Sorry for the delay in posts. This past weekend we were in Las Vegas but have been having car trouble, so we are still in Las Vegas... Nothing crazy, but the AC went out and we didn't want to drive through the desert without it, but it's turned into an electrical short and they haven't been able to fix it. In the meantime, I have pictures from the previous weekend in New Orleans! We spent the weekend just off of Bourbon Street in a French Quarter style inn, the Olivier House. First things first, we wandered Bourbon Street, where they close it off to cars and people wander freely with their drinks!
The next morning we got up early and went on a swamp tour and a city tour! We were promised alligators, and boy did they not disappoint! While probably not animal rights friendly, they enticed the alligators in with marshmallows.
And used hot dogs on sticks to get them to jump out of the water.
We saw probably a dozen alligators jump! We also went through a thicker part of the swamp and stopped by "The Wishing Tree", where someone on our tour boat proposed to his girlfriend!
The guide showed us houses on stilts to avoid flood waters (the river rose 22 feet during Katrina), house boats that have electricity but don't have to pay property taxes, and a drawbridge.
For lunch we had a great Cajun sampler with jambalaya, étouffée, red beans and rice, and we ordered gumbo, fried gator and fried pickles... way too much food!
After that we did a city tour through the French Quarter, the lower 9th ward (where Katrina hit), and an above ground graveyard. Many of the houses we passed were long and skinny, called shotgun houses. They are designed so that doors can be opened from the front to the back to allow airflow through the house. This one is a double shotgun, so it's two residences in one building.
We passed through the Musicians Village, which was a nonprofit in conjunction with habitat for humanity that created houses for musicians affected by Katrina. There were also a lot of empty plots where people's houses eventually collapsed, the government cleaned it up, but the owners still haven't returned to rebuild.
The above ground cemeteries were interesting, but a little creepy. The low water table line of New Orleans means that coffins often floated back up when the rivers flooded. The above ground tombs are used instead. A body is put in and then the tomb wouldn't be opened for at least a year and a day, the tomb in the heat would act like an oven and essentially cremate the body. The remains are pushed back and drop down into a hole with the other family remains and a new body can be put in. Strange to me, but better than coffins coming up out of the ground.
That night we went out to find dinner on a balcony, some Jazz and beignets from the famous Cafe du Monde!
A great weekend in New Orleans and we definitely want to go back!
Hopefully I'll get another post about our Texas trip up soon, and hopefully the car will be fixed soon!
The next morning we got up early and went on a swamp tour and a city tour! We were promised alligators, and boy did they not disappoint! While probably not animal rights friendly, they enticed the alligators in with marshmallows.
And used hot dogs on sticks to get them to jump out of the water.
We saw probably a dozen alligators jump! We also went through a thicker part of the swamp and stopped by "The Wishing Tree", where someone on our tour boat proposed to his girlfriend!
The guide showed us houses on stilts to avoid flood waters (the river rose 22 feet during Katrina), house boats that have electricity but don't have to pay property taxes, and a drawbridge.
For lunch we had a great Cajun sampler with jambalaya, étouffée, red beans and rice, and we ordered gumbo, fried gator and fried pickles... way too much food!
After that we did a city tour through the French Quarter, the lower 9th ward (where Katrina hit), and an above ground graveyard. Many of the houses we passed were long and skinny, called shotgun houses. They are designed so that doors can be opened from the front to the back to allow airflow through the house. This one is a double shotgun, so it's two residences in one building.
We passed through the Musicians Village, which was a nonprofit in conjunction with habitat for humanity that created houses for musicians affected by Katrina. There were also a lot of empty plots where people's houses eventually collapsed, the government cleaned it up, but the owners still haven't returned to rebuild.
The above ground cemeteries were interesting, but a little creepy. The low water table line of New Orleans means that coffins often floated back up when the rivers flooded. The above ground tombs are used instead. A body is put in and then the tomb wouldn't be opened for at least a year and a day, the tomb in the heat would act like an oven and essentially cremate the body. The remains are pushed back and drop down into a hole with the other family remains and a new body can be put in. Strange to me, but better than coffins coming up out of the ground.
That night we went out to find dinner on a balcony, some Jazz and beignets from the famous Cafe du Monde!
A great weekend in New Orleans and we definitely want to go back!
Hopefully I'll get another post about our Texas trip up soon, and hopefully the car will be fixed soon!
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