Day 7 part 3 Mississippi Beach

After leaving New Orleans, our next destination was Florida.  We drove the coastline through Mississippi and Alabama.  As the sun was setting, we came upon Long Beach in Mississippi that was gorgeous.  I had Don pull over so we could walk on a nice, clean, white sand beach.  None of the beaches in Louisiana were nice and clean.  So this was a nice surprise.  We only spent about 10 minutes here but I thought the sunset was pretty so I snapped a few pictures.  This was the only thing we did in Mississippi.

We continued to drive until we got to Mobile, Alabama.  We spent the night in a hotel and headed for Florida the next morning.  So on Day 7, we left New Iberia, Louisiana, stopped in New Orleans for a few hours, then drove across Mississippi and into Alabama. 

Next up: Mobile, Alabama.  The USS Arizona

Day 7 part 2 New Orleans

 

 

Walking through the Riverwalk mall. 

The girls ate pizza, while Don and I opted for more traditional New Orleans food. 

Watching them make fudge.  They had a little song and dance routine that was very entertaining.

Sarabeth has wanted a VW bus forever and she found THE ONE in New Orleans.  I would even drive this one.

Outside the Riverwalk.  We are on the Mississippi River.  Can you see the cruise ship in the background?

Walking through the new New Orleans.  Trying to find the old.

And we found it.  The French Quarter. 

 

Bourbon Street.

Civil War money  

Old town meets new town

The scary street clown.  AKA homeless bum trying to get drug money. There were a lot of these on Bourbon Street.

     

I’d like to go back and check it out more.  We were only there for a few hours that day.  It wasn’t a planned destination.  We were driving through and decided we had to stop and check it out.  I’d love to visit the Garden District and see some of the old cemeteries.  We’ll have to plan another trip.

Green Day

*So my family recently drove to Denver to see Green Day in concert. Although they came out when I was much younger, I was never a fan. I honestly didn't like any of their music. And I thought they looked and acted like a bunch of freaks. I remember my niece and nephew loved them. They were just young and dumb (ha ha). But in the last year, my 15 year old daughter has grown to LOVE Green Day. And because of her, my two other daughters, ages 10 and 11, also have grown to love Green Day. And because I hear their music EVERY (no joke) day, either on the IPods or my daughter playing her guitar, I also have grown to love them. No, they are not my favorite band. And no, I don't like all of their music. I hate their politics. And I hate that they strongly promote marijuana. They did come up with their name "Green Day" because of it. But truthfully, they really are very talented. I know this because of their concert.
Denver was the closest venue to Idaho on this concert tour. So we took a family trip to see them. The girls all bought their own tickets with their report card money. That was the deal if they wanted to go. And they all readily agreed. We bought the tickets in April. The concert was last weekend. And it was totally worth the wait and the drive. I have been to a lot of concerts over the years. But this one bested any of them. I was extremely impressed. They were very entertaining. They involved the crowd during the entire 3 hour (yes, 3 hours!!!!) concert. I can't tell you how many people they pulled up on stage with them. Young and old. Yes, there were A LOT of people there who were older than me. And a lot of little kids too. They pulled 3 people on stage to sing one of their songs. The first two didn't know the words, even though they swore they did, and were terrible. Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer) gave the third girl the guitar off his back because she was the best and knew the words without help from him. And it was her birthday. It was awesome!

Green Day had a great time performing and playing with the crowd. And they sang songs off of all of their albums. They also did a medley of cover songs. Ozzy Osbourne, ACDC, The Beatles, etc. That proved that they can play and sing any genre of music. A lot of musicians can't. Each member, including the background musicians/singers, took turns singing a piece of a song while Billie Joe played their instrument. That was impressive. They had the crowd on their feet and in the palm of their hands the entire 3 hours. Green Day genuinely LOVES what they do and they love their fans. That is what made this the best concert I have ever been to. My daughter told me I am now officially cool. That touched my heartstrings. I would definitely go to another one. GREEN DAY ROCKS!!! I'm just sayin.................

a beautiful bride, a handsome groom, family and friends and lots of love

Road Trip Day 7 – New Orleans, Louisiana

By day 7 of our road trip, we had traveled approximately 2400 miles.  and had driven through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana.  After spending 3 days in New Iberia, Louisiana, we headed East.  On our way we stopped in New Orleans.  We didn’t have any plans and we had no idea what to do there so we just found a spot to park at Riverwalk Marketplace and started walking.  Guess where we ended up.  (The pictures are NOT in any particular order. )

We have arrived! The French Quarter. Taking up a 6 by 13 block area, the French Quarter is the oldest (1722) French Colonial and Spanish settlement that exists in the United States.

Bourbon Street, lined with bars, jazz clubs, hotels, restaurants, "gentlemen's clubs" (strip clubs) and boutiques is the best known party street in New Orleans.

The street is closed to vehicle traffic in the evening when it becomes a pedestrian mall and an extension of the parties taking place in most of the bars and music halls which are shoulder to shoulder in the most visited blocks.

I would have loved to have had a carriage ride thru the Garden District.  If we ever venture that way again, I will definitely do that!  This was taken by Jackson Square.   The Mississippi river.

Inside Riverwalk Marketplace.  We checked out some shops before heading out into the wild unknown.   A steamboat on the Mississippi. Sarabeth has always wanted and VW bus and when we found this, she was in heaven.  I would even drive this around.  Isn’t it adorable?  

For such a historical treasure, we were surprised at how dirty and unkempt the French Quarter was.  It was really disappointing.  We heard from friends that after Hurricane Katrina, it went downhill and it’s full of bums now. 

   

The balconies in the French Quarter are famous. 

Old town meets new town.  And you can see some of the Bourbon Street balconies (think Mardi Gras). 

 

Standing on Bourbon Street taking a picture of the street sign. 

 

Bourbon Street. You can’t really tell from the picture, but almost every shop was PORN, PORN, PORN!!!!!!!  Click on the photo to make it bigger and you can see more detail.  Notice the guy in black on the left.  He was a human robot.  There were a lot of street performers (a.k.a. bums) on Bourbon Street. 

Standing on Bourbon street, not really knowing what to do.  We wanted to check it out, but Porn and kids don’t really go together. 

  This (bum) street performer scared Emily.  See the look on her face? LOL.  She is terrified of clowns.  He was very dirty, his teeth were rotten, he reeked of alcohol and I’m sure he was on some kind of drugs.  And how about that creepy guy behind us.  Welcome to Bourbon Street.

This gate looked really old so I wanted a picture of it.  It was a pathway between two buildings that led to more buildings behind.  Not sure what it was exactly, but I thought it was cool. 

  Part of Jackson Square.

The iron fence surrounding Jackson Square, its formal gardens, walkways and benches can be largely credited to the Baroness Micaela Almonaster de Pontalba, who lobbied for and financed these improvements after the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.

The Baroness built the Upper and Lower Pontalba apartment buildings on the square in 1848. The Pontalba family sold the Lower Pontalba building in 1921 and it was given to the state museum in 1927.

 

Andrew Jackson

Mississippi River

On the Moonwalk. The Moonwalk — named for former Mayor Moon Landrieu — is on the Mississippi River side of Artillery Park. Sit on the steps and dangle your feet in the muddy Mississippi or watch the steamboats, ocean going barges and other river traffic float by.

Next post…..more New Orleans photos.