Walkin' In New Orleans

New Orleans is a town made for walking and we did plenty of it. Yes you can drive into the main part of town but then you have to park. Parking is expensive in all parts of old New Orleans. The average we noted was around $23 per day. Of course the big chunck comes in the first hour or two then drops. So bring your good walking shoes and if you stay outside of town get a ride in. You should also be aware that almost all of the sidewalks are very old and very uneven. In many spots the pavement is missing or buckled so keep your eyes on the road. I ended up hurting my knee early on and made the going slow for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness I planned ahead and brought my knee brace just in case.

The short trip from Mobile to New Orleans got us there and set up by 12:15. The resorts shuttle schedule did not allow us to get into town until after 4:00 so we met our friends and did a bit of walking the streets getting acquainted and then dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Unfortunately the menu here is very different from their menu at all the other restaurants. If you go you should expect the food to have ingredient substitutions and not taste the same.

Sunday morning we got into the French Quarter by 10:00 am. We hopped on the street car to the Riverwalk. Riverwalk is a collection of specialty shops and a food court with a very good selection of eateries. Even though it was Sunday there were lots of people here. After a morning of shopping we ate lunch then headed out to Canal Street. This wide boulevard begins at Riverwalk and Harrah's Casino. The street is lined with shopping including the high end stores of Canal Place. The Cable cars run up and down the center of the boulevard so getting around is easy. Dinner this night was at the Crescent City Brewhouse, a place we found so good we returned another night later in the trip.

We got a very early start on Monday too. A trip on the Royal Street Cable Car took us to the
Garden district of New Orleans. The Garden District is about 13 by 5 blocks of historic homes and gardens. We spent most of the day just strolling the streets taking in the beautiful homes and historic sites. We took the Cable car back to Canal Street and walked a few more blocks to the resort hotel our friends were staying at to get a little rest before dinner.

Tuesday was a planned day off from running all over the place due to the Coronation of King Obama. While our staunch liberal friends stayed glued to their TV we stayed at the campground and did laundry and celebrated the "change" that we still had in our pockets :-)

Wednesday we spent the day walking the streets of the French Quarter including extra time visiting the Art Galleries of Royal Street. Here you will find art works from many of the great masters as well as contemporary artists. All the Galleries were fascinating but one presented a new and spectacular form of painting. The Gallery of Light features artists using Luminisum in their paintings. The method uses no luminous paints yet reflects the light shone on the painting back at the viewer in a magical way. You really have to see it to believe it. You can see examples at http://www.galleryoflight.com/ but to get the full effect you must see them in person and properly lighted.

After lunch we headed off to the other side of the river to Mardi Gras World. Mardi Gras world is home to famous float designer Blain Kern and many of his creations. We were fortunate enough to visit just a few weeks before Carnival and had the rare opportunity to see many of the finishing touches being put on the floats for this years parades. The tour revels many of the secrets of creating all the floats for the many Mardi Gras parades that take place in New Orleans each year. A fascinating place to visit.

Thursday was another day with lots of walking. We went down to the French Marketplace. The Marketplace is a collection of booths in a flea market fashion but with highly unique and different wares than you will find at your local flea market. The French Marketplace ends at the old US Mint. We did not have time for the tour so just ate lunch and headed for a cruise on the riverboat Natchez. This tour is a two and a half our trip on one of only three paddlewheel steamboats still in operation. The trip takes us both down river and back up stream with continuous narration of the points of interest.