Who Dat? The Big Easy! (Day 18)

Who Dat? The Big Easy!

I never sleep well on trains. If you're planning on traveling the country by train, or become a hobo or one of the boxcar children, account for the fact that you won't sleep well because trains just aren't a place where you can get comfortable. Heading to New Orleans was no exception and I woke up with not only aching and stiff joints, but to the sounds of babies crying, people talking, and the sun in my face through the window. Our scenery from San Antonio to New Orleans wasn't as beautiful as the Rockies or other rolling hills we got accustomed to in our first few train rides but the long ride did allow Dad and I to finish yet another Star Wars movie (we've been trying to complete all six on our trip, kind of just a bonus goal on the side) and by the time you get through a solid 12-15 hours cooped up on a train, you're dying for a shower too. So that's what we did as soon as we made it to our hotel in New Orleans, all cleaned up and stretched out a bit until we were in good enough shape to go exploring.

It was very humid down on the coast, so although we weren't in the 100+ degree heat we've seen before on the trip, it sure felt hot as soon as you left the building. However, as Kelsey has expressed before we have become used to long walks, drives, and covering quite a lot of mileage on this trip and so we trekked from our hotel all the way down the river front of New Orleans and down to a Margaritaville located in the French Quarter. If you're not super familiar with our family whatsoever, we're a bit of Jimmy Buffett fanatics and/or "parrotheads," so this stop was crucial on our family vacation and was still unique to the area too. I got an order of Gator Bites (yes, fried alligator) which were delicious, and as I've heard, do in fact taste like chicken. After dinner we walked back along the Mississippi and enjoyed a lovely and clear evening. A little evening shower during our dinner cleared up the humidity and made for a lovely cool night to spend in New Orleans. We rode a street car/trolley from the downtown area all the way past the residential and greater New Orleans area to pass some time and even got to see a bit of Loyola and Tulane Universities while we were at it too. Unexpected detours always seem to bring up something interesting for us, and our trolley ride was actually pretty cool being that it was totally different than the street cars from San Francisco. In fact, when the street cars are at the end of the line in San Fran, the driver gets out and places the car on a giant circular revolving platform so that the car can be turned around and head back down the street. However, in New Orleans, the driver has steering set up on both ends of the car, and merely switches sides of the car and then walks down the aisle and actually reverses the direction of all the seats so that the car can travel the opposite route. Quite a nifty trick.

Afterward, we checked out the famous Bourbon Street and watched all the drunk people stumble from bar to bar on even a weeknight. I made the family stop in the local "Howl at the Moon" which is a piano bar with great live music and although it was a slow night, the dueling piano gig is always a fun atmosphere. After spending some time exploring the streets we were all pretty exhausted from our traveling and decided to call it a night. Tomorrow's job was to wrap up New Orleans and get back on our last train ride of the trip as we headed toward Memphis, Tennessee! Meet you there!

~Josh