November 15, Day 155 – Mobile to New Orleans (by van)

We got rolling towards New Orleans around 10:30 with a planned 1st stop at “The Shed” in Ocean Springs, MS (recommended by Bruce and Alice of Heritage). This was a great place with a great setting and wonderful food. We all stuffed ourselves and waddled back to the van.

We decided to head through Biloxi instead of staying on the interstate. The devastation from Katrina was still very much in evidence with lots of vacant lots, bare foundations, and cleanup still proceeding. There were also new bridges and lots of new casinos along the way (we didn’t stop at the casino’s, we knew that New Orleans would drain us of all available funds).

When we arrived in New Orleans, the GPS couldn’t get us past all of the road closures and one way streets. Seems that there have been ongoing changes in the roadways since Katrina and it's a bit hard to keep up with all of that. But, we eventually found the hotel and drove into the parking garage. Only one room was ready at check in, so we put all the bags in one room and went exploring.

After wandering through the French Quarter we ended up down at the French market and stopped by Margaritaville to have – what else - a margarita. We listened to some good music and then headed back to the hotel to check in and freshen up before going out to do some more exploring.

We got together at 7:30 and headed for Bourbon Street. That was quite an assault on the senses after being on the rivers for so long. Couldn’t talk the women into going to the Hustler or Penthouse clubs, but we did settle on a blues joint. Terrific music down here. We also had to try out the local drinks .. Hurricanes and Hand Grenades

Finally, it was back to the hotel (with a short stop at Crystal’s Hamburger Joint for what served as “dinner”) and crashed.

The gang eating at the Shed. Great southern cooking, including BBQ and brisket

While exploring the French Quarter, we sighted the Courthouse. Hadn't seen any courthouses for awhile.

This and a few of the pictures below are sights we saw while exploring the French Quarter

This is Jackson Square

Gerry and Jimmy

Entrance to the French Market. Quite the interesting place as there were vendors selling quite a variety of products.

A street performer. He was painted silver and looked like a statue .... but he occasionally changed positions

Spotted a very cool car

Fortunately, what happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans !!!