New Orleans Day 1

My first trip to New Orleans, woohoo!

Last year I got to tag along with Dan to a Microsoft TechEd conference in Orlando.  We all know how THAT ended -- with us moving to Orlando two months later!  This year the conference is in The Big Easy, New Orleans.  The kids have made me promise that I won't come back from the conference and announce we are moving to Louisiana.

Arrived at Louis Armstrong Internation Airport at almost 10 pm.  On our flight from Orlando, we sat next to a very colorful grandfather who was a native of NOLA.  Chewing continuously on a thin coffee straw (maybe because he needed a cigarette?) he regaled us with tips on where to go, what to see, what to eat, what to avoid, and peppered them with stories.  Generally I like to avoid getting into conversations on airplanes, but I had such fun even just listening to this guy's accent.  I told him as we were separating at baggage claim that I hoped others in NO would be as friendly and helpful as he was, and he told me of course they would be!  "It's Southern hospitality!"

We took a cab from the airport to our hotel, just on the outskirts of the French Quarter.  It would not be long before we realized that Dan's reluctance to rent a car, due to the high cost of parking, was a good move.  Not only would we have had to pay for the car and for the parking ($30 per day!!), there is no way in hell that I want to DRIVE around this city.

Our room is pretty awesome.  It's in a renovated historic building of some kind, and the ceilings are ridiculously high.

I was anxious to get out and explore the city a bit, so after breakfast we set out.  The day started off very pleasant, but as the sun got higher and the buildings didn't block it anymore, it got pretty hot.

Here's Dan going down Canal Street.  It was nice to see palm trees -- reminds me of home!  My first impressions of the city weren't awesome, though.  It smelled kind of bad, kind of like Baltimore.  A lot of the shops were crappy souvenir shops, like Ocean City MD, catering to a certain kind of person (young and drunk).

And then there's Harrah's, catering to the old and foreign!

Wasn't too far before we reached the river, the mighty Mississippi!  My only experiences with the river thus far had been when as a kid we crossed it, at Memphis, into Arkansas.  There was usually a cloud of smog hanging over Memphis and over West Memphis in AR, so my impressions of the river were kind of dirty.  Well, it's definitely not a river that exists for scenery -- it is a working river.

Dan commented multiple times on the strong current.  It was interesting watching tugboats trying to push barges upstream.  You could tell their engines were cranking, but they just weren't moving very fast.  The sun beat down on us mercilessly but the sky was crazy blue, like at home in Orlando.

I guess this is a Mardi Gras dude.

Can you see me on this structure?  This was outside the Riverwalk shopping area, which was a unique and cool mall, but which is on its way out.  The stores that were left there are closing in June, we were told, and the mall is going to be renovated and reopened as some upscale outlet mall in 2014.

Friendly fellow in the mall.

At the end of the mall is the cruise terminal.  Here is the Carnival Elation, which was leaving later in the day.

Me and another friendly mall inhabitant, although he did try to cop a feel...

There just happened to be a Cafe Du Monde storefront in the mall, that was still open.  Our Cajun friend from the flight had told us Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street was the place to go to get beignets and coffee, famous New Orleans fare.  Now we didn't have to walk all the way over there!  We ordered beignets and two iced cafe au laits.

I had heard this famous pastry was basically deep fried dough covered with powdered sugar, but I had not realized that that is basically the description of a funnel cake as well.  Sure enough, this tasted just like a more pillowy funnel cake, and was just as messy.

Messy but tasty.  A Cafe Du Monde employee, who sang his words rather than spoke them, provided us with wet paper towels for the necessary cleanup.

Spotted these on Decatur Street, outside a cool vintage womens' clothes shop.

The Sheraton on Canal Street had a lot of this style of dog art hanging in the windows.  This was definitely the largest.

The Immaculate Conception Church on Baronne Street.

We went out again in the late afternoon and went to Huck Finn's for po' boys.  Unfortunately I think a traditional po' boy holds some kind of seafood like shrimp or crawfish, and I don't eat that.  Dan got a roast beef and I got a turkey.  They were good, but they were basically just big sandwiches on French bread.

In a colorful tourist trap store on Decatur, Dan found the fedora he wanted.  There was no mirror, so I had to take a picture of him and then show it to him.

Some restaurants on the river next to Jackson Square.  A lot of the bottom level was gutted and unoccupied, but obviously someone lives or does something up on the higher levels and rooftop.  It looked beautiful up there.

St Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square.  With the tall spires pointing into the clouds, and all the horse-drawn carriages, it looked a bit like Disney World!  We didn't go over into the park (it closed up before we could) or walk over to the cathedral, but it is definitely on my walking tour list for this week.

On our way back to the hotel we passed this very patriotic person pulling his gun/ammo-encrusted vehicle on a trailer.  Note the inscription over the front wheel that shows he/she is very familiar with the Constitution but not so familiar with spelling.  :(  What a shame...

So that was our first day in New Orleans!