Day Five in New Orleans (nighttime)

Dan and Kevan wanted me to meet them at the Convention Center so we could go to dinner, so I caught the Tech Ed shuttle from my hotel.

The Convention Center is huge.

I would have liked to have seen the aquarium in New Orleans, but it wasn't on my agenda this time.  Maybe next time when I have more money!  This mural was very nice though.

I suggested that we go back to the French Market for dinner.  There were lots of booths and vendors, so I was sure that we would each find something that we wanted to eat, plus there would be music to listen to.  So we got on the streetcar yet again.

This was a cool tile mural that dressed up an otherwise bland view from the streetcar.  We took the streetcare along the riverfront to Dumaine Street.  When we got off, I had to go up and get one more picture of the river, with the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds (and without the rats).

My idea of eating at the French Market was a huge FAIL, because turns out it basically closes up at 6 pm.  So we were stuck yet again wandering around trying to find someplace that we could all agree on that would not break the bank.

We ended up here at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

This is not New Orleans food, it's a chain restaurant -- in fact, there's one right back home in Orlando.  But the promise of a good burger drew us in!

Fun place and yes, the burger was delicious.

This was our last free evening in New Orleans, so we had to make one more stop at Cafe du Monde.  On the way there I saw my friend at the fountain from earlier that day, and had to get a picture with her.

We just didn't have room after dinner for beignets, but we had to have some frozen coffee.  Maybe it's the chicory they traditionally put in their coffee, but this stuff was amazing.

River at night.

The Steamboat Natchez, offering jazz cruises on the river.  Another thing to do next time!

This outdoor room of the aquarium houses parakeets -- hundreds of them, for all the chirping we could hear and little feathery bodies we could see flying around and perching inside.

The mirrored outside of the aquarium's IMAX theater was glittery in all the city lights.  There are so many things I wish I could have done in New Orleans!  But now our time was basically finished.  The next day, Thursday, was the last day of Tech Ed.  I had a lot of work to be done so I wasn't going to be sightseeing during the day, and in the evening, we were looking forward to attending the closing party of the convention!