New Orleans

 Saturday 4th February 2023

We drove into New Orleans on the causeway. What a great experience and it only cost $5. 

We had a brilliant time walking around the city but did not realize the distances between the districts we wanted to visit and we ended up walking eight miles. If we had not had Morgan with us we could have hopped on the tram to cover more area. We had wished to visit two times but the bad weather the previous weekend messed with our plans so we felt under pressure to see as much as we could in one day. We were unsure if Morgan would be ok with the noise and crowds of the city, but she was great.

Superdome

French Quarter

Banana Foster Beignet

St Louis Cathedral

Jackson Square

I had done some prior research and found a vegan/vegetarian dog friendly restaurant to have lunch! It was a nice treat to sit outside in February. 

Kathi Roll. Street food originating from Kolkata, West Bengal.

Thursday would have been John's Dad's 100th birthday, we raised a glass for him.

One of the things I love about wandering around a city is the places or events you see unplanned - like some people down an alley near the Lower Garden District performing a ritual or celebration (?) with rhythmic drums and movements. 

We were walking towards the Garden District but it was too far away in the opposite direction to the truck and at this point we were tired so we decided to head back. We did see some pretty homes and gardens.

Lighthouse on Camp Street

St Patrick's Catholic Church

Benjamin Franklin, Lafayette Square

We passed lots of people building bleachers on St Charles Street on the Mardi Gras route and saw homes and businesses with metal fencing erected to protect them from the crazy time that Mardi Gras is. This year it will be 21st February. In England it is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. We will have to watch the parade on tv now that we have seen where it is.

Muddy walks

 Sunday 29th January

A massive storm system passed through very slowly. The day was very dark and wet so our plans to visit New Orleans had to be postponed.

The campsite quickly turned into lakes

There were some hiking trails at the park I was keen to explore but after the heavy rains I knew they would not be easily accessible so I walked on the Tammany Trace instead. I knew this would be a long hike so I left Morgan at home - which turned out to be a good idea as very surprisingly no dogs are allowed on the 31 mile trail. I walked to the nearby town of Mandeville and enjoyed seeing the old homes and businesses in the historic area before walking home, covering over 10 miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Trace

Very misty morning

Vegetable garden outside the foodbank 

Decorated for Mardi Gras

Book n Bean, shame it was closed I would have enjoyed a coffee and a new book.

Could not see the lake it was so foggy.

On Tuesday I decided to try the trails though I quickly regretted it. It was 4.5 miles of mud and lakes which covered the track and in places the only way through was to get wet. Morgan needed a wash when we returned.