July 2: Raining, raining, raining

Tuesday:  Today we woke up to rain, we drove to rain, and we visited the Gateway Arch in the rain!  Other than the Gateway Arch, all we did was drive!  The Gateway Arch was fun.  Neither Randy or I have ever visited it, so it was fun to see and go up inside to the top on little trams.  Yesterday, we traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennesee, Arkansas, and part of Missouri.  Today, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota to get home around 10:30 at night.  I had to go out and look at my garden with the flashlight--I know kind of crazy and obsessive!  The plants all exploded!!  Wow, they got a lot of rain here!  The weather is fantastic, cool and low humidity!!  This is the summer weather we all dream of!!

This is our pod for five that we sat in to ride up in the arch to the top.  Very cozy!

Here we are inside!

At the very top!

Views from the tiny windows:

The river

The ball park

An important building in green space

Now for just some weird perspectives of the arch:

This is of the arch from one of the windows in the top--very tricky!

Wednesday Update:  Running errands today, we saw so many trees in our neighborhood (even on all of the blocks around us, down and uprooted--mature trees!  And piles of branches everwhere!  Wow, that storm was a monster.  Every block but ours in our entire neighborhood seemed to have major tree damage.  Knowing that we lost power for several days, last night we immediately threw out some meat from the freezer and some cream cheese and salad dressings from the refrigerator.  No mold, funky smells, or anything other surprises were awaiting us, thank goodness.   Simba, our kitty, was already here.  He spent much of the night wanting to be near us but a bit aloof.  Today is better.  I took Anneliese to the doctor this morning, swimmers ear, but he couldn't see the inner ear to decide if that was infected as well.  Strong antibiotics, ear drops, and up to 4 advil if she needs to for pain.  We have a much happier girl working hard on her health homework.  And the weather is sunny, low humidity, and absolutely perfect!  A perfect summer day!  Soon I need to go out with a machete to attack the gardens.  

traveling, traveling, traveling

Today we began our two days to get back home.  No photos, because it was pretty boring!  All we saw were rest areas, gas stations, McDonalds, and our hotel about an hour south of St. Louis.  We also stopped at a Walgreens to buy Advil for Anneliese.  She isn't any better (she's miserable), despite taking Sudafed, Advil, and Allegra, and using warm compresses.  We will get back late tomorrow, so Wednesday morning I will need to call the pediatrician's office for a same-day appointment.  :(    Poor girl.

We will see the St. Louis arch tomorrow, hopefully go up in it if time allows (we have another 10 hour driving day ahead of us).  Then home sweet home where our kitty will be waiting for us (the cat sitter is dropping him off during the day).  We were assured by neighbors that we contacted that our house was not crushed by a fallen tree in the storm that hit south Minneapolis, so all should be well.

June 30: Down in the bayou

Sunday:  Today we woke up and scheduled the swamp tour we decided on last night.  We were able to get in the 12:00 tour.  We also found out the location of a Walgreens clinic nearby to go to after the tour because Anneliese has been having severe ear pain for a few days and despite advil and warm compresses to deal with the pain, it hasn't cleared up.

We expected the swamp tour to be kind of cheesy, but it wasn't.  We all really enjoyed it.  Our captain lives in the bayou himself and has that kind of accent.  He was friendly and shared many stories with us.  We saw a lot of alligators.  He knows of three big 10 foot ones that he has named Big Boy, T-bow, and Queenie.  We got to see Big Boy and T-bow and a ton of medium sized ones and got to pass around and hold a very young one that they raised from an egg.  She will be going back to the DNR soon.  They have a special license to get eggs from them to raise, then trade in the young alligators for more eggs.

An alligator next to the boat!

And another!

The bayou--they have to clear it out after each hurricane

And another (I only put a small percentage of them on here!)

the captain is on a little ledge with food (I think frog) on his pole, and the alligators jump up to get it.

On of the alligators took his pole too and he had to maneuver the boat and use another pole to get it back

This is a re-creation of a swamp dwellers cabin around 1915--they had historians come out and help them to get it right.

The bayou

Several alligators (around 5 were circling the boat

More of the bayou

A snowy white egret

Joshua holding the young alligator

Randy's turn

My turn

Shelby's turn

Anneliese's turn

Cypress--they make it through the hurricanes because they have such massive root structures.  Some of these are 200 years old!

Allegedly this a cemetery from the 1915 hurricane.  The survivors of the village that was here came back to pull the others that didn't make it out of the water and bury them--without caskets. 

Joshua needed another turn!

After the swamp tour we found a clinic at a Walgreens.  We talked to the Nurse Practitioner because we were having trouble finding out health insurance in their automated sign-in.  He said that if it's not in there, we could just pay the $95 fee and try to get reimbursed from Health Partners.  Then he asked Anneliese her symptoms and asked her some questions.  He said we could pay the money for him to lookin her ear, but he suspected either a cold or allergies (both of which are common in New Orleans now) and suggested getting Sudafed and Allegra and continue with the Advil--taking three at a time.  So that's what we did.  We've already been doing warm compresses in our hotel room, we'll add the drugs and hopefully she'll feel better soon.

