Last day in New Orleans

So our last day in New Orleans.

Beautiful weather...what shall we do?

Let's do the tram tour.

However, before that a few photos from last night.

We were heading out to dinner somewhere around Bourbon Street when there was lots of noise (much more than usual for Bourbon Street )

Have absolutely no idea what it was all about however the men in blue were leading and following the procession.

After dinner to the Dueling Pianos

(Thank you Marty and Dale for recommending)

We all thoroughly enjoyed the music.

So onto the tram ($3 for an all day pass)

All aboard 

We hopped off at the WW2 Museum and spent a couple of hours there. 

Not sure how good this picture is but it shows all the aircraft and ships involved in D Day

After the museum, back on the tram and a trip through a better area of the city.

As you can see below some of the architecture is amazing. 

I just loved this tree.

A few of the houses are already decorated for Halloween.

Tomorrow we fly to Miami so it will be another early start.

We can now say we've been to New Orleans. Not sure if we'd come back.

The French Quarter is definitely a must see, however the streets are so narrow,  quite grotty and the smell at times is horrendous.

As my friend Marty would say it goes off like a raw prawn that's been sitting in the sun.

While I've been sitting by the pool writing this I listened to a guide telling people about our hotel.

It appears it was originally a house for the ladies of the night hence the name Dauphine. Now, how's that for a bit of local knowledge.

More New Orleans

After the swamp tour we decided to try the famous 

Cafe du Monde.

Probably not the healthiest lunch we've eaten.

They were a sort of pastry that had been deep fried and absolutely delicious.

Walking back to the hotel, we found these guys just playing their music on the sidewalk.

There is music everywhere.

The "Fleur de Lis" since Hurricane Katrina has been widely used in New Orleans as a symbol of grassroots support for the cities recovery.

There are still many places that have not been rebuilt.

Our Capt Greg said the power was out for 38 days....that's a dam long time.

Now as they say here "yo all" enjoy this blog.

Honey Island Swamp Tour.......take 2

Raccoons 

They are cute but apparently a pest in your backyard 

The pig was pretty big and really enjoyed the marshmallows.

He came right up to the boat.

Now, this is a heron that has a 6ft wing span when they are fully grown.

They eat baby alligators and sit there waiting for their "groceries" to swim by.

There were lots of air plants growing on the trees. 

There are a few houses in the swamp that can only be reached by boat.

When Katrina struck this house was under water as the swamp rose by around 11 feet.

Just a month or so ago the water rose to the door handle.

Honey Island Swamp Tour....take 1

So, we woke to another beautiful day in New Orleans. 

After breakfast we were picked up by

Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour which was great...thank you Jane Guernier for recommending it.

On the 35 minute journey to the Honey Island Swamp the bus driver showed us where Hurricane Katrina had left It's mark back in August 2005.

Personally I didn't realise how bad it was.

Now, New Orleans is actually 8 1/2 feet below sea level so you can imagine when the hurricane and the rains came what happened.

Many people left the city and have not come back. The water was 6 to 8 feet deep and people were making holes in the roof of their houses so they could get out of the water.

Anyway onto the swamp tour.

The boat which held about 18 people was driven by Capt Greg.

He was quite a character and made sure we saw as much as possible during our 2 something hours we were there.

All the animals, alligators, raccoons and pig were fed with white marshmallows. Why marshmallows I'm not actually sure but they seemed to enjoy them.

Good bye white marshmallow 

They weren't huge, around 4 feet.

Swimming over to his marshmallow.

More photos on the next post.

Welcome to New Orleans

Left the hotel early this morning.

Thought we might get a ride to the airport in this car....but no...we couldn't find the driver...haha

Had a good flight and then transported into Nawlins ( New Orleans) but that's the way the locals seem to say it.

Checked into the Dauphine Hotel and went walking.

Of course it wouldn't be the Mississippi without a paddle boat.

Some lovely buildings. 

A most unusual statue.

Lunch was at Jax Brewery.

I wanted jambalaya however it had run out so settled for 

Shrimp and grits...not bad however I don't think I will order it again.

Janet went for the healthy option.

Houston again

This morning the boys went off to look at man things and we all met up for lunch at the shopping centre near our hotel.

It is The Galleria and has 400 shops and restaurants. 

On the ground floor is an ice skating rink.

Look at the little ones learning how to skate.

We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

Look what I found !!

I asked Janet to take a photo of me beside the elephants.

I touched it's tusk and the elephant moved it's ears and trunk.

Did I jump ??

You betcha I did !!

 Even the lions moved.

Lunch with the elephants...haha I specifically asked for that table.

Every half hour all the animals do their jungle thing...well noise wise.

A couple of different flavours in the ice block department.

Tomorrow, we have an early start as we are flying to New Orleans.

NASA Space Centre

After the city tour we took a 30 minute shuttle to the Space Centre.

First stop was a 60 minute tram tour around part of the nearly 600 acres of campus like buildings.

Mission Control Centre.

They have kept everything as it was back in July 1969 when those famous words were uttered....

.one small leap for man...one giant step for mankind.

We walked up the 87 steps to view the control room with the original equipment in behind glass of course.

It is amazing to think what they did achieve with the small amount of technology available at the time compared to what we have today

This showed us all the different sections that are used to propell the lunar module into space.

The girls with the men that walked on the moon

A replica of the shuttle mounted on top of the historic shuttle carrier aircraft NASA 905

The flight deck of the shuttle

  

Some interesting facts...there has only been 2 female commanders

 

There have been 157 space walks. 

28,000 Ks per hour is reasonably fast