Magee, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Today was a travel day.. headed to New Orleans, found an RV camp that will get us into town without any drama.. caught up with some washing (rivetting stuff!).

My new favourite place..

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Building new bridges that are higher the current ones.. when you see the next pic, you'll understand why
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I've found a new favourite place to love !  New Orleans !

We left the RV around 9am and grabbed a bus, then a tram car into the city centre.

Firstly.. just getting on the tram car set the mood.  The tram runs down the middle of the road and on either side of the road are beautiful homes for miles and miles - just like Charleston - Oak strees line the footpaths on both sides, just lufffffffffffly.

Weather was mild - a little overcast but not cold.  We got off the tram car (about a 45 minute trip) and headed for Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter.

Pretty low huh !
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It's official !  I havea new favourite city !

We loved it here!  From the first shop we entered to when we got off the bus at night, we had a great time.  People seem to really love being and living in New Orleans.  Friendly faces, friendly smiles.

You can grab a cocktail from any bar and ask for it 'to go' and then wander the streets with your drink.. my kind of city !

A lot of Mardis Gras decorations in the shops ready for February - that is a time I'd love to be here !  The entire town gets involved and gets a costume sorted.

Surrounded by swamp land
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We pottered and laughed at the human statues (gosh they can make you jump) and fossicked in the shops for treasures.

Were we game anough to do a gumbo or a poboy for lunch?  NOPE !  Well, a poboy is just another name for a breadroll in my opinion..

We ended up Hard Rock Cafe.  Something we know that we're all happy with.  We seemed to spend forever there. Chris our waiter was legendary, the girls in the shop were precious and kept us chatting forever - great people, great (& safe) food.

Still a lot of damage and shells of houses left from Katrina
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From Hard Rock we headed to the wharf to walk off lunch and watch the action on the Mississippi River.  We strolled and we sat and we strolled and we sat and watched people go by and just chilled.

We headed to the markets and walked through some amazing little stalls and shops.  One shop that specialised in just dog clothes.. you can imagine some of the cute little mardi gras outfits for the poochies !  A pommy girl owned this little shop and we chewed each other's ears for half an hour or so - she could be my new BFF !  {  :)  }  She's been in NO for 14 years.. her husband is from NO.

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Another fave shop was the Christmas shop.  Open all year round - the decorations  and trinkets for the trees can keep me occupied for hours !

Grabbed a frozen strawberry Daquiri and continued to walking and shopping.

We chatted to people outside their houses, people in the shops.. everyone was so friendly and chilled !

Greg and I could have stayed there all night - the pubs were alive but the children (being under 21) are unable to enter.. you can drink in the street, but kids aren't allowed to enter the pubs.. we thought it was kind of odd considering they'd only be sitting and drinking soft drink.. go figure..

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As we don't have a sitter on our trip, and as the children by about 6pm or so were starting to get tired, reluctantly, we headed back.

I'm coming back to this place!  I don't know when, but this is a place I want to return to and spend 4 or 5 days at hitting the pubs and clubs and sampling as many restaurants and coffee shops as possible.

What a place !

We hit the tram car and the heavens opened up.  Poured and poured.  As it was dark, the tram car trip back was just as fabulous as the lights in all of those beautiful grand houses were on and Greg and I felt like peeping toms checking out everyone else's business..

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It stopped raining when we got off the tram car while we waited the 15 minutes for the bus, but as soon as we got on the bus, it started to pour again... and yup.. stopped raining when we got off the bus and began to team down again when we were inside the RV..

Someone was watching us today.. making sure we had a great time in New Orleans today..

Awesome City - Great Great Day !

Tomorrow, a travel day.. off to Texas.