New Orleans Trip - photos

Earlier this spring... (I'm catching up on posts)....

After the (March 2010) Lake Placid America's Cup, and after the trip to Florida (also in March), I again headed out to the National APA (American Planning Association) conference in New Orleans. I was pretty excited since I'd never been there....so while I spent most of my time in conference sessions, every free moment was spent exploring. And eating....I refused to take leftovers to the hotel room since I didn't want to repeat anything. Jambalaya, po'boys, catfish, crawfish, Gumbo, Crawfish Étouffée, Andouille sausage, red beans and rice, and every kind of bread pudding possible. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


Anyway, the city. It has so much history that the new is built right around the old.


These windows are painted on...


The liquor laws were amazing, and would be amazing anywhere but were especially amazing compared to Utah. When leaving a restaurant or bar, if you hadn't finished your beverage, you could literally take a "go-cup" and walk around drinking. Like these ladies, who were stumbling down the street at 5pm.


I went on a river boat tour, which was fantastic. On the way, the tour guide made the analogy that New Orleans is like a cup, with the city in the bottom of the cup and the Mississippi, Lake Pontchartrain, and the swamps at the rim of the cup. Kind of a scary image...and everything is either on, under, by, or in the water.


In fact, here I am sitting on the steps that lead UP to the river. The level of the water is literally higher than my head, on the other side of that wall.


Here's the view of the river from the top of the wall. Notice the buildings on the other side...


But anyway, back to the riverboat tour.




There is still a lot of hurricane damage.




And a lot of strong southern sentimentality.


And, if you're interested, some real estate.


And quite a bit of wildlife.








The guide showing us a crawfish trap.


And this feller....


Who hung out for a while.


Marshmallows helped keep his interest from wandering.


We were only a few feet away, when we suddenly realized he could do this:


Pretty cool.

I also explored the city - walking so much that my feet were covered in blisters and my muscles hurt so much I could hardly move. Who'd have thought I should have trained for walking???

The Metrodome.


French Quarter - Bourbon Street.


The above-ground cemeteries. This is the tomb of Marie LeVeaux, the voodoo queen.


Public transit and walkability were fantastic. This is the streetcar that runs from one end of the city to the other. One morning my coworker and I went for a jog on the tracks, since it's a nice dirt path underneath. Not a good idea due to the already-formed blisters, but it was scenic and fun anyway.


It's a small world too.....thanks to her Facebook post about being in the French Quarter, I had the chance to meet a distant cousin for the first time ever - we spent dinner trying to figure out just how we were related (our grandfathers were either brothers or cousins). She toured me around and showed me iconic places like the Hollywood homes and the markets.

All in all, I had a blast and would love to go back sometime, of course with more time to see and do more! (And eat more.....)