Feb 20-23

Friday morning we packed up at our last stop in Cajun country with a 135 mile trip ahead for the day that would put us in New Orleans(NO). Our friends John and Wendy were leaving the frigid temperatures of Toronto with a scheduled landing in NO around 8. The park we were staying in was fairly new (around 2008) and it also had a marina. It was north of the French Qtr.(downtown) by about 15 minutes by park shuttle. So it was very convenient. It was also gated with security which is a good thing in NO.

When we left, the day was overcast in the mid 50’s. The drive would turn out to be a tiring one for Kathy as she was driving and encountered high winds and rain, not to mention many bridges (some quite tall and long) and causeways. Weather improved and cleared as we neared NO. As it was a short drive, it provided us lots of time to clean and prepare the quarters for our guests. The flight was slightly delayed and we greeted them at our front gate shortly after 9:30pm. We spent a couple of hours catching up on news, family’s, etc..

They were staying in NO until Thursday, and with us for the first 3 nights so we would be spending quite a bit of time in NO on Saturday and Sunday. We have been to NO before, but they had not so we sort of acted like tour guides. For those that have never been to NO, it has a lot of history, character and as the title said, sights and sounds. It’s quite easy to sit and observe the people and music coming out of numerous venues or just walk the French Qtr. area and along the banks of the Mississippi River. Over the two days we did a fair bit of both.

Saturday morning, after a large breakfast we met the shuttle for a 9:45 departure from the park, with temps allowing for short sleeve shirts. The shuttle was basically 10am, 4 pm and 8pm. If you stayed in past 8 pm, you would have to cab it back. Due to needing to care for Jazz during the day, we had already planned to go into the French Qtr. twice on Saturday. When we arrived shortly after 10am, the Qtr was quite busy already especially at the famous Café Du Monde – with two lineups 50-75 people deep to taste their beignets. We didn’t join the line, as our guests could try these during the week when the lines would be much less. We did however take a look at how they are made peering in a back window with the bakers inches from the window. For lunch we managed to find a place that wasn’t too busy. A couple of nearby Oyster bars both had significant lines ups outside. In my opinion, I don’t think oysters are worth that kind of a wait! The balance of the after noon was just walking the various streets and taking in the sights and sounds. We were back to our pickup area for 3:45 and shortly before the shuttle arrived, along came a wedding parade right in front of us. There were 6-7 musicians leading it with the Newlyweds and approximately 75 guests following waving napkins. ( memories of Kathy’s 50th in Key West – not sure who’s idea this napkin thing is??)

We arrived back to the RV for a few hours of respite as we were going to take the 8 pm shuttle back in for dinner and check out the night life and music on Frenchmen Street into the wee hours. This area is slightly out of the French Qtr. and is noted for good bands and 2nd lines. After leaving the shuttle, we no sooner got onto Frenchmen Street and there was a 2nd line playing on the street. A 2nd line is usually a group of high school aged kids, maybe a little older playing a variety of instruments to the crowd for tips. The last time we were in NO, we actually witnessed two 2nd lines “dueling” with their music! We finally were able to find a dining option that worked as there were not many in this area. Following that we spent a few hours listening to bands in Café Negril and then at the Apple Barrel. Lots of fun was had by all arriving back home by cab early Sunday morning!

Sunday morning we were up and a little tired but soldiered on to make the 10 am shuttle again. The weather was excellent that morning allowing us to wear shorts. We had some of Kathy’s banana muffins before leaving, so the first order of business was to find a place for breakfast, which we did right down by the Natchez steamship. We did some walking then found a crowed area that is used by buskers(street  entertainers) and took in a good gymnastic type show put on by 5 guys who have been doing this for 25 years.

After this we wondered over to Bourbon Street and managing to find a great corner spot on a second floor balcony that provided sunshine, food, drinks, along with many sights and sounds from the street below. Oh ya,   they had a TV where I could keep tabs on the Daytona 500 race. All was good.

We picked up the shuttle for the 4 o’clock return to the park and enjoyed the next couple of hours outside in the sun! John was coming down with a cold and it was getting the better of him so some bed time was in order. The girls went for a hot tub and I just sat and enjoyed the weather and had a chat with a neighbor beside us that was from Orillia. I BBQ’d that night and we had a good time chatting that evening.

Overnight rain would set in and the warm temps would disappear with Monday’s high predicted to be around 50 deg. We bid farewell to our friends as they took the 10 am shuttle down to the French Qtr. to spend 3 nights in a hotel and do some of their own sightseeing.

By 12 noon were had packed up and were on our way for about 85 miles to Biloxi Mississippi.

From the perch, that’s it for now.