New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans

After our adventurous trip to New Orleans, we checked into a very nice KOA campsite about 10 miles from downtown. I quickly made contact with an Airboat operator and arranged for a 2 hour trip in the swamp for later that day. I headed across town through considerable traffic and road repairs, including a huge bridge over the Mississippi River that had lanes that were only wide enough for one car, never mind 2 pick-up trucks. Our experience in all of New Orleans is that they have the worst roads we have ever seen. Potholes, streets dug up, and it does not look like they are making much of an attempt to improve these conditions. I finally arrived at Airboat Adventures. I went on a small Airboat which only had 3 other people, the captain and myself. We headed off into the swamp and saw some very different sites. There were narrow canals through tree covered routes, lots of wildlife, and eventually we found the GATORS. The captain would kill the engine and toss marshmallows into the water and the Gators would appear. From the one picture here, you can see that one got very close to where I was sitting, and I was sitting at water level. It was an experience of a lifetime and the good thing is the Gators didn’t get me.

The next day we headed to town to try to get a sense of what is there. We travelled down historic St. Charles Street and saw many beautiful homes. In the early days, that is where the upper class lived and they spent considerable money building their dream homes. Their street cars still run down the boulevard and it is a nice touch. We drove through the downtown area and saw the Louisiana Superdome, the market area and many other sites along the Mississippi River.

For our next day in New Orleans we headed down to the French Quarter. What a vibrant, magical, and exciting place. As the sun goes down they block Bourbon Street off to vehicle traffic and it becomes a pedestrian walkway. It is made up of bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, strip joints, and some other activities that it is probably better we don’t know about.

We found a nice café/restaurant and had a light meal while we listened to a jazz band called ‘Steamboat Willie’. All in all, it was a good night.

We ended the evening listening to a street band called ‘2 B Continued Brass Band’ at the entrance to Bourbon Street. Were they ever good. The band was made up of 6 or 7 musicians who get together, play music, and pass a box around to collect from the crowd. We didn’t want to leave to go home.

On the last day I went golfing at the North Course at City Park. It wasn’t a fancy course but the greens were real nice and it only cost $12 to play. That evening I went to a Triple A Baseball game featuring the New Orleans Zephyrs vs the Sacramento River Cats. It was fun to see a minor league game. For one inning there was a cloud of flying termites that invaded the park and almost caused an interruption in play. Apparently the termites are a major problem since Hurricane Katrina hit and devastated the city.

The Gulf Oil Disaster The big news down here; the lead story on every news channel, is the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a horrible thing that is happening to these people as the Gulf plays a major role in the huge fishing industry, tourism, and it is the foundation of who these people are. If the oil gets into the marshland it will have a negative effect on these communities for years to come. The marshlands/swamp is the heart of the environment as that is where fish and plant life get started. We are holding our breath to see what will happen.

One of the things that strikes me while I have been in New Orleans is the huge impact the New Orleans Saints Football Team has on the city. This past February, the Saints won the Super Bowl after years of futility in the NFL. What makes their journey to victory so epic is that the city, which was still digging itself out after Hurricane Katrina, rallied around the team and injected some spirit and hope into the community. You see signs of it everywhere, in store fronts, on road signs, and on TV commercials. It’s everywhere.

Observations: * The Gulf Coast seems to be an area of extreme weather. The local news reports nightly that we are experiencing higher than normal temperatures each day (approaching 90 F most days). The humidity is crazy. As you leave air conditioning, you immediately begin to sweat. You could not possibly wear the same clothes on two separate occasions without washing them first. It can be 90 degrees F outside and your laundry will not dry.

* When it rains, it is extreme, often an inch or more per hour. We have had thunderstorms on many occasions and last night they had an extreme thunderstorm warning in which they encouraged everyone to go inside and stay away from windows in case hail comes crashing through. Luckily, the storm missed our location.

* Through the use of technology, we don’t feel that we are so isolated from home. We have e-mail and Skype to keep in touch with family and friends. We have a USA cell phone that allows family members to phone us and it is not long distance. We are using the Blog to communicate about our trip. We have GPS to help us get around. I remember travelling in Europe with my brother Bob years ago and all we had was the occasional phone call home, sending post cards, and a map to get around.