After the clinic, we went to our hotel room and Anneliese and Randy napped for several hours, then I woke them up at 7:30 to walk around a bit and find dinner before it got really dark.  New Orleans is not the safest city after dark to walk around in.  We walked and it was cooler and less humid--beautiful for walking.  We heard bands playing everywhere but walked over the the market area and found a restaurant, Montrel's Bistro with "Authentic Creole Cuisine."  The maître d' told us that most our their customers are locals because they used to be located further out, but Katrina wiped them out so they moved to the French Quarter so they won't serve us that watered-down crap the other restaurants serve to tourists and call gumbo; they have to cater to the locals and have good, authentic food.  Even the chef came out to talk to us, answered questions about the menu, then checked back after we were done!  :)  Very friendly staff, we even met the maître d's neice--what a cutie!  Anneliese and Joshua had gumbo and salad and I had jambalya--pretty good, except for the huge intact crawfish on the top--it looked like the creatures in Alien--couldn't eat it!  The gumbo and the jamblaya were both good!!   The area was very cute--lots of fairy lights and a neighboring cafe had a jazz combo playing outside so we had music as well.  What a nice last night in New Orleans!

More wandering around the French Quarter

Here are some small single-family homes on the edges of the French Quarter, closer to the river

Our excellent Creole dinner

The jazz combo that was playing during our dinner

The bridge across the Mississippi  from yesterday's post lit up at night.

What must be the world's largest CVS sign--three stories!

Night life--Bourbon Street

June 29: La Nouvelle Orléans

Saturday:  Beware--lots of photos!  Today the thunder woke us up--my first thought was--there goes our plan to walk the French Quarter today.  But shortly after breakfast it was done.  Our hotel is about a mile away.  So we walked and walked and walked!  We saw lot of iconic architecture such as balconies, shuttered windows and doors, and courtyards.  I read that the houses were based on either French or Creole houses, but then the balconies were added to deal with the Louisiana heat.  I read something once about  many houses in Georgia and the Deep South being very narrow (like one room wide) with porches on one or both sides to create more air movement and keep the temperatures down (smart!).  The shuttered windows and doors we saw in Italy a lot last summer--they allow one to open the inside doors, windows, etc., then close the louvered shutters for privacy and to keep out the sun and heat but let in air or a breeze.  When comfort drives innovation!  Here are some of the things we saw on our ramble through the Quarter:

Lots of wrought iron balconies!

some balconies are colorful, and note the louvered doors covering the windows and french doors

Anneliese

Mardi Gras masks

Going through a courtyard to a shop

Beautiful house

balconies, balconies, everywhere!

Some are quite personalized

Some are hard to see!

Narrow, older homes

very pleasing

courtyard at the end

leading to another courtyard

An old sign at every street corner telling the original name of the street is was  Spanish (1762-1803).  It was the capital of the Spanish Province of Luisiana.
This is currently Rue de Chartres.

Inside a Voodoo shop (everyone has to go in one at least once in New Orleans!).  This man is the apothecary.

Voodoo dolls, incense, and accessories

Pleasant small houses on the edge of the quarter

Bourbon Street--each street has it's name in tiles in the sidewalk.  (yep, that's my shadow and my toe!).

Jackson Square--in front of a large church.  We met a bunch of freindly homeless people here who engaged us in conversation but didn't ask for money.

Yup, more balconies.  The one on top has a bubble machine going and bubbles are floating down the street.  In the photo, you can see some of the bubbles.  We're not sure why she was making bubbles, but it was charming anyway!

After awhile,  we made it to the water, the Mississippi River (the circle is kind of funny, isn't it!).  We saw a steamboat and knew that Joshua wanted to go on the steamboat, has wanted to since he was in preschool and went on a steamboat when Randy chaperoned one of Anneliese's 5th grade field trips to ride a paddleboat down the Mississippi (in Minneapolis). So, we went on the steamboat.  It was a very short distance for two hours and the captain "narrated" what we saw.  Half of what he said would have been interesting; as it was, we were happy when he finally stopped talking!  

The boat

Another view of the boat

the paddle that actually was what propelled us down the river--no propellers

Joshua--so happy about the steamboat!!

The church is the one in front of Jackson Square. The building to the left of the church is where they signed the Louisiana Purchase.

The area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina--much of it completely destroyed and helped by many church groups.

Another boat--our captain said that THAT boat is NOT a steamboat, however.

My three darlings!

We had food recommended to us:  beignets (bean-yays).  For those that have seen Disney's The Princess and the Frog, they are mentioned in that movie.  Randy's mom recommended them to us:

Who doesn't love fresh fried pastry covered in powdered sugar?  (still warm!)

Our friends Will and Sarah insisted on po'boys (a kind of sandwich):

Yum, warm po'boy sandwiches in the French Quarter on Bourbon Street

When we walked around the French Quarter in the afternoon, we saw some street performers, some artists selling their art on the sidewalks around Jackson Square, and a just a few musicians and one band in a bar.  There were tourists walking around, but it was very quiet--especially for the French Quarter.  When we finished our sandwiches, it was around 6:00.  The Quarter was alive!  People were everywhere--bands were blocking off entire streets playing, and music from innumerable bands poured out onto the streets as we walked!  People filled the streets leaving no room for cars.  It was very fun, even though we were very tired and hot and sweaty.

Some not-very-talented kids with a sign that they were a college fund band.  :)

Very fun band that took over a street.  The guy sitting down in the gray tank top has a metal guitar.

A window for another voodoo shop.

The streets are filling up--some boys here playing drums with a younger child carrying a box for money.

Another band

After walking a bit more, we returned to our hotel room to cool off write our blogs.  Anneliese is working on health (yes, she finished her first quarter assignments, received an A, and was given permission last night to finish the second quarter assignments by July 10.  She will have to receive a zero for the one face-to-face class because it is on the day we are driving home).  Joshua and Shelby are both reading exciting books!