Day 9 - New Orleans, LA (Day 2)

What a great day!  The sun is out, there's a light breeze and we have a better view of our campsite by the canal.

Pontchartrain Landing

Site #19

We took the campground shuttle to the French Quarter.  The streets were pretty quiet when we arrived at 10:30.  

Corner of Burgundy St. & Toulouse St.
(the shuttle dropped us here)

Dauphine St. & Toulouse St.

That changed quickly ... this turned out to be French Quarter Festival weekend!  More than 800 free musical performances will be presented over 4 days.

Looking down Toulouse St.
toward the Mississippi River

Waiting for the parade on Bourbon St,

And here it comes!

Cafe Du Monde was on our "must go there" list.  We skipped breakfast, so beignets sounded very good by 11:15.  The place was packed.  There were long lines at the carry-out and table seating entrances.  This was a novelty stop.  Beignets are tasty, the powdered sugar makes a mess, and the coffee was good.

It's not fancy

But, it's fun

River's Edge Restaurant
is across from Cafe Du Monde

Next, we headed off on a 2 hour narrated bus tour of the city.  It's impossible to share everything we learned here.  A few highlights ...

The Super Dome is impressive

New Orleans has many modern buildings

Many older structures, too

Mardi Gras floats are constructed at
Mardi Gras World next to the Convention Center

Dick studies where to get
off the sightseeing bus

St. Louis Cemetery

We stopped at Mother's Restaurant ... another "must go there" stop.  Carol had a red beans, rice and ham plate.  Dick had the famous FERDI special (original Po' Boy sandwich).  The meals were unusual and delicious!

One of the few times there
was no line out the door

We met some very helpful strangers and saw some strange sights.  One thing is certain ... these folks love their city and really like to party.

This man saw us studying the city map and
offered directions and recommendations.

The festival brought a huge crowd, a parade, costumes, street performers, an art show, and lots of music from 19 different stages.

The Silver Mime

The Gold Mime

A huge art display circled
Jackson Square

We listened to hours of music.  Some even sounded like the jazz we expected.

Borderland Dixie Jazz Band (from Austria)
was our hands-down favorite

We left for home at 8pm and will return tomorrow.

Day 8 - New Orleans, LA (Day 1)

We only traveled 95 miles today, but it was a tough go from the beginning.

A nasty thunderstorm with high winds was to have come through last night.  It rained a little bit, but nothing severe.  Dark, low clouds greeted us when we woke up.  

We decided to hitch-up before the weather changed.  We almost made it.  The rain was coming down pretty hard when we jumped in the car.  Little did we know how bad it would get.

We stopped at Cash's Diner (a truck stop just down the road) for breakfast and to wait out the downpour.  It was lighter and the rain had slowed when we left.

We took I-10E to New Orleans and I-610E into the business district.  The rain increased to a torrential downpour as we approached Lake Pontchartrain.  Clouds (or fog) hung low over the lake and interstate traffic slowed from 70 to 35 mph.  The heavy rain and wind continued until we got within 3 miles of the campground.  Water stood 3-5" deep on many of the streets.  Thanks to many courteous drivers, nothing bad happened during lane changes.

Pontchartrain Landing campground and marina is located in the middle of an industrial area, right on the Industrial/Navigation Canal.  The views as we approached the area were discouraging.  The campground, however, is quite new and has many amenities.  Carol got us into a premier site for $35/night (normally $61/night).  Our site (#19) is right on the canal.  Large power boats and sail boats are docked nearby.

Pontchartrain Landing

Intermittent showers continued through the afternoon and the temperature continued to drop.  It was 64°F with wind gusts up to 20 mph at 5pm.  

The clouds gave way to sun as we headed to Landry's Seafood Restaurant on Lake Pontchartrain for dinner.  Dick's fried fish and shrimp dinner was light and delicious.  Carol's salmon dinner was very different and very good.  The key lime pie was pretty good, too.  Our server (April) was exceptional.  Thanks to Fred & Ann for the recommendation!

We head downtown and to the French Quarter tomorrow.

Day 7 - Port Allen, LA

We drove 188 miles today.  Most was on US-61S from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge, but it took a while to get out of Vicksburg.  We spent nearly 3 hours touring the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Park Tour
We started the 16-mile tour at the visitor center.  They presented a great audio-visual program that explained the campaign and siege of Vicksburg.  The driving tour took us along the Union lines, then along Confederate lines.

President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key".  He believed "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket".  It's sobering to think this Civil War campaign alone took more than 20,000 lives.

The tour route begins at the Memorial Arch

The tour takes us along the battle lines

The Union's Battery De Golyer position
hammered the Confederate Great Redoubt

Battery De Golyer cannons marked for painting

Memorials of all sizes and shapes line the route

Shirley House is the only surviving wartime
structure in the park

Illinois Memorial

Battlefield from the Illinois Memorial
(white building is the Surrender Interview Site)

Thayer's Approach
Union troops stormed up this hill, but were
stopped by geography and enemy fire

Battery Selfridge
Consisted entirely of naval cannon
and was manned by sailors

Vicksburg National Cemetery
(only Union soldiers are buried here)

The U.S.S. Cairo Museum
The Cairo was raised 102 years (to the day) after it was sunk.  Thousands of artifacts were recovered, restored and are on display here.

U.S.S. Cairo

Stick 'em up!

View from Fort Hill
This Confederate fort anchored the northern flank.
No Union attack was ever made against it.

Memorials grace the Confederate lines also.

Confederate soldiers are buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery ... located to the right of the scene above.

Fort Garrott
Union soldiers got so close they could talk
to the Confederate soldiers here

The drive south was uneventful.  

We arrived at the Cajun Country Campground by a little after 7 and finished setting-up before dark.  We're a few miles west of Baton Rouge.

Day 6 - Vicksburg, MS

A thunderstorm came through very early this morning.  No rain, just thunder and lightening.  A short, light rain came at about 6am.  It was overcast when we woke up, but cleared to partly sunny by noon.

We got back on the road late (11:15am) and returned to "The Trace" with one goal ... to visit the Cypress Swamp at milepost 122.  We visited The Everglades in 2011 with expectations of seeing cypress swamps teeming with alligators.  Unfortunately, this childhood fantasy didn't come true then.  We did see the Cypress Swamp today!  

Cypress Swamp Facts

Cypress Swamp Scenes

Hmm, I still don't see any alligators!

We've traveled 350 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway in the past 3 days.  It's been a peaceful treat.  We exited the parkway today and headed west on I-20 at Jackson, MS.

Just another best view and memory of "The Trace"

Today's drive ended after 146 miles.  We're camped at Magnolia RV Park Resort in Vicksburg.  The campground is OK, but really doesn't live up to being a resort.

The temperature has reached the mid-80s and the humidity is higher than we've gotten used to.    A 15-20 mph breeze improves the comfort level.