Wade, Robyn and Dan Do New Orleans

(If these pictures appear sideways or otherwise distorted, try reloading the page.)

Wade and Robyn spent the week of June 7th to 13th 1998 with their friend Dan in New Orleans.  They began preparing for the trip by lying out in the sun attempting to tan. It didn't really work.


The heart of New Orleans may be the French Quarter, but the soul of the city has to be the Mississippi river.  Although there is still a huge amount of industrial use of the river (a tour guide said it's the second busiest port in the United States), it's also a popular tourist attraction.  There's a large mall, Riverwalk, on the shore of the river.  It's a nice place for a mall, except for the occasional freighter that crashes into it.

Just down river from the mall, we came across the Tomato Festival.  Yes, New Orleans has a Tomato Festival, and (even harder to believe) it was a lot of fun.  On the last day of our trip a New Orleans native explained to me why a city would have a Tomato Festival, and how it could possibly be fun.  Basically, New Orleans residents take their partying very seriously.  They require at least one big party per week, and they make sure that those parties are a lot of fun.  However, I think there's an unwritten rule that says you can't have a party in New Orleans without an excuse, hence the festivals.  I wouldn't be surprised to discover that they have a Pocket Lint Festival (March 23rd - 30th), and that it is a huge amount of fun.
 
Robyn threatening Dan with a Crawfish at the Tomato Festival. 

The Tomato Festival featured lots of good food, street performers, marching bands, and beer. This is where be began to notice that people are allowed to wander around outside with open containers of beer in their hands.
 

 

Here are some photos of the Garden District, one of the oldest areas of New Orleans, and where all the people who are better than we are build their homes.

We spent a few hours touring the swamps of Louisiana.  I took some good photos of alligators, and some photos of an egret/heron and turtles that you'll have to take my word on.  We learned that swimming is not an important skill in that area, because the swamps are rarely more than 3 feet deep, and the river flows so fast that being a good swimmer isn't going to help you much.

We also visited the Audubon Zoo, and a lot of other places, but I usually forgot to take photos, so I can't show them to you.
 


Back to the Wade's page.