New Orleans!

Finally, some adventuring!  We drove across the Lake Pontchartrain causeway to New Orleans. Oh, getting on the $5 round trip across the 25 mile causeway was easy but once we got to the New Orleans side, there was a 49 minute delay on I-10, so we drove through town.  Mistake.  But we made it to the French Quarter and even found a parking lot. First on the agenda was the LA State New Orleans Visitor Center.  They were really helpful!  Maps and plans in hand, we first walked the couple of blocks to the Mississippi River overlook that also happened to overlook the oldest cathedral in the USA, Saint Louis Cathedral  The church dates back to 1849. That's the horse-drawn buggy rides in front.

The 1856 statue just inside the cathedral grounds is of General Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans.

Inside the cathedral is just beautiful.  Looking towards the front of the church

and to the back where the organ pipes are located.

The French Quarter is narrow, busy streets.

On one of those street corners, we found a most wonderful street jazz band! They were great!
But...see the sleeping dog on the sidewalk behind them?  He belonged to a most sad looking homeless man, laying on the corner with all of his earthly belonging, including the dog.  We saw a lot of that...

And then, there are the "Weed World Candy" trucks.  Parked along the French Quarter streets, these guys are marketing tootsie-roll pop shaped cannabis candy.  Petty good business going for them!

We decided to leave the French Quarter to go to the old Cemetery and also the Garden District via streetcar.  The mass transit streetcars are a whopping $3 for 24 hours.  So, bought our tickets and boarded the #48 streetcar

The interior is restored back to the original glamour -  varnished seats and canvas shades.  The great update is a flat screen TV that projects the next 3 stops and gives you a detail of the next stop

First stop off of the streetcar was the Lafayette Cemetery #1, the oldest in New Orleans.  All graves are above ground.  This one houses an entire family of about 12.  Often these family sites show deaths from the late 1800's to as recent as 2007.

This 18  mausoleum is for the firefighters from the Jefferson Fire Company #22.  Fortunately, there are only about 3 men here.

The layout is random and full

A very sad Mausoleum is for "Destitute Orphan Boys" (seems a little redundant, doesn't it...).  These young boys were from 2 to 8 years old and buried in the 1800's.

The homes in the Garden District are the lovely, huge old homes of the very rich. Author Ann Rice had a home here.

The 1990's group Nine Inch Nails lead man had a home here for a while.



And there are a "few" more mansions... This one wanders past the car at the middle left.

And this beauty

The highlight for Luke was, I think, the jazz performance at "Preservation Hall."

Jazz has been played here since 1961.  Today's jazz was great!   This is the beginning of the line for the 5:00 show.  The venue has a few benches, not enough for the crowd, no bar!, and no bathroom.  You can BYOB or W(ine) or D(aquiri).

Overall, it was a chilly but nice day in New Orleans.  We have 2 more full days here at the park and plan to spend one of them at the old plantations and the other one at wildlife refuges.