New Orleans - part 1 - Thurs 18th Oct & Fri 19th Oct

Arrived at the bus station on time at 5.30am.  Waited around for an hour until it got light outside then caught a taxi to the hotel.  Wasn't able to check in but they did let me leave my bags there so I could wander around for a bit & come back closer to regulation check in time of 4pm.  Got a compact map of the area from the front desk and headed out.  About 10 minutes after I headed out it started raining, luckily I had my umbrella in my bag so it was all good.  One thing I didn't know was that some of the stormwater drains run down the building onto the footpath so walked past one of those & got a bit wet - lesson learned though.  Had decided to head in the direction of the Mississippi River but soon learned I was headed the other way, so I turned around & finally found myself beside 'Ole Man River'.  Was going to sit down for a bit but all the benches were wet so walked along the riverfront for a bit, then I looked at my map to see where I was and saw I was close to Cafe du Monde so decided to head there for a hot chocolate & beignets and to get out of the rain.

The Mississippi River on a rainy early Thursday morning.

Hot chocolate & beignets at Cafe du Monde.

After finishing my breakfast I headed to the Aquarium of the Americas, and just my luck 2 classrooms of 11-14 year olds were visiting at the same time as me.  Yay.  Anyway, got my ticket & entered the aquarium.  It wasn't as 'good' as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but it was still better than anything we have back home.  After spending a couple of hours there I headed out again and was glad to see the sun shining brightly.

Entrance to the aquarium. In the yellow cage looking thing were lots & lots of birds.

Stingray tunnel.

Entrance to the 'Amazon Rainforest' exhibit.

One of the tanks in the Amazon Rainforest exhibit.  They even had a real live anaconda on show, but I scooted past that very quickly when I found out what it was.

Small shark tank.

Funny looking fish.

Of course they had seahorses.

And a whole tank full of pregnant seahorses.

They had quite a good frog section.

Some of the frogs tried to hide.

And some frogs not so much.

Damn ugly frog aka 'Budgett's Frog'.

And of course they had a couple of sea otters.  Those critters are just so damn cute!!

The entrance to the 'Mississippi River' exhibit.

'Never smile at a crocodile', ok it's actually an Albino Alligator, but I know you sang those words, just as I did when I saw it.

Damned turtles just won't stay still for photos!!  

I think this is a Rock Crab.  The lady next to me made the comment "Some good eatin' there".  LOL

This is actually above your head as you walk through the Mississippi River exhibit.

And it is home to a Red-tailed hawk.

Big shark tank.

I then proceeded to just wander around & visit a few shops to pass the time.  About 2pm I decided I should have some lunch so I went to the Jax Brewery and had a very nice chicken dish with crawfish & mushrooms in a creamy sauce, and had a most helpful waitress regarding my aversion to pepper (of any kind), paprika, cumin & chili.  After an extremely filling lunch I wandered around again & did some souvenir shopping, found something special just for me, and then headed back to the hotel as my feet were very much starting to hurt.

Turned into a beautiful sunny day.  Fountain down by the riverwalk. 

Some sculptures along the riverfront. 

The Holocaust Memorial - very interesting - it changes patterns as you move around it.

One of the many gorgeous old buildings in the French Quarter. 

More gorgeous old buildings on the way back to the hotel.

A lot of the streets are one way, which makes it great for me for crossing the road.  There are also a HEAP of street works going on.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana building.

Don't know if this is old or newish but it is gorgeous.

Got back to the hotel about 5.30pm and checked in and was told they didn't have any of the room type I had booked available so they upgraded me to a King Executive Suite free of charge.  Got up to my room, dropped all my luggage and took off my shoes & socks.  Aaaahhhhhhhh, the relief, even tho they were my comfy walking shoes.  I then sorted out some stuff, had a quick check of facebook and lay down for a wee nap.  I awoke 4 hours later and felt much better except for my feet which were still very sore in parts.  I then unpacked some more, checked facebook & emails and then finally went to bed about midnight.



Friday 19th October - woke up when my alarm went off at 7.30am, turned the alarm off & went back to sleep.  Next woke up at about 11am, got up & went toilet then got back into bed & went back to sleep.  Woke up again about 5.30pm and swore as I had wasted a whole day sleeping!  Got up & checked facebook & emails.  Looked through brochures I had collected the day before and booked a couple of tours.  Ate the cookies I had been given at check in & a couple of pop tarts for dinner, then watched some tv and went to sleep about midnight.