I woke this morning hoping and praying that the daylight would shed a new light on this city I found my family and I in. I walked out of our very nice hotel room and onto a balcony at the end of the hallway which overlooks Jackson sq. I was very pleasantly surprised. I suddenly felt safe again. So we ventured down for our usually free breakfast and found that a continental here meant a croissant juice and coffee. This was a bit much even for cheap old me! Cafe Du Mond was first on our tour sights anyway so off we went in search of the beignets that had mad a 25 year impression on my mother in law! I found myself really enjoying the scenery on our stroll past Jackson square and the St. Louis Cathedral. The architecture, the stores, and the people were all so interesting. I was now seeing what Mema had been talking about. Although it had been 25 years since she was here, New Orleans had left its mark. I now understand why. In all of our travels I have never seen a city quite like this one. We enjoyed our beignets, and went onto our next tour stop. We walked along the waterfront down to the Aligers ferry headed for Mardi Gras World. Did I mention that the mercury was 90 and the humidity at least 90%? We boarded the ferry and crossed the Mississippi. When we arrived we followed the signs to our location. We stopped into a local pub for some bottled water and to make sure we were on the right track. What do you think she told us? "Oh that place has moved across the river, you will need to take the ferry to the other side and a bus will run you out to it! Completely irritated we headed back to the ferry and again crossed the river in search of Mardi Gas knowledge! Upon arriving at MGW we were welcomed by huge floats such a dragons and King Kong, Mermaids and crocodiles. It was a huge fantasy world filled with enormous amounts of imagination, color, and culture. We got to dress up, watch a film covering the history of Mardi Gras, and take a tour which illustrated the construction of the floats. The kids loved it! I loved it! Its a must see in New Orleans. Next on our tour was the St. Charles street car. The experience was not quite the level of excitement that I had hoped for. We road out, saw some really nice old homes, and rode back. OH I almost forgot two things: 1st about half way through our ride, the street car driver stopped the car, got off and went into the subway shop about 7-8 mins later she returned and started off again, all without saying a word. The second point of interest was when the car in front of us broke down and we along with 4 other cars got to hang out on the line for a good long time after we had already been on the car for over an hour! FUN!! FUN!! When we finally got off the car it was about 5:00 and we were headed down Bourbon St. I had heard the rumors but I must say that until you have experienced it there truly arent words to describe it. I can now say that I have seen it all and in only three blocks. I could not get my children off the street fast enough. From there we went on a great carriage ride throughout the French quarter. Both of the kids got to drive which they loved. We ended our day with a wonderful Italian dinner at Irene's.
