March 9 - Driving

We took the city bus from our RV park into the French Quarter.  That in itself was interesting.  New Orleans (and many other cities of the South) is composed of a very high percentage of black folk.  We were clearly the minority for much of our travels in New Orleans -- except for our RV park, which was entirely lily white, as far as we could tell.

The French Quarter was fabulous -- the architecture, the food, the liveliness, and the weather.  We stopped off the bus and hopped in to "Cafe Beignet" for breakfast.  A Beignet is a donut covered in powered sugar.  We each ate 3, along with coffee or hot chocolate.  Thus fortified, we began our self-guided walking tour of the Quarter, beginning with a "French Market", which was really just a gigantic swap meet.  One shop that Doug really liked sold nothing but Cajun hot pepper sauces.  The shot below is of one small shelf -- there were a dozen or so more just like it.

The architecture of the quarter is rather distinctive.  Below the girls pose in fake lock step while Doug captured this building.  Wrought iron and 2nd floor balconies were everywhere, as were bright colors and narrow streets.

Jordan stumbled into a store specializing in Hammocks, where we of course ended up buying four and shipping them to Jody's grandmother.  Here is a shot I liked of Jody chatting with the shop's proprietor, with hammocks in the background.

After lots of walking, we were ready for a rest, so we walked down to the Mississippi river, and a pleasant park nearby, where Doug and Jody dozed and the girls ran about and played.  Here are the ladies at the river.

Near the end of our day, the ladies found a knitting store that was exceptionally well stocked, and run by a marvelous woman who loved to knit.  Jordan picked out the materials for a hat, but wanted some help with how she should go about assembling it.  Below, the shop manager measured Jordan's head prior to instructing her how she should knit her hat.  Being not much of a knitter or yarn aficionado, Doug hung out in a nearby plaza, watching the street scene and listening to some excellent jazz.

We dined that evening in fine style, at "Louisiana Bistro", which we selected because it looked quaint and intimate, and it stated on its menu "Vegetarian requests welcome".  This, in a city and cuisine where large quantities of sausage seem to be added to everything but their cornflakes.  The place was jammed, and we were lucky to get a table -- all arranged by Jody's mom, Joan.  Joan was treating us to dinner as a birthday present for Doug, so of course we went all out: appetizers, wine, salads, entrees, and desserts (creme brulee and chocolate pecan pie), and coffee.  We got the royal treatment, and enjoyed it all immensely.  

After dinner, we took a brief walk down Bourbon Street, the "bar street" of the French Quarter.  It is the only street on the quarter where neon lights are allowed, so of course every establishment takes full advantage.  There were a variety of nightclubs that advertised live sex shows, and had full color photos outside to prove it, so we did not dally long -- we just wanted to see what all the hubbub was about.  We never really established that.

Next, we walked to the bus stop, where Doug successfully navigated us back to our lily white sardine city, with no mishaps or even worry-haps, and finally bed.