Once again we left early to get to our destination in time to enjoy some of the day. We arrived in New Orleans, at the French Quarter RV Resort, at around 12:15 PM. The drive was 177 miles and was entirely on I-55 with the exception of the last 10 miles which were on I-10. The Resort is just off the freeway and we are surprised at how nice this place is for being in the heart of town, next to the French Quarter. Our site is spacious:
and we can see the New Orleans skyline from the campground:
After setting up and getting information at the office, we walked to the French Quarter which was just across the street. We did some research on churches nearby and there were several in the French Quarter. One, St Marks Methodist Church, was not too far from us so we wanted to go there to check it out and see what time the Christmas Eve services were being held. There was a sign outside showing normal service times, but none indicating special services for the holidays. There was a telephone number that we called and we left a message to return the call with the service times. We never received a call back and, regretfully, never made it to a service last night.
Our plan was to walk around some of the French Quarter to get a feel for where everything was located. The unique architecture of the French Quarter makes it a special place. I was here on business about 40 years ago and noticed that everything had aged tremendously (of course) from what I remembered. We walked south to Decatur St which is close to the Mississippi River and where the French Market was located-
All of the streets looked pretty much the same:
but only a few were restricted to pedestrian traffic only. Also along Decatur Street was Jackson Square where the horse and buggy station was located:
and the famous St Louis Cathedral:
As we walked along Decatur Street, we spotted the New Orleans Hard Rock Cafe where we stopped and had dinner (big burgers):
Since we have 2 more days here, we decided to begin walking back to our campground and save the rest for another time. Everything was closing early for Christmas anyway.
The main street with just pedestrian traffic is Royal Street which we crossed as we were walking home:
We will spend more time on this street, along with Bourbon Street:
Today we will relax in the morning and then venture back to the French Quarter later today. There are some other places we talked about visiting while here, such as Brad Pitt's "Make it Right Homes" that he has provided to Hurricane Katrina victims. We also would like to view some of the Water front areas, including where the Industrial Canal Levee broke during Katrina, and perhaps the historic cemeteries and Garden District.
With the exception of a few sun breaks yesterday, we have had no sun since we left Campbellsville, KY on Tuesday. The forecast is for rain again today and we will be glad to see some sunshine again. With today and tomorrow to visit these places, we just hope the weather cooperates for us...
No comments:
Post a Comment