Packed and Ready

The truck is hooked up, the inside is cleaned up and we are ready to pull out of New Orleans tomorrow morning. We will take a meandering drive along the Gulf coast and end our weekend in Tampa. The sun has come out over the past week and we had open doors, time in parks, lots of walks and the boys each took a brave cannonball into the pool before running for the hot tub!

I've already written of the cool places we went last week, but I'll add on to the list of my recommendations in the case you find yourselves in New Orleans with your family:

City Park. The park is big and beautiful. It has a couple of neat playgrounds, a field of huge trees, and a cool grass area with large patio swings. Grab some beignets and a café au lait at Morning Call and go mini golfing at the park. Each hole features a landmark in New Orleans and I would take a picture of each one that sounds interesting to you. This city holds so much it is hard to see and experience it all. We didn’t get to explore the sculpture garden which I had on my “to do” list, but it’s something to keep on the back burner should we find ourselves back down South.

Monkey Spotting

Raccoon Spotting

Eat at La Crepe Nanou. The restaurant features all fresh ingredients made into delicious French cuisine and it has a cool cozy environment inside. Afterwards you can drive around to see all the pretty mansions.

Check out Mardi Gras World. I can only imagine an artist going through this place. The company, Blaine, employs 20 artists full time who make the Mardi Gras parades come to life. I had no idea there are so many parades (at least 50). There are no corporate sponsors, so everything has a clean artistic look that is dedicated to the theme. Each parade is hosted by a different group and each float costs between 40-80K to build. Once the float is built, they can redecorate to the tune of 5K. The day after Fat Tuesday the artists are right back at work planning the next year’s props. It was awe inspiring.

Hang out Café Beignet on Bourbon St. The café is tucked into a musical park that features statues of famous jazz musicians and has local artists playing live music most of the time. Seating is outside, but the chicory coffee is hot and the food is good!

Find a spot along the Mississippi River and sit and watch the boats go by. So much of our “stuff” just arrives at our homes. It’s neat to be able to attempt and explain the machine which is the USA and how our “stuff” moves around the country.

Drive to a Bayou and bring a kayak. We walked the board walks, but we would have had a better time in the water exploring the different canals.

Head on over to Old Algiers. It is a sleepy little section of New Orleans which is the second oldest part of the city. The librarians were super friendly and there was a great café called Tout de Suite. Homes that were built in the 1800’s line the streets that still boast small corner grocery stores.

Head to the Louisiana Museums. Look out over Jackson Square. Imaging the changes this block of land has seen over the past three centuries.

I struck up a conversation with a lady in Whole Foods today and she asked me how I was liking New Orleans. I wish I could go back and give her a better answer. What came out was a jumble of observations; I talked about the beautiful mansions in the garden district and the craziness which is the French Quarter, the history and beauty of the landscape, the food, the clash of socioeconomics and cultures along with the amount of trash floating around. I think she was looking more for an “I love it!” kind of answer, but for me, it’s a bit hard to boil down to a simple statement.

If I pull up the last 24 hours reported crimes I find a couple of sex crimes and 19 assaults. 182 crimes total (weapons/theft/robbery…). I think about a city that is trying to rebuild when there are so many people still falling apart. I drive by homes that look like they have to blow over in the next wind storm and people’s lawns that appear to have had a dumpster explode all over them. I also drive by street musicians and decorated balconies. Fancy restaurants and fast food joints all right next to one another in a couple of blocks that make up the downtown. It’s a clash of life that I haven’t really seen elsewhere and I find it perplexing and welcoming in some strange way as well as overwhelming in how much work needs to go into this place regarding the ideals in which brought me to Whole Foods in the first place.

1 of Many

And so we will depart and head on down to Tampa. I will miss this cool campground on Lake Ponchatrain and the roads that are repaired in such a way that every 100 yards are smooth and the next are pitted. There are no lines, so we just swerve to miss the potholes, puddles and oncoming traffic. I’ll miss the pride that is plastered in purple and gold that I haven’t really seen in such display in other places. We sit right next to one of the old paddle boats and get to hear her blow her horn and I’ll love the memories of the boys running in complete excitement when the boat took off. I am reading The Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey. It is a historical fiction that puts all the pieces of New Orleans into a story that centers around a (real) girl raised as a slave. Finishing it tonight should bring all the bits and pieces of this city in my mind together and I’ll feel good about turning the page and heading on to the next story.