New Orleans Days 3-4-5

Late in the day on Wednesday, we went for a walk through the historic Garden District near our hotel. Saw many 100+ year old houses and mansions. Walked past Lafayette Cemetery.

Thursday, we got an early start to beat the heat and headed back to City Park to check out the Sculpture Gardens and the Botanical Gardens, both very well done. Karen loved the Botanical Gardens. We took the streetcars back to the French Quarter and had lunch at the Napoleon House. Karen had another traditionally New Orleans dish of rice and red beans with sausage, it was great. We followed that up with an interesting coffee shop in the French Quarter for a cappuccino. Then later in the afternoon, we headed back to St Charles Ave again and the Pelican Bar for Happy Hour. Charbroiled oysters were checked off Karen’s food list at this location, again, an excellent food choice

In the evening, we mustered the energy to check out the French Quarter at night. Quite different than our previous experiences in the morning and mid-day, very lively (loud) and lots of entertainment. We both got a daiquiri to walk around with that seemed to be the custom.

On Friday, we started early before 7am and rode the streetcars to the south end of Esplanade Avenue, then walked about two miles north to City Park to look at magnificent buildings that had been constructed in the late 1800s to early 1900s. This was the Creole answer to St Charles Ave. The wide tree-lined Esplanade boulevard was an interesting walk, although not nearly as grand at the Garden district. Then we took the Canal streetcar down to the Riverfront and took the ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers, walked around the town. This was the holding station for Africans being brought in as slaves before they were ferried across the Mississippi to be sold. During our walk we had a coffee in an interesting old coffee shop. The houses in this area were very beautiful. Karen liked this area better than the Esplanade. This was a neighborhood Karen could live in…except for the heat and humidity. We then walked a short distance along the levee back to the ferry. A beautiful view of the Mississippi and New Orleans.