enjoyment.  The horse below appears to have been made from drift wood but is cast bronze.  (Marty thinks that maybe the original form might have been made from drift wood.)

Although the form above is a little difficult to read, it is a man hugging his legs.  The form is emerging from alphabet letters on the base.  We thought this was quite wonderful.

One of the physical characteristics of the park is the stream or ponds that are part of the whole experience.  As we walked through the garden there were kayakers as well as this gondola that all came by us at different times.

We had fully intended to explore the City Park and Botanical Gardens but by the time we had walked in the museum for several hours and then did the sculpture garden our feet were telling us it was time to take a break so we headed back into the French Quarter via the Canal Street Trolley.  

Soon we were looking for a place to eat.  We went by many different places and were put off by the touristy side of them.  But if you have never been to New Orleans you may not quite get the mental image we want you to have so maybe some of the photos below will assist in to that end.

In between restaurants there are voodoo shops, candy and seasoning shops, Mardi Gras speciality shops....and then the resturants with open doors, loud music (sometimes good), and people trying to get you to go in and eat.

We eventually selected Pat O'Briens where we both had a great meal.  David had the Shrimp Étouffée which is shown below.

Marty had Shrimp and Grits.  The grits were mixed with three cheeses and then deep fried.

Both dishes were quite wonderful!

Our waiter was a nice man named Zach who steered Marty away from one dish saying he didn't think it was that good and when she asked about the shrimp and grits he said he was sure she would like that.  

After lunch it was walking time again and so we hit some of the major streets in the French District.  The architecture is always interesting and often the decorations on belconies are as well.

Segways are alive and well in the tourist business in the French Quarter for anyone who does not care to walk!  We've also seen tour groups around the city on bikes.

In front of St Louis Cathedral there are always fortune tellers and musicians.  This was no different than any other time we have been there.  What made this interesting was a man who walked right up to the trombone player on the right and put his head right next to the player's and took a selfie of himself with the musician.  Then he want to the next trombone player and did the same.  And even more amazing was that he didn't tip them!

Below is  St. Louis Cathedral.

Once in the market area Marty got a "through the window" shot of this woman making pralines.

Just a "through the alleyway" type shot of a painting with sculpture in front of it.

The "yummies" in this city just never stop.  Carmel apples as well as Praline covered carmel apples.  Talk about getting your sugar fix.

By now it is 1:30 pm Thursday afternoon; the rain seems to have stopped, and we shall head into the city for our final afternoon and evening.  Tomorrow will be a travel day on our way to Michigan to see some friends.  We'll take three days along the way, probably stopping somewhere in Memphis the first night.