This is the last leg of the journey. Mom finally had a washing machine and washed that darned sweater and they took it pretty easy for most of the day. They did however jump on a trolley and ride up and down Canal St….a main street in Nawlins’ Now these two get happy at the strangest things! Mom was so delighted to get on the trolley for 40 cents…seniors rate. At the end of the line in one direction was a huge Casino and the Mississippi River and another trolley station to the Farmer’s Market. Just walking around, one picked up the flavour of the city. The residents of this city were all so polite and nice. That southern charm made everyone around them feel happy and welcome.

Narrow streets with shops everywhere

There were sex shops mixed in with Voodoo shops….lots of variety.

The only tour they took was a City Tour. The sights were awesome. Nicholas Cage has a lovely house on a quiet street in one of the richer areas. They didn’t see him…so no big deal. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina was still evident in the badly hit areas. Some of the houses had the body count on the outside of the wall by the front door….makes one feel ill…other houses had the high water marks. In other neighbourhoods, the outside of the house had been fixed up in accordance with city bylaws but the people could not afford to renovate the inside.

Devastation beyond words.

They also went to a cemetery. New Orleans is at sea level and some of the city is actually below sea level, so burying in the ground is next to impossible as the coffins would float to the top with a big storm or hurricane. The crypts and mausoleums were unbelievable. There were beautiful crypts, that are well cared for….very expensive. They found out Nicholas Cage has reserved one for when he passes. These crypts could hold masses of people…if you had a friend that didn’t have a place to go in the afterlife…you could have him in your crypt. The plots are dug up after about 10 years and the remains are compacted to a smaller area. So you could hold many.

Crypt

There were rows upon rows of the crypts.

Crypts for rich and poor

At the far end are the less expensive crypts. Anyone who dies and will remain in New Orleans is in one of at least 7 other cemeteries.

The next stop was for a bathroom break but there was also a grocery store there. Mom proceeded to look for southern spices and herbs. Creole spice is about the only spice that was different that she found. The only peculiar item she found was dehydrated green onions. Why? Green onions are cheap, even in winter and easy to grow. Perplexing.

Mom and dad were hungry after their excursion and enjoyed another lovely meal that evening. A separate post will give you a few details on some of the dinners they ate while visiting this extraordinary city..

Off to bed about 10:30pm as tomorrow would be another active day. About 1am the partying started….it was Friday night in Nawlins’ and the partying went on and on…with the music and laughter getting louder by the hour. Finally, all the racket peaked with car horns blasting from 4:30am to after 5am. Needless to say, the pawents were not rarin’ to go come 8;30am. Dad was giving one of his talks about, “a learning lesson” and mom was looking ticked off again. Good idea not to be as close to the action as they were just off Bourbon St.

Here they come for a night of celebration. Notice the necklaces thrown about.

They decided to rent a car for a few days to see some of the outlying areas. Then headed off to Baton Rouge and Livonia. Dad took a hazardous waste course many, many years ago in Livonia, and wanted to see what it looked like after about 30 years. Dad set the GPS and away they went. They only went to the outskirts of Baton Rouge…The GPS would get upset each time they got off of the freeway. They did stop at Hooter’s in Baton Rouge and got me a small Hooter’s duck. Mom says it was to remind me of ducky boobs.

Ducky Boobies!

Mom was amazed with the scenery. They stumbled on a bayou called the Irish Bayou. They just had to have a look much to the GPS’s dismay…it kept saying, “Make a u turn at the next light.”

Raised house.

The majority of houses in the bayou were raised.

Imagine looking in your backyard and seeing an Egret

Getting back on the freeway….this made the GPS happy, they didn’t seem to go too far and there was Livonia.

Livonia’s water tower.

Mom was amazed at the water towers. BC doesn’t have any. We have well water or river/lake water. Is this because Louisiana and most southern states are so flat?

