Please note: This is the standard version of this trip log. There is also an alternate version with additional descriptions of the pictures, for all our blind and visually impaired friends. If you want that version, you can access it here.
I love New Orleans. It's a wonderful place for anyone who loves good music and good food as much as I do. This trip was my fourth visit to New Orleans. In the spring of 1974, and again in the summer of 1975, I passed through while travelling around the country with friends, and then Terry and I spent nine days there in 2001 (if you're interested, you can read about that trip here). This log will cover much of the same material as the 2001 log, but this one, I hope, will have better pictures - mostly due to improvements in picture taking technology. (NOT because of any improvement in my photography skills!)
This time, we were accompanied by our friends Lucia (from England) and Esmond (from Ireland), who both love American music. We visited Nashville with them last year (you can read about that trip here), where they heard country/western music. They then said they wanted to go to New Orleans to hear that other uniquely American invention, jazz.
As always, you'll see this symbol scattered throughout: (w). Those symbols are links to Wikipedia articles giving more in depth information about places we went and things we saw, for those who are interested. To start off, here's the Wikipedia article about New Orleans: (w)
The musical theme of the trip was established right from the start, as I spotted this gentlemen while waiting for our flight:
I was puzzled about the instrument he was playing. It was too small to be a guitar, and too large to be a ukuklele. I went over and asked him about it, and it turned out to be a baritone ukuklele.
We got to New Orleans and caught a Lyft ride to our hotel:
Our flight came in earlier than Lucia and Esmond's, so while we waited, we walked to a nearby restaurant/bar and had dinner and drinks, and then went back to the hotel. Esmond and Lucia arrived around 10:00, and Lucia and Terry and I went back to the same bar for some more drinks. It was a late night.
Here's a map of New Orleans and the surrounding area:
...and a closeup map of the area where we spent most of our time:
The area outlined in red is what's known as the French Quarter. This is where we spent most of our time. I'll have more to say about that later.
The traffic circle hightlighted in red shows the location of our hotel. In the middle of the circle is this monument:
Google Maps identifies the circle as Tivoli Circle, and the monument as Harmony Circle. But I was interested to notice that the map in the Lyft app identifed the circle as Lee Circle, and the monument as the Robert E. Lee Monument (w). I investigated, and sure enough, there used to be a statue of General Lee on top of that monument, but it was removed in 2017.
Across the street from the hotel was this tree:
...and I was amused to notice all the "leftovers" from Mardi Gras, which had just been a few weeks earlier. More about Mardi Gras a little later.
A block away from the hotel was The National WWII Museum. This apparently is a major New Orleans attraction, and several people recommended it to us. But I'm not big on war museums, and we had just recently visited the Imperial War Museum when we were in London, so we passed. But I did notice that there was an Anne Frank (w) statue outside the museum, so one day I walked over to take a look:
Next to Anne's statue is another sculpture that I should have taken a picture of, but didn't. I found this image on the Internet:
It depicts a group of WWII fighter pilots at a mission briefing. The figures at the right, in a lighter color, represent the sprits of men who had died on earlier missions. The empty space on the bench represents the sculptor, who was himself a pilot, and one of only two of his squad who survived. You can read more about this sculpture at lestweforgetsculpture.org.
Reading about the sculpture and its meaning brought tears to my eyes. I stood there for a while, contemplating the peculiar insanity of the human race, that compels us to go and kill each other in large numbers... and celebrate it. End of editorial.
One day, while we were on our way to wherever we were going that day, we passed this mural:
I was in a Lyft ride at the time, so that was the best picture I could get. Here's a better picture I found online:
Yes, that's Louis Armstrong, New Orleans' favorite son.
And that's it for the introductory material. Click here to begin the trip log.