And umm... this guy:
The area is beautiful, but also crowded and somewhat filthy. Still, we had a great time looking into shops, watching the life on the streets, and taking the occasional picture.
Of course, we could not leave the French Quarter without taking a stroll down Bourbon Street. Even at 11am the bars and restaurants were full of patrons having a good time.
We then made our way over to the Garden District. The area is much quieter and more residential. It is very reminiscent of other cities we have traveled through, such as Charleston. SC and even Huntsville, AL. with it's old beautiful homes, iron work and gardens.
Lafayette Cemetery is in the heart of the Garden district. It is the oldest public cemetery in the city. New Orleans is known for their cemeteries because of the large crypts. It was unusual and stunning.
Before leaving the city behind, we took some time to ride through the neighborhoods closes to Lake Pontchartrain. It is hard to believe that Katrina hit almost 5 years ago but there are still so many homes left abandoned or in various stages of repair. It made our journey into the city beautifully sad, to encounter so much life and yet so much pain within just a few short minutes of each other;To see the human spirit in all its stages in one brief morning.
We were amazed to see the number of apartment complexes and full neighborhood blocks now reduced to rubble. Entire shopping complexes, office buildings, and even this movie theater were left abandoned.
Leaving New Orleans, we decided to follow the coast. We drove down a small access road to the Irish Bayou. It appears this area was a small fishing village which was decimated by Katrina's blow. There are several people still trying to work out of the area, many of them living in campers and RV's while there homes are being reconstructed. There are several markers to what use to be at Irish Bayou. Several pilings still mark where piers once stood and bits of boats, boat houses and foundations can still be seen through the overgrowth.
Irish Bayou also has a castle... we're not sure what is up with that.
Moving along the gulf, we passed out of Louisiana and back into Mississippi. The rain we had been watching on the radar finally caught up with us, but not before we had the chance to run out on the beach and introduce JD to sand for the first time.
It was here again that we began to notice the number of open lots and pilings. A reminder that the entire gulf has felt the impact of hurricane season.
The rest of the evening was spend trying to stay ahead of the storm. We chose to camp at Davis Bayou which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The clouds broke just long enough to throw dinner on the camp stove. Tonight? Chipotle glazed Spam (that's right, we eat it at least one time each trip) with a side of mac n' cheese and green beans. It was surprising good.
Chased into the truck due to the passing thunderstorms we had to call it an early night. Hopefully we find a break in the weather soon.
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