Great Expectations: Being a tourist in New Orleans

We did so much in New Orleans and the surrounding area.

The Louisana State Museum in the French Quarter had a special exhibit. The Zulu Club loaned their Mardi Gras costumes. The exhibit covered the design and creation as well as the history of the club. Amazing exhibits. This was what greeted us in the lobby:

And here's a sample of the costumes on display:

We spent a day touring the plantation district west of the city. We decided to tour Laura Plantation. This lovely home and the surrounding buildings are all on the National Historic Register. It's always in the process of renovation with the hope of taking the property back to it's original condition.

Laura Plantation is unique. It is a Creole sugarcane plantation built in 1805. Laura's memoirs and other documents have provided the history of this property and the 12 remaining buildings that were home to the family and 175 slaves. It's a fascinating tour. This is the main building that was the corporate office of the business and home to the family.

This Mississippi River map gave us a visual of the more than 1000 plantations that sat on the river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They were all narrow and deep so each could have crucial access to the river for shipping and supplies. Sugar cane was the crop grown. This is still sugar cane country. They were harvesting when we were there.

The gardens on the property are beautifl. There are banana palms with fruit almost ready to pick. It looks very tropical. The large kettles used to boil the crushed sugar cane are being used as planters and vegetable gardens are still producing.

The slave cabins were in use by migrant workers until the 1970's. This family treated their slaves well and many remained after the civil war as indentured workers.

Laura Plantation was a good choice for us. We learned a lot. There are others, and we took some time to look at them but did not tour.

Oak Alley is the most popular one and is the South's most photographed plantation. So...we took a photo. Built in 1839, it's known for the oak trees - some nearly 300 years old. There's a B & B, a restaurant, and a building used for weddings and other special events.

St. Joseph is another Creole plantation, built in 1830. It was given to a daughter as a wedding gift, completely furnished, with a full staff of slaves. Hmmm.

Everygreen is a working sugar cane plantation. It has 37 buildings and has been given National Landmark designation. It's a private home and stunningly beautiful.

We couldn't go to New Orleans without seeing some of the devastation caused by Katrina. It's still shocking to see the buildings with the "x" marks on them noting the search after the storm.

There are buildings abandoned, boarded up, deserted, with water marks, empty lots, rebuilt family homes - all on the same street.

FEMA trailers still sit in front of homes. Four years later!!!

The roads are a mess and the neighborhoods in disrepair, and there's no money to get the work done. The mayor has his children in school in Ft. Worth. There are signs reading "Brad Pitt for Mayor" showing appreciation for the investment he has made in the city. Yet - the magic that is New Orleans is thriving.

Ben and Sarah took us to Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. It's a small room, loaded with history. Patrons pay $10 to enter, than stand in the back or sit on the floor in front. We had the coveted seats along the wall because Ben's friend is the manager and he's friends with the owners.

And then the musicians arrive. The cream of the crop. They sit down and without rehearsal they treat us to good old New Orleans jazz. It's a jam session - and it's amazing!! This evening there was a song stylist - and she was great. We stayed through both sets - each 4 numbers and 45 minutes long. What a treat.

The National Park Service has two locations in the French Quarter. One has a free walking tour in the morning. We never got to that one. The other is all about jazz. We enjoyed a portion of this midday piano session. I swear that man has more than two hands. It was great!

New Orleans is all about the music. We photographed street musicians in the French Quarter. This group was here most days right in front of Jackson Square. The five of them them made some real good sounds.

It's just happy music coming from all directions.

This lady was my favorite. She played away on her keyboard and sang her heart out.

Always time for music.

On any corner.

Here are a few street scenes in the French Quarter. This is along Jackson Square. There were more and more artists as the weather improved.

Color everywhere.

With Ben and Sarah on our way to an oyster bar.

The plantation owners had townhomes in the French Quarter. This is a residential street.

And another.

New Orleans has a Civil War Museum. Cute couple out in front...

We stopped at Lafayette Cemetary. It on the National Historic Register. Wonder if it's haunted...

All four of us went to the WWII Museum. This is the main lobby. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have been instrumental in making this place happen.

They have just opened a new building across the street. It's home to a 45 minute film in 4-D that really defines in global terms what WWII was about. It's very well done, a little Hollywood, but it makes its point and every student should see it. We all agreed that the film should be seen before the museum.

Finnegan spent time in doggy day care in New Orleans and, as usual, made some new friends and ran off some energy. The staff at these places always come out to say goodbye to him when we say we're leaving town.

On this day, we took Finn for a walk in the Garden District. He made friends with a very mean looking dog at the French embassy who ended up licking Finn's nose and wagging his tail as they played through the fence. The Garden District homes are beautiful, often VERY big, and always extremely expensive and in need of lots of on going loving care. In short, they can be money pits.