Day 2 of solo exploration!

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Day 2 - Got up around 8am and headed to Cafe du Monde, a must stop for cafe au lait and fresh beignets.  They say you can't go to New Orleans without stopping here.  I grabbed a table on their outdoor terrace and checked the menu.  It was pretty simple, because they only served beignets and drinks.  I got a cafe au lait and an order of beignets.  An order is 3 hot donuts covered in powerdered sugar.  They're not the typical donuts with the hole in the middle.  More like puffy squares.  The best "donut" i've ever had.  I enjoyed my breakfast and listened to the jazz singer/trumpeter with his banjo player, playing on the sidewalk.  So New Orleans!  I'm loving it!

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It wasn't raining yet, but they were calling for thundershowers today.  Outside of town, they were on tornado watch!  I figured today would be a good museum day.  I hit the "Presbytere" building, where they had a museum on the history of Mardi Gras.  Costumes, floats, masqued balls...  I went to take a few pics and then realized I had forgotten my memory card at the hotel!  I finished the museum and headed back to the hotel.  Got my card and then grabbed a salad for lunch.  From there I went to the Aquarium of the Americas and watched Hurricane on the Bayou on the IMAX theatre.  They started filming it before Katrina and then the hurricane hit and they finished the film.   Basically it shows how the erosion and destruction of the wetlands has a negative effect on hurricanes because wetlands slow down hurricanes, so without them, hurricanes hit land much harder.  Hence the terrible impact Katrina had.  They are trying to rebuild the wetlands in order to better protect New Orleans and Louisiana.

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After the film, I toured the Aquarium.  It was ok, but it was no Boston Aquarium!  A little dissapointing actually but at least I was out of the rain.  I read somewhere, that they lost all of their fish and water life after Katrina because they had no power.  Aquariums around they world donate species so they could rebuild their stock.  When I was ready to leave it was raining hard so I waited it out.  Then I went to the another museum on the history of the state of Louisiana.  It was a little dry, but I did find the expo on the slave trade and the post Katrina photography expo really interesting.  I was hungry!  I went to a place that was recommended in my guide book.  I was seated and ordered some jambalaya, which is basically rice, sausage, chicken, crab, tomato, peppers.  It wasn't that great!  Mostly rice and a little dry.  Not what I was expecting, but oh well!  On the way back to the hotel, I grabbed a coffee and popped into a candy store and tried some pralines (suggary pecan cookie thingy) and got a few treats for myself to eat at the hotel.

And that's the end of day 2!

More to come tomorrow!