New Orleans

We arrived in New Orleans last Monday actually staying in Covington, LA. Covington is about an hour north of New Orleans and the ride into the city was interesting. We had to cross the longest bridge in the USA--a 24 mile bridge that crosses Lake Pontachaine. Lake Pontachaine was the lake that flooded New Orleans when the levees broke during Katrina. We started out walking the french quarter and I must say, I have never seen so many characters in one place!! The archetecture is beautiful lots of iron work. We had drinks at Jimmy Buffets and Jay ordered alligator, which he and the others seemed to like. There are street musicians all over the city and they are very entertaining. I had to have beignets, so we went to the most famous coffee and beignet shop in New Orleans. Delicious!! Cafe O'lea too. That's all they serve. We later had drinks at Pat O'Briens in an out door courtyard. Very nice. We drove back to the campground and I was concerned as to how Gigi was doing. This was the first time we left her for any length of time, but she was fine. The next day, Wednesay, it was back to New Orleans with the intention of taking a Grayline tour of the city. We had picked up a brouchre saying they had a tour leaving at 11:30 am. False Advertising!!! No tour until 2:00! We decided to take a buggy tour, which instead of horse drawn, they are pulled by mules! The law in the City of New Orleans says they must use mules because they are stronger than horses and can tolerate the heat of the city better. We learned a lot of history. The driver told us of free ferry across the Mississippi river so all but Jay decided to walk to the ferry. Long walk for a short ride. The market place on the river was great and bought a sweat shirt. A local restaurant was recommended and we went there and the line was out on the street. Jay was determined to try a po-boy. He loved it. I guess it's quite famous having pictures of a lot of famous people on the walls. We saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's home and Nickolas Cage's home too. I highly recommend seeing New Orleans if you get the chance. We are now in Beaumont, Texas for one night and tomorrow we go on to Corpus Christi.