We started the day with a bus tour of “Nawlins”. The tour went for about 2 ½ hrs and gave a great overview of New Orleans as it is today and how it got to be this way. It has a fascinating history that involves the British, the French, the Spanish, the Confederates, Slavery, Yankees, Katrina, food and Jazz.
A brief summary of some of the more interesting things we found out about this city, and it really does have so many.
The highest point of the city’s natural ground is 6 ft above sea level, 85% is below sea level
It was a French Territory from 1699 until 1762, the Spanish took control until 1800, when the French won it back and then the USA bought it from the French for $15mil in a deal that became known as the Louisiana Purchase.
It has the oldest open air market in the USA – The French Markets
Hurricane Katrina inundated 85% of the city, up to a depth of 12 ft at its worst.
After Katrina the population went from 550,000 to 350,000, and is very slowly recovering.
It is 10 years in August since Katrina struck the city, and things still haven’t all been fixed yet.
There are 28 pumping stations that are used to keep New Orleans dry.
I have been reliably informed that the best local beer is Abita Beer. Yes, it is OK. 🙂
A 23.8 mile long bridge over water joins North and South Louisiana, the longest over water bridge in the world.
Jazz funerals are getting scarcer.
The food here is a mix of African, French, Spanish and English. It results is cuisines such as Creole, Cajun and many more.
A Bayou is a stream running through a swamp.
Most people here are buried in tombs. The water table is only about 1m down in most places so ground burials don’t work and due to their strong Catholic beliefs, they do not like cremation.
You can drink in the streets anywhere in the city, and bars do not have to shut, ever!
They have the 2nd largest Mardi Gras festival after Rio.
The tour took us through the new part of town, with the convention centre and casino, then along the banks of the Mississippi through the French quarter. Through the old Rampart/Perido neighbourhood where Jazz was born. We drove through the Garden District and past the homes of many famous rich and famous of Nawlins. We saw where the old Red Light district used to be when it was legal, past a few cemeteries. We saw areas that were devastated by Katrina and how the rebuild was carried out, including an area in the 9th district helped by a Brad Pitt Organisation, “Make it Right”. We stopped for a break at The City Sculpture Park, with an impressive garden that has a walkway through it where you can discover many really interesting and unique statues. At the cafe in the park we had our very first Beignet, a Nawlins parcel shaped “doughnut” covered in Icing sugar, unique to this town.
We eventually got back to our hotel and after a short break went to lunch at an establishment called Deja Vu. Everyone at our hotel looked in disbelief when we told them we had eaten there!! We had our very first Po-Boy there, we shared a Pulled Pork Po-Boy, and it was delicious.
From there we set off on our own down through town and the Cathedral. It’s a huge church right in the middle of town near the Mississippi with Jackson Reserve in front of it (That’s General/President Jackson) . As we walked out of Jackson Reserve there was a Jazz band playing to the street crowd, and they soon had Deb and Georgie sitting in amongst them while they played. Magic moments. We walked up to the French Markets and looked through all the stores and listened to some great music as we moved around. As we were leaving the markets we heard a Saxaphone being played. We looked across the street and there we saw a young black guy in very dark sunnies, leaning up against the corner of a building making the most beautiful soulful music, he was delighted when we applauded. (probably more delighted when we gave him some money)
Since the Mississippi was so close we walked over to have a look. It is a very wide river and this is very close to its end. Deb and I both put our hands in the water, so now we have touched this river close to its’ source in Minnesota and now close to its end.
Just as we went to go back to the markets area a train went by and we had to wait. It turned out to be a VERY long freight train. So 10 to 15 minutes later we go back over the tracks and made our way to Cafe Du Monde, to try their famous Beignet, they reportedly have the best, anywhere! It is the only food they have on their menu and the place was packed, at least 100 tables, all eating these Beignets!!!
We then made our way back to our hotel for a freshen up.
At about 5pm we all got a message on our phones. It read; “EMERGENCY ALERT Tornado Warning in this area til 5:30 PM CST. Take shelter now. Check your local media – NWS” But all was OK it all pat with nothing happening. Our first Tornado Alert! 🙂
We then went out for dinner at Remoulade’s on Bourbon St. The Po-Boys were Ok, (the waiter hilarious) but Deb and I both preferred the Po-Boys at Dejavu’s!!
After dinner we walked to the Basketball Stadium. We had bought tickets to the New Orleans V San Antonio Spurs game several months ago. It turns out that this match was going to decide the placing in the playoffs for both teams and a lot was riding on it.
We got there at about 6:25, and the game was scheduled to start at 7. The stadium held about 18500 and it was a sellout. The atmosphere was fantastic.
Just before the game started and everyone in the crowd was still standing after the National Anthem, and as the game started they all stayed standing up!! We all thought we were going to be standing for the whole game, but as soon as the Pelicans scored everyone sat down. The match was very good, the Pelicans got away to a very strong start and lead by about 20 points at the end of the first quarter and at half time. The Spurs came back strongly in the third quarter and cut the lead to 11 points. The final quarter was amazing, with the final 5 minutes of the game taking about 20 minutes to play and the Pelicans won by 5 points. The crowd was ecstatic and the noise was incredible.
Dante, our eldest grandson, was a bit (no VERY) disappointed he couldn’t come with us to go to this game, but he gave us so much insight into the teams and we were texting him during the game. We love being able to share in his love for the sport. He was able to watch the game via the NBA channel on the net.(The next best thing to being here with us).
After the game we walked back to the city and got some groceries for John and Georgie then went back to our hotel. While we were walking through town we got held up at a corner. There was a film crew there film an episode of NCIS New Orleans (a favourite of mine), but we couldn’t see any of the actors. A bit of excitement, LOL!!
What an amazing day, jam packed with so much.
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Sounds SO GOOD!!! Hopefully we will go to the Us and to an NBA game at some point (-: