March 17, 2011 – New Orleans

This morning we booked a cruise on the steamboat “Natchez”:

 

Scenes from the cruise:

They are unloading raw sugar:

We were able to tour the engine room – notice the names on the boilers – Thelma and Louise – :-):

  

Our ferry ride to Algiers:

What a great little cruise on the mighty Mississippi.   What I found interesting is that the Gulf is about 100 river miles away from here but the first bridge to cross the Mississippi is here in New Orleans.   There are ferry crossings but no bridge could be built because of the instability of the river bed.  WOW!.

We did some more exploring after our cruise.  There are so many street shows going on.  This guy was standing very still – looked like a statue. 

And the music – oh my!

 

And statues:

This is the famous Canal Street:

We had a late lunch at Deana’s and tried a shrimp Po-Boy.   We did not know what they were  - turns out it is like a sub sandwich.   Not too bad.

One thing we noticed was that many of the levees are being raised.   This is one at the campground in Westwego:

Tomorrow we are headed to Alabama so stay tuned!

March 16, 2011 – New Orleans

After we said our goodbyes to our new friends at Betty’s, we made our way towards New Orleans.
Lots of water and ship lanes and swamps and bayous on the way.

This is US-90 – we went many miles on this road above the swampy areas:

One of those areas:

We arrived at Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego.  I love state parks – so pretty and so much room.  We were able to get a spot for two nights and will use this as our base to see some of New Orleans.
Once we set up, we went to Algiers, LA and took the free ferry to New Orleans.  Scenes from the ferry:
New Orleans, French Quarter, skyline:

St Louis Cathedral:

The Natchez Paddleboat:

Not sure, sorry:

The ferry dropped us off on Canal Street – the edge of famous French Quarter.   We got a map and talked to a gentleman who gave us some suggestions.  
His first suggestion was to take a cable car to the end of the waterfront and walk back – so that is what we did.
Our cable car:

The Flood Gates that close:

The Flood Wall:

And we walked thru the French Quarter and enjoyed the sights – a sampling of photos:






The Immigrant Statue:


We had a great time just seeing all the shows on the streets – WOW!   I cannot imagine what it must be like during Mardi Gras Time!.
We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company – yes, Forrest Gump fame – what fun and great food – :-))).
Then we slowly made our way back to the ferry and back home.   Tomorrow we will head back into the city – :-).
Miles Traveled: 140 Miles
Routes Traveled:
Louisiana: SR-330; SR-82; Jacqulyn Street, SR-14; US-90