On to New Orleans

On to New Orleans

On July 9th (Monday) we headed east to the shores of the gulf of Mexico. This is where we began our low altitude flight of the beaches of the east coast.

This is where we hit the coast. Mustang Beach. Located just a few miles north of Corpus Christi.
North bound towards Galveston, Texas. Many miles of isolated beach, with a small town here and there. An interesting observation is that Texas allows the local's to drive on the beach.
The waterways from the ocean offer opportunities for the Texan's to build their homes and docks on the water.
The beach is in the foreground and the "inter-water" waterway is in the background.
A small town in southern Louisiana (Morgan City). The terrain is now getting green.
Flying in over downtown "New Orleans".
A church located in the "French Quarters" of New Orleans.
Same church, another view.
The French Quarters are located on the Mississippi River.
An interior photograph of the church pictured above. The detail was beautiful.
Our friends, Tom and Julie, arrive from Los Angeles, to join us. They traveled with us from New Orleans to Key West, then on to Miami.
The music on Bourbon Street is great. We visited this group three nights in a row.
The music was good enough to get non-dancing Tom to dance.

The French architectural influence is noticed everywhere.
Wrought iron is a prominent feature in the design of the homes.
The French Quarters cover approximately 2 square miles. The area makes for a great place to walk your legs off and see the sights!
More homes. Bright colors.
This was the home of a blacksmith.
Flowers and more wrought iron.
There is also an abundance of neon lighting in the French Quarters.
This was interesting. This is a topless bar on Bourbon Street. The dancers dance behind a translucent window. For some reason, groups of men seem to gather in the streets and stare blankly at the windows.
This is New Orleans's oldest cemetery (cemetery #1). Due to the low elevation of the city, bodies are not allowed to be buried in the ground. One thing we found interesting is the same tomb is used again and again. The only restriction is that you can not re-open a vault for 1 year and a day.
They merely slide the last body to the back of the vault, where it falls to the dirt floor, and then slip in the next occupant. This was our tour guide explaining the tomb of one of New Orleans's most famous "Voodoo" ladies from the 1800's.
We later found out that local hoodlums, in the apartments near the cemetery, watch the cemetery from their balconies. When opportunity arises, they jump the walls, and rob the tourist. It's amazing that cemeteries are not a place in which you can relax. At least, not the visitors.
New Orleans has street cars (on tracks) which we used to get around town.
The street cars were used more by the local citizens, then tourists.
The neon lights add character to Bourbon Street.
We walked another section of New Orleans, which was call the Garden District.

	The gold statue was extremely bright, in the harsh sunlight. The builds were always painted in bright colors.
	On most of the balconies, plants were hanging from pots.
	There were many "Estate" sale shops in the French Quarters. This globe was from the mid-1800's. The salesman told me that the price was 120..... I was almost interested in having it shipped home, until it hit me that he meant $120,000.00. You can also purchase "Dueling" pistols from the 1800's (the prices varied from $12,000 to $38,000 a pair).
	French donuts and coffee is all that this open air restaurant served.
	Anybody can enter the bars and drink in New Orleans. Who would ask this guy to leave!

Time to head to Florida! Please click the next button.