Phew! I have a lot to catch up on!
This is a great city. It's gonna take me a few blogs to cover everything we saw in 4 day visits this past week! I can only compare it to an adult version of Toys 'R' Us as seen through the eyes of a two year-old. Stimulation Overload. Gotta love it.
The armload of tourist literature I'd gathered at the Welcome Center helped us make a plan. Yesterday, within an hour of our arrival, we went for a long walk with Zu, Doug rented a car (I left my car in Asheville) and we ran errands. The rental company won't allow dogs in cars, so that's a problem. Since we didn't have an option, we decided to make short trips into New Orleans each day so as not to abandon Zu for too long. She doesn't seem to mind, she has her beauty sleep to catch up on. We would just prefer to be with her, keep our whole "pack" together.
It's warm here, with rustling palm trees and scurrying camera-shy salamanders of all colors and sizes. No visible 'gators so far.
This sunny morning we set out for New Orleans, a half hour drive from Pinecrest RV Park. We turned on the news when we arrived and heard there was a tornado warning not far from us. Yesterday there was a tornado watch in the same area, thankfully it blew itself out, it was just really blustery. I heard that if the sky turns turquoise
No worries, we seem to continue to dodge the bullet when it comes to the weather. Thank you, whoever is up there watching over us.
It's a straight drive into the city and not a lot of traffic after rush hour (off-season). We hopped on the double-decker bus tour (hop on, hop off) and hopped to Cafe du Monde for beignets and a cafe au lait each (a New Orleans tradition). A French-style donut, they're delicious but oh so decadent! Where are my yoga pants? Did I really need to eat THREE?
Dusting the confectioner's sugar off ourselves, we browsed the shops to the first bus stop, climbed to the upper deck (of course we had to go up top!) and began our tour in The famous French Quarter. We hopped off the bus after just a few stops and walked through the French Quarter, to really get a 'feel', you know? What a cool place. Vibrant with electric energy, the bustle of a big city's working back alleys, gorgeous, unique architecture and fascinating people, this is a very interesting place, one I thought I'd never see.
Jazz notes floated on the air as we passed restaurants and bars, every block a new quartet .... people of all walks of life passed by us, as if we were in a slow motion movie. There's a vibrance to the city, with street groups belting out jazz, restaurant bands crooning southern soul music. Strolling through the city in mid-morning, every block we traveled produced another dimension to New Orleans (or NOLA as the locals call it).
I can already tell this is a place I love to visit but I couldn't live here. A little craziness, yeh, I can handle that. We only venture into the city in mid-morning through late afternoon. We're not night-life people and there are plenty of sketchy people around in the daytime. I can only imagine how nutso it gets at night!
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