Tourists In New Orleans

After arriving in New Orleans, we found out Rhonda's brother was also in town (what are the odds of that?) so we touched base with Keith and Deanna and spent a day in the French Quarter with them.  We started our day with coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter.

Next stop was the cemetery on the north end, all above ground of course.  It was pretty interesting with a  well-known voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, buried there, tons of history, and the fact that many families are buried together in one tomb.  

We overheard one of the tour guides say that when the family tombs get "full" they have to remove some of the older remains to make room for the new.  That's a little bit creepy.

Lots of street bands and other performers.

These guys were very good as acrobatic break dancing comedians.

There are some really strange folks in the Big Easy!

These above are actually imitators of Allison "Big Chief Tootie" Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indian Tribe.

Most of the architecture is about the same, but definitely impressive.

The tile plaque naming Bourbon Street while under Spanish rule from 1762 -1803.

It has now given way to the neon lights and party atmosphere of today's Bourbon Street.  Some of the "activities" there did seem quite rough.

The St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Park was quite impressive.  It's the oldest cathedral in the US.  I wish I had a camera that could do justice to the detail and beauty of the interior.

We've got a bunch more pics of our trip to NO, but you get the idea.  We also want to note that our friends on Opus One, Clint and Linda, finally joined us again after their mechanical delay in Lake Charles and a couple of 100-mile days to catch up.  Here's Opus One arriving at Pontchartrain Landing.

We really enjoyed Pontchartrain Landing - it actually originated as a FEMA trailer site after Hurricane Katrina which was later purchased and developed by private owners as a high-end RV Resort and Marina, complete with bar/restaurant (including Carolina pulled-pork BBQ), swimming pools and hot tubs, playgrounds and pet runs, shuttles to/from town, definitely a first class operation.

We delayed an extra day for better weather conditions in upcoming open water on Mississippi Sound and spent the day with Clint and Linda sightseeing some more.  This pic is at Louis Armstrong Park.  On to Gulfport, MS tomorrow.