Wednesday, November 25, 2020

New Orleans, 2

Next day we took the (open air) trolley up to the Garden District, which Vicki always enjoys. I'm always impressed with the great variety of 19th century Neo Revival bourgeois architecture. Also the gardens.

Debarking from the trolley










Excellent signage










The very famous corn fence


Sometimes the gardens get in the way of the District

But the signage is excellent

Gothic house







Original building of the Louise S. McGehee school for girls



Nice grill work

Nice camellias

Schoolie parked in front of the mansion...friends moochdocking?


Tract housing for the wealthy, Vicki said (six identical in a row)

New Orleans, 1

We have visited New Orleans many times in the past, several times for vacation get-aways--we lived in "nearby" Dallas for 13 years. One of Vicki's fond memories is of the Christmas open houses in the Garden District we must have visited in the 80s. When I was in the higher ed biz, and later in the humanities biz, I went to New Orleans on several occasions, for conferences and meetings and such. I can't say we've seen it all: I still want to visit the WWII museum, for example. But that will have to wait until COVID-19 is over. On this visit we just walked around, looking at the architecture and flora and fauna and overall weirdness, not going inside anything that wasn't completely open-air. By and large, people were masked and staying apart, that is, until Saturday night on Bourbon St. We left about that time.

In le quartier francais, a residential bit
























Not a residential bit; excellent signage though


















Dorsal view of cathedral

Assorted iconic stuff...




Afternoon snack at the Cafe du Monde; reminding me that chicory
is to coffee as hamburger helper is to hamburger...

Excellent signage though

Jackson Square and cathedral from the artillery park

Thus

The Great River

Us, there

The band playing on

Not this day

"Now go do that voodoo that you do so well..."

Late afternoon Bourbon St.

Remains of the shrimp and grits at Cafe Amelie on Royal St;
their large courtyard seemed designed for COVID-19 dining;
the cherry/almond bread pudding was super; as was the Sazerac

Rue de Bourbon as we left

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Camping In The Big Easy

We've done our share of urban camping...Copenhagen, Oslo, Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Istanbul, Wellington...come to mind. But we've never been in a resort-like RV park so close to the action. The French Quarter RV Park in New Orleans is two blocks from the French Quarter. Five minutes en pied. Pricey, but how else you gonna' see the Big Easy from an RV?

The usual amenities and much, much more, at no extra charge

Reception and club house lounge

Many sites have their own gazebos (note 8 foot wall with razor
wire)

Pool, hot tub, BBQ...

Even an ice machine...top that, Walmart!

But our passage south is bring watched...Crebain from Dunland...
Spies of Saruman!


Sunday, November 22, 2020

Strafing The Boll Weevils

As we drove back toward I-10, we were treated to an air show, a crop duster (a Kruk model? Air Tractor?), making apparently dry runs over the field we were passing. I stopped for some pix and to marvel at the speed and maneuverabilty of the craft; and the daring of these pilots.

Thought-provoking question: is anybody making crop-dusting drones?

Answer: just google "crop dusting drones," or go to https://hse-uav.com/product-category/commercial-drones/agriculture-and-crop-spraying-drones/










Our other thrill of the day, still in Alabama, was finding diesel for $1.64/gallon


















And yet another thrill was wallydocking right across from the beach in
Long Beach, AL