Met up with my friend Jason in New Orleans, the Big Easy, for a brief getaway.
First thing we did was take a bus from the airport to downtown, then walked to our hotel in the Central Business District (CBD). But at first we were heading the wrong way, which we realized as we saw the Superdome, home of the Saints.
Eventually we made it over to our hotel, the Ambassador, and the room that served as the base of operations for our five night stay.
I wanted to case the area, so we started by heading over to the main street that separates the CBD from the French Quarter, Canal Street.
For the next few days, we spent quite a bit of time wandering around the French Quarter, encountering plenty of little shops and alcoves like this one.
There were also landmarks like this one, the Saint Louis Cathedral. Actually we probably passed the Cathedral many, many times, from just about every direction.
However, I insisted that we do things other than tromp around the French Quarter, so we did get a chance to explore the aquarium one morning.We followed that with a ride on the steamboat Natchez down the Mississippi River. Jason fell asleep while I was dying from the heat of the day.
Of course we spent plenty of time eating. One of the best stops in that regard was Cafe du Monde, over by the French Market, famous for Cafe au Lait and fresh beignets, twenty-four hours a day.
We went during the day, while it wasn't busy at all, and I was surprised at the heaping mound of fluffy white powdered sugar on which the beignets were heaped. Good stuff.
Spent several evenings enjoying the jazz scene as well, with some old time jazz over at Preservation Hall as well as a little more modern stuff at the Blue Nile.
Later on in our stay we also spent some time in the Museum District, though on Sunday it was pouring and our shoes were soaked as we explored that area.
But we still made it to the Contemporary Arts Center and got in for three dollars because it was between exhibits.All in all, a trip filled with food, music, a little bit of conflict, and a lot of new experiences in New Orleans, Louisiana.
