Sunday, our last day in New Orleans, started meeting
new friends at another super breakfast courtesy of Kevin, “House of the RisingSun.” (Awesome Sunday breakfast consisted of juice, world’s best fruit salad,
fresh croissants, and coffee or tea.) Our new friends, Dianne and Stewart, are
from Scotland.
Dianne and Stewart were in New Orleans for their
daughter’s college golf-tournament sessions, which got cancelled due to the
first rainy day we had in New Orleans. We were sorry about that, but glad they
could join us for some fun before they met up with their daughter. There was
heavy fog this morning, but the ferry still ran and took us across the
Mississippi from Algiers to the bottom of Canal Street. We then took the
streetcar and walked to the French Market. Who do you think was the only one to
buy something in the French Market? (If you guessed that was I, Marilyn, you
are RIGHT! Of course, in Dianne’s defense, she DID have a whole week ahead of
her to shop!)
We then walked in the rain to Jackson Square to visit
St. Louis Cathedral. This beautiful, old cathedral was impressive! In distinct
contrast to the serious history of the cathedral, we walked out the door to the
street-performance of a young magician. Fun!
Next we were off to the French Quarter to the Louisiana
State Museum and the “Katrina” exhibit. Wow! The recurring theme: How could
this disaster happen in the United States? Why, oh, why in this great country
did it take SO LONG to respond and begin to rescue the Americans struggling and
dying in Katrina? There were very thought-provoking video testimonies from
survivors, artifacts, etc. that made us question and reflect.
Now the rain started to really come down, yet that does
NOT stop the parades in New Orleans, so we could not let it us stop from
watching and participating. We saw two more awesome parades, (Krewe of
Carrollton, “Two by Two”), and caught more beads!
Then Diane and Stewart left us to join their daughter.
(Diane and Stewart, we LOVED our conversations with you and enjoyed our short
time together!) Ladd and I headed to “Johnny’s Po Boy” for lunch.
Unfortunately, they were out of their oyster Po Boy, so Ladd had a shrimp Po
Boy and a cup of Gumbo. I had a blackened chicken Po Boy. (Yikes, we have been
eating a lot! The only “saving grace” is all the walking we’ve been doing!)
After our short respite, we headed to another fantastic
historic church: Our Lady of Guadalupe. This small church with its old,
beautiful statues, stained-glass windows, shrine with Our Lady of Guadalupe
depicted in a cave surrounded by many, many “Thank you” plaques, etc. was awe
inspiring. (Ladd took the pictures and I said some prayers and lighted candles
for my parents, Ladd’s mother, and our son, Dean.)
Exhausted, we headed a little early to the ferry to
return to our B & B. A “surprise” greeted us at the ferry station:
CLOSED…too early! We asked what was going on, and the woman at the ticket booth
really didn’t know, but told us not only was the ferry closed down, but the
boat tours were cancelled, too. (We later heard on the radio that an oil spill
had been the cause. Another: when will we learn?) Plan B: we took a cab back to
the B & B, put our gear in our room, said our good-byes to our awesome
hosts, Wendy and Kevin, and headed down to our favorite “local” bar/restaurant,
“Dry Dock”, and with a night cap and “Ragin’-Cajun Nachos” bid a fond farewell
to New Orleans!
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