Bruce and Bobbie's Winter Adventure
Part I - Charlotte and Atlanta
Part II - The Gulf Shore and Panhandle of Florida
Part III - New Orleans (The Big Easy)
Part IV - Dallas, Texas (Visiting Bruce's Early Youth)
Part V - Ponca City, Oklahoma (Visiting Doug and Sue)
Part VI - Missouri and Indiana
January 27 - March 12, 2013
Part III - New Orleans - The Big Easy
Pete and Bobbie Having Coffee and Beignets
at Cafe Beignet
We drove into New Orleans traveling from Florida through Alabama and Mississippi which was about a five hour drive. As we drove west, we could see commercial and tourist activity in Gulf Ports. We also drove past quite a few refineries. Driving toward and then into New Orleans was very different experience for me. You began to sense the water rising the further west you drive. If you are not used to living in areas below sea level, it is hard to explain the sensation.
The next several pictures were taken from the van as we drove eventually into the historic area of the city. However, you will be to see some traveling dirt and smudges from the windshield in these pictures.
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake. It is, however, among the largest wetlands in the world.
It covers an area of 630 square miles with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet. Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles from west to east and 24 miles from south to north. In descending order of area, the lake is located in parts of St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa parishes.
Lake Pontchartrain is named for Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, the French Minister of the Marine, Chancellor of France and Controller-General of Finances during the reign of France's "Sun King," Louis XIV, for whom Louisiana is named.
Quoted From: Lake Pontchartrain - Wikipedia
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
As we continued our drive into the city, we could see block after block of residential housing that was boarded up and deserted. There were detached single family houses as well as apartments that apparently seemed to have been abandoned by their owners. Then you began to see sporadic evidence of life but not entire streets. It appeared to a bystander just driving through as a depressed scene of horrific poverty.
Then as you entered the historic area of the city (The French Quarter) it was if you had entered another world untouched by the ravages of Katrina. It was a fortunate hand of fate in the midst of such tragedy. It was late afternoon when we finally arrived and checked into our hotel and all I wanted was some rest. However, Bobbie took a walk to get her bearings and consider how we should proceed in the morning.
Bobbie's Afternoon Walk
One of Several Trolley Lines
Bourbon Street
Larry Flynt has a presence in the quarter.
The Hard Rock Cafe
A View in the Quarter
Another Larry Flynt Establishment
The Old Absinthe House
Musical Legends Park
Welcome to New Orleans Musical Legends Park
New Orleans - French Quarter: Music Legends Park - Chris Owens
Ronnie Kole
Edison Place Marker
Street Musicians
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Bobbie and I were fortunate in having someone we knew living in New Orleans. Pete was a former student as well as the son of a former colleague. This young man had taught physical education here in Loudoun County for five years when Katrina hit amd devastated New Orleans. He came to New Orleans as a volunteer through the Episcopal Church and he never left. He took time off to show us around the 'The French Quarter' the following morning and the only day we had to spend in New Orleans.
Cafe Beignet
Bruce at the Cafe Beignet
Pete and Bobbie at the Cafe Beignet
A Friend Comes to Visit
Another Friend at the Cafe
The Architecture and Trellised Balconies were Striking
The Court of Two Sisters - A French Quarter Courtyard Restaurant
Great Music
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Barely Legal - Larry Again
Musical Legends
Louisiana Supreme Court
Jackson Square
Louisiana State Museum
Site of the Louisiana Purchase Transfer
Jackson Square
Pete and Bruce in Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
(He is real and alive)
Jackson Square
Jackson Square
Bobbie and Bruce
Jackson Square
Bobbie and Bruce
Jackson Square
Bobbie and Bruce
Bruce and Pete
(street Performer in Gold)
New Orleans under Spain
Plaza d' Armas
Cafe Beignet
Now, We are off to Dallas, Texas (Visiting Bruce's Early Youth)
This page is the work of Senex Magister
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