New Orleans trip - Post 1

This was coming in to downtown New Orleans and we were headed to the French Quarters. New Orleans is interesting and some place that everyone should go once in their life, kind of like NYC, especially in the French Quarters.

Loved looking at the old and new designs. They certainly have done a lot of rebuilding since Katrina and there is still more to do which you will see in some of those photos tomorrow.

River Walk

Aquarium

Trying to squeeze a full size truck on the roads in the French Quarter. Yep, it is "that" narrow. A Smart Car or a Mini Cooper would do just fine here. Parking is at a premium, hard to find, and mucho money to pay for. If you live down here you basically park on the street. There are no yards and you could literally sit by your window and chat with your neighbor. Wonder where kids play and dogs pee?

Another shot of the street and how close the houses are.

Many outside areas are like this. I thought this was so pretty.

These housesaresoclose that I am not sure two people side by side could walk in between and yet they have fences and either these wrought iron spike type posts on top or barb wire...no kidding.

Lots and lots of homes have these shutters over windows and doors. See how close the homes are to the street.

If you have ever been to Atlanta there is an area similar to this called Spaghetti Junction and you find this all over New Orleans. It can be intimidating. Driving is different. There are many many boulevards and let's just say that when you see the traffic going one way left and that is the way you want to go and you go and make that turn...um...not suppose to. You are to go straight and around the block and then get on the street going left. We made an oops and meet one of New Orleans men in blue. He was nice enough to give us a warning. Parking like I said is difficult and the rules there can change in a matter of blocks. I got on a web site to see where we could park in the French Quarters and fines range from $20 to $500 depending on the boo boo you make. So be careful, be very very careful (but there are some Public Parking garages and we managed to find one for $5.00/hour). If you stay in a hotel there, keep your vehicle there and just walk.

Trolley lines on St. Charles St. And yes, they still operate. Pretty cool.

More wild over passes.

The Superdome

We stopped at Home Depot and this was a few rows from us, hubby started laughing and said that was a guard tower in the parking lot. The Superdome was on the other side of the highway there.

Come back tomorrow for Post 2 of New Orleans