Mom also spied a Magnolia Tree….she had never seen one….only on TV. Amazing, all flower and no foliage. It must get its foliage after the flowers are finished. Like our Japanese Cherry Trees.

Magnolia Tree

On the trip back to New Orleans they crossed the Mississippi River and down one side was refinery upon refinery. Quite a blight to the natural scenery.

Refineries, supplying many jobs but a blight on the landscape.

When they got back to the condo they were tired and not very hungry so ate in the condo. The internet was out due to the construction so they decided this was a sign to go to bed early. They were woken up this Saturday night by party-goers again. This time they were louder and the bass was stronger. They had to take pictures, mirror and plants off the walls and put ornaments on the floor or they just rattled until they hit the ground. The morning’s festivities ended with the fire alarm going off for a half hour around 5:30am. Another unrelaxing nights sleep.

Sunday they took the car back and went to the Farmer’s Market. There was something for everyone. In fact, it was too overwhelming for mom. These two decided to walk about. Stopping first at a pet store where mom finally found Silvervine Catnip and some Silvervine toys for Kali and I. Her and dad hurried over to Marie Laveau’s voodoo shop, Mom was disappointed. She said the voodoo stuff was mass produced junk for tourists, She had promised to get me something but said it wasn’t worth it. After this disappointment they went to the Café Du Monde, suggested by June and Jim Thompson. They had something called bayonets. Mom said they were delicious! They were like fried doughnuts with icing sugar all over them. They both were covered in icing sugar when they left the Café.

Cafe Du Monde

They passed this landmark building each time they came back to the condo.

Mom and dad headed to a Walgreen’s the following day for some stuff to take home to Canada. For instance dental tape….Prince George grocery stores and drugstores have decided not to carry the stuff anymore. Mom…being dainty and all walked into a man…she excused herself and the man shook Bill’s hand heartily saying…..”Your wife came shopping with you. good job….mine just sent me out with a list and said come home when you finish the list!” They laughed and moved on. What an open honest man. They then went to a grocery store called Wynn Dixon and mom asked the deli person for 100 kilograms of Black Forest Ham. The girl got upset and said…,”Kill who?” Then mom got upset because she could not convert it to ounces immediately but figured it out finally. Think fast mom….hehehe.
They raced back to the condo with their goodies.

Monday was another trolley day. They jumped on the St. Charles Ave. trolley and headed for what turned out to be a rather ritzy district.                                                           

They decided to hop out at an Audubon Park. The birds were so relaxed around them and they didn’t beg for food. A lazy afternoon as the weather was turning warm and humid.                                                         

There were two universities that mom and dad saw on their Trolley ride. Loyola University and Tulane University. They sat side by side on St. Charles Ave.

Loyola and Tulane Universities were side by side!

Then it was over to the WW2 museum. They were outside the Louisiana wing of the museum and found bricks formed the sidewalk, red bricks with the name of those Americans that gave their life to assist Britain to keep the Nazi’s away from Britain. There were so many bricks….it made one tear up to think of the families that had been devastated by war.

They decided to end the exploring for the day and headed back to the condo.

Their final day in the big city of Nawlins’ started with packing their suitcases and then they decided to go visit the Civil War Museum so they jumped back on the St. Charles trolley and actually knew where to get off the trolley. The trolleys were neat and clean and younger folk let the older peeps sit down. Very polite….not a case of every kit for her/himself.

Mom said it was almost unbelievable how these very young soldiers fought with poor, ratty clothing and basically next to nil to fight with except their love for the Confederate way of life.

They both left with visions of horrific battles in their minds.

Time for the pawents to leave this wonderful and unique city. They caught a plane to Denver and then to Vancouver and finally to Prince George where I gave mom hell for half an hour for leaving us. Kali would not have anything to do with these two gadabouts. It has been 2 weeks and she is just starting to let mom pet her tummy and is purring when she does.

There you have a pretty good description of what mom and dad were doing for over 2 weeks.

We hoped you enjoyed their travels and had the odd laugh.