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| TOMBS AT ST. LOUIS CEMETERY |
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| HURRICANE AND FLOOD DAMAGED 9TH WARD HOUSING |
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| STREET LIFE NEAR JACKSON SQUARE |
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| THE NEXT BIG BOYBAND - OR NOT! |
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| SOME OLD CROC |
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| MISSISSIPPI STEAMBOAT NATCHEZ |
We enjoyed a mid-morning break in the beautiful sculpture garden of the New Orleans Museum of Art, which included stuff by British sculptors Henry Moore and Elizabeth Frink.
The final visit was to the 9th Ward of New Orleans, the area most badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and the floods which followed when the levees broke. The 9th Ward is 13 feet below sea level, so when the water came in it was up to the roofs. Many of the 1833 people who died were trapped in their attics. Even 8 years later the area is clearly still badly damaged. Some parts will never be rebuilt and many people will never return. There has been much criticism of the local, state and the federal governments over their handling of the crisis.
For the afternoon I headed to the French Quarter and particularly around Jackson Square to enjoy the street life. Being 10 feet above sea level, this area largely escaped flood damage.
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and the street performers were not going to let me forget that fact. Many other musical genres are here too, though. As evening came I made my way slowly down the brightly illuminated Bourbon Street with its 50 or so bars, each one offering live music, included rock, pop, rap, soul, country, blues, ska, grunge, indie, folk and of course jazz. The choice seemed endless, and although this may not have been Mardi Gras, it was party time just the same.
I ordered a beer in a Karaoke Bar called Cats and was given three for the same price! Apparently I had turned up at happy hour, although I couldn't find a sign that stated when happy hour was. Perhaps every hour was happy hour?
I found a nice perch at the back of the bar from where I could slowly imbibe whilst watching the karaoke artists. Some of them were very good. Indeed, as I drank my way through my stock of beers, they just got better and better.
Next morning, I amazingly managed to rise early again to be collected by another bus. This was to take me to a shallow-draft boat for a narrated tour of the Honey Island swamps. These wetlands are populated by a wide variety of wildlife, but most people had come to have a close encounter with the alligators. We were not disappointed. Apparently, alligators are partial to marshmallows and sausages. The experienced guide to took full advantage of this to get them close to the boat and even jump out of the water right alongside us. We were advised not to grip the side rail of the boat in case our fingers were mistaken for sausages!
The bus dropped me back at the French Quarter. I decided to have lunch on the steamship Nachez, which was shortly about to cast off from its dock near Jackson Square. I chose a local traditional meal of crispy bacon with Fritta del Giorno (mix of eggs, cheese and vegetables) with grits (milled corn with sweet cream butter) and creole creamed spinach.
I enjoyed my food, washed down with a beer, as the unique steam-driven vessel paddled its way up and down the Muddy Mississippi. In the background, a live quartet played 'Old Man River'. The ride was really smooth, with none of the vibration so familiar on a cross-channel ferry. The weather was beautiful again. I was starting to get into the swing of living in the Big Easy.
Suitably chilled, I made my way back to the hostel via the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. This sports arena building is amazing and there is a vague link with Southampton, UK, since the primary tenant at the sports arena is the (New Orleans) Saints (American) football team.
