11/01: Quick Tour
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
As we have a month in New Orleans we decided that we would take today to get a "lay of the land". You know, do things like figure out how to get downtown from the townhouse, scope out the street car and parking, see how big the different neighborhoods are, etc.
Turns out it's pretty easy to get to the French Quarter from the townhouse --- the issue may be parking.
After our first look at the French Quarter we are all ready to go back and spend some time wandering around. By the way that's beads and a pair of shoes hanging on a wire across the street.
First street musicians. Looking forward to seeing more of them and actually getting to listen.
After driving up and down several roads in the French Quarter (including Bourbon street), we drove east. We've been told that the French Quarter was spared from flooding during Hurricane Katrina, but some of the neighborhoods east were not so lucky. We didn't drive through the Ninth Ward (one of the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina) but we did drive along the bottom edge of it. You could see a mixture of homes in severe disrepair and some of the new homes. Continuing east we came to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (Chalmette Battlefield). This weekend was the bicentennial celebration of the Battle of New Orleans, part of the War of 1812 (the war lasted 2 1/2 years). A reenactment of the battle was part of the celebration that started on Thursday and ended today.
The actual battlefield is in the foreground, the information center, monument and tents used in the celebration are in the middle and cranes at the docks are in the background.
You looking for canon balls John?
Don't know who the lady is in the photo but as some of the "soldiers" were posing we thought we get a photo. The soldiers in the photo are a group from Texas that are dressed as Tennessee militia --- they had a sewing bee where the guys cut, pinned and sewed the uniforms. They were a few of the 1,000 people who participated in the reenactment of the battle. The actual reenactment took place in a field a mile or so away from the actual battlefield as firearms are not allowed in a National Park. In case anyone doesn't remember their US history --- the Americans soundly defeated the British.
Beside the battlefield is the Chalmette National Cemetery. The cemetery was established in May 1864 as a final resting place for Union soldiers who died in Louisiana during the Civil War. The 15,000 headstones in the cemetery mark the gravesites of veterans of the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War. Four Americans who fought in the War of 1812 are buried here, though only one of them took part in the Battle of New Orleans.
Back in New Orleans we drove through the Business District, the Garden District, Uptown, past the Audubon Zoo and eventually back to the townhouse.
While we were in the Garden District we drove up and down a few streets. This is one of the many beautiful homes we saw there. Can't wait to get to spend a day wandering around there.
Turns out it's pretty easy to get to the French Quarter from the townhouse --- the issue may be parking.
After our first look at the French Quarter we are all ready to go back and spend some time wandering around. By the way that's beads and a pair of shoes hanging on a wire across the street.
First street musicians. Looking forward to seeing more of them and actually getting to listen.
After driving up and down several roads in the French Quarter (including Bourbon street), we drove east. We've been told that the French Quarter was spared from flooding during Hurricane Katrina, but some of the neighborhoods east were not so lucky. We didn't drive through the Ninth Ward (one of the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina) but we did drive along the bottom edge of it. You could see a mixture of homes in severe disrepair and some of the new homes. Continuing east we came to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (Chalmette Battlefield). This weekend was the bicentennial celebration of the Battle of New Orleans, part of the War of 1812 (the war lasted 2 1/2 years). A reenactment of the battle was part of the celebration that started on Thursday and ended today.
The actual battlefield is in the foreground, the information center, monument and tents used in the celebration are in the middle and cranes at the docks are in the background.
You looking for canon balls John?
Don't know who the lady is in the photo but as some of the "soldiers" were posing we thought we get a photo. The soldiers in the photo are a group from Texas that are dressed as Tennessee militia --- they had a sewing bee where the guys cut, pinned and sewed the uniforms. They were a few of the 1,000 people who participated in the reenactment of the battle. The actual reenactment took place in a field a mile or so away from the actual battlefield as firearms are not allowed in a National Park. In case anyone doesn't remember their US history --- the Americans soundly defeated the British.
Beside the battlefield is the Chalmette National Cemetery. The cemetery was established in May 1864 as a final resting place for Union soldiers who died in Louisiana during the Civil War. The 15,000 headstones in the cemetery mark the gravesites of veterans of the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War. Four Americans who fought in the War of 1812 are buried here, though only one of them took part in the Battle of New Orleans.
Back in New Orleans we drove through the Business District, the Garden District, Uptown, past the Audubon Zoo and eventually back to the townhouse.
While we were in the Garden District we drove up and down a few streets. This is one of the many beautiful homes we saw there. Can't wait to get to spend a day wandering around there.