New Orleans!

Since we were only going to be in New Orleans for a little over a day, I wanted to stay in the heart of things. We stayed in this great hotel called Place d'Armes (they say it differently than I do since I speak a little French and they have totally Anglicized French). It was a great, old hotel just a couple of blocks from the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, that meant that it was also close to the infamous Bourbon Street. That made sleeping difficult until I broke out my ear plugs, then it wasn't that hard. 

The Courtyard

Mom and Dad got a room with a balcony. This is the rod iron work around their balcony.

I love how the ferns are growing right out of the wall. Too cute!

 Mamadillo did some posing too...

But, we weren't there just to see our cool hotel. We needed to see some sights. Off to Jackson Square.

Jackson Square is in the heart of the French Quarter, and right behind our hotel. The big white building is Saint Louis Cathedral. The buildings on either side of that are museums, one of which, and I can't remember which one, is where the Louisiana Purchase was signed. There's a statue of Andrew Jackson, who the square is named for. And all around the park, there are artists selling their wares. Mom and Dad got me a gorgeous picture of a little shack in the bayou for my birthday. I love it.

I think Saint Louis Cathedral looks a little like a temple, don't you? 

Well, except for the crosses...and the inside. Ok, maybe not a temple, but a really cool building!

And, the obligatory scrunch pictures!

Oh, and the statue for Andrew Jackson

And to prove that Mamadillo was there too...

Sometimes it's hard to find her, but she's in all those pictures.

It was a warm day, so instead of walking all over, we decided to take a carriage ride to see a little bit more of the city. Everyone told me to pick out the carriage, so I did, based on the mule pulling it. (They use mules because horses can't take the heat. I'm with the horses!)

I thought Honey Boy was cute. I wonder what breed of horse his parent is and what they looked like. Anyway, Honey Boy was cute, but the driver was a little, ok a lot hard to understand. Maybe I should have worried a bit less about who was going to be pulling us and more about who our tour guide was. It was a nice ride anyway though.

Oh, and I almost forgot! We were right by the Mississippi River. This was my first look at the Mighty Miss! It didn't look too might right here.

At one point when we were in Jackson Square, I looked over and saw a boat floating past. From that part of Jackson Square I couldn't see the river, and the boat was higher than I was. It was a weird feeling. I mean, I know that New Orleans is below sea level, but it's a completely different thing to actually see it.

While looking at the Mississippi, a cute little street car went past.

We didn't ride a street car this time around, but they are quite cute!

We ate at Margaritaville - remember the Jimmy Buffet song? They had pretty good hamburgers. But the best was what we had for an appetizer. We were in the South, so we thought we'd give fried pickles a go. I mean, I love pickles. Why not.

They were really good! I had envisioned a whole pickle deep fried. That may be how some of them are, but these were pickle slices. And the dip was really good. A little spicy and nice. We were so proud of ourselves for being brave!

And we finished the day off with beignets. They are a fried scone type thing that is really good. 

Although, don't breathe in when you're getting ready to eat them...there is a lot of powdered sugar on those things!

And last, but not least, the streets. They are so beautiful!

All over you see signs like these.

So, what did we think of New Orleans? It is a beautiful, old city. There are very nice people there. The food is good. But...it has a weird smell. People are CONSTANTLY smoking, everywhere. And everyone seems to be drunk, all the time. It's too bad. But, it was worth it to go to know that we never want to go again.

Next off...the cruise! I can hardly wait!