May 12th - New Orleans

We had early cafe au lait and beignet at Cafe du Monde. Angie was fascinated by St. Peter's Cathedral and took a lot of great pictures. We strolled the Riverfront, which was quite hot in early morning direct sunlight. So we sought a shady refuge, WiFi and water for the dogs. We had a delicious Greek omelet at a sidewalk cafe and rehydrated the animals before returning to the RV Park, where we swam in the pool and worked on the blog while doing laundry.

The pool was small but at a perfect temperature to refresh ourselves. This was, by far, the best RV Resort we have stayed in. Great facilities, great location. We got a lot of steps in, walking back and forth from the French Quarter.

We had an early dinner at the rooftop restaurant at Mambos. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, so we carried a doggie bag to the early show at Preservation Hall. What a unique experience! A five-piece band played for a crowd of 80 in a tiny unairconditioned room with bench seating and standing room. Twenty people had to stand during the 60-minute show. We heard great music and stories. The pianist was the best Hank had ever seen. All the solos were impressive.

Bourbon Street was quite a bit more crowded and the revelers were more wild. Quite a bit of Twerking going on. Many more buskers, too, offering $20 photos with large pythons, perfoming percussion performances and selling shots.

We saw a really good country band fronted by Tony Ray Thompson, a talented guitarist with a great, deep voice. They had a good fiddle player, too. The Bourbon O club had a unique jazz performance with a saxophone-playing front man who was so engaging and entertaining, he could have been a ring leader at a circus. They also featured an adorable middle-aged asian woman who occassionally danced solo on the stage, showing off flapper and ballet moves. At one point, the front man and the asian woman did some impressive West Coast Swing dancing together. Really fun. Angie loves the Pims Cup drinks they make there, too.

There was a dramatic lightning an thunderstorm last night. We got to enjoy the dramatic build-up on our walk home. We comfortable inside our trailer when the deluge hit.

Two nights on Bourbon Street was plenty for us. After a while, the smell of garbage, the commercialism and the signs of overindulgence get to be a bit much. The diversity of the people on the street was delightful and fitting with the Cajun and Creole past of this region. Today, we are off to the gulf coast of Florida. Angie is excited for the dogs to  be able to swim in the ocean for the first time on this trip.