And then.....

Now, instead of 30 minutes later it is about 5 hours later--that's how my day usually goes--I'm back to tell you how the next two days were in New Orleans. We ate a huge breakfast at the Trolley Stop Cafe; 2 eggs, bacon, pancakes, grits and coffee for $6.25. Not much on decor, but well worth the price. And yes, we ate there every morning after that, too.

After breakfast we had all decided to meet at the new National World War II museum. After an unplanned tour of local one way streets all not going the direction we needed (we saw one intersection three times as we tried and tried again and also took about a three mile trip on the freeway when the lane turned into a freeway ramp) we finally got to the museum parking garage. Parking was a relative bargain, $10 for the day.

It is well worth a visit, but plan on spending more time than you think. There are four buildings to visit; one full of tanks and airplanes and other large artifacts, one for two 40-minute IMAX movie experiences, and one for the main exhibits. That building is two floors, one for the war in the Pacific and the other for the war in Europe. It took us three hours just to visit that one building, and we did not see every film clip nor read every plaque. It is all amazingly well done with great detail and attention given to the background sounds, audio recordings and decor of the display areas. These photos do not do any sort of justice to the work nor the variety of effort.

We all agree we could easily spend the entire day here and probably one more just to see everything once quickly.

At this point we decided we were all hungry, despite the huge breakfast five hours earlier, so we drove over to Mothers's for a late lunch. Typically, there is a line out the door, but being the off-season, we walked right in. Mother's is famous for their Po'boys, so we ordered Po'boys. Shrimp, Oyster, Smoked Turkey. Had a terrific waiter, but the owner is a bit cranky. Sat at the one open table large enough to hold us and froze under the A/C. Because of the cold, we ate quickly and then headed out to do some shopping for Gigi and Bob, who needed a new rolling carryon. Parking had become interesting, we were only a few blocks from both the restaurant and the outlet mall at the Riverfront, but due to some communication problems and family confusion we ended up moving cars, getting lost (again), and waiting for one duo to find a place to park for 45 minutes. With the cars parked at opposite ends of the mall and going home to let the dogs out and parking again, we somehow managed to get the roller bag, drink coffee and eat beignets, buy new shoes, and shop for yet more grandkids gifts. Total damages for two cars parking for about four hours: $42. I'm not sure about the shopping damages, LOL.

We all decamped to Jim and Doty's large motorhome where we drank and talked and along about dinnertime we had soup and sandwiches before calling it a night.

The next day found us on a city tour after breakfast. We saw and heard about the founding design of New Orleans, the different areas between Creole and American, learned the origin of 'neutral ground'--originally the Canal Street median, now any median on a street. We drove down Frenchman's St. and scoped out the music venues, some of which have big name players, and some of which don't, but all have great music. We toured through the rebuilt Lakeview district and learned a lot of Katrina stories. We drove through City Park and saw the improvements, many of which would not have been done without the Katrina damage, so there was a little silver lining. We saw cemeteries, bayous, Creole and voodoo.

We were dropped off just in time to change for lunch at get ourselves over to the Commander's Palace (valet parking!) for our reservation. Upon entering we were each greeted with brass bells on a Commander's aqua blue ribbon. We then were escorted to the bar, which is through the kitchen! Past the head chef's table. After a short wait, we were led to our table upstairs in the Garden Room. Commander's is famous for their 25 cent martinis with lunch. I could only manage two, but they were lovely. Tom had turtle soup and roasted chicken. I had gumbo and pork (cochon du lait). Others had filet mignon, shrimp or catfish. For dessert there was strawberry shortcake, parfaits, cheesecake and pralines. Two hours later we were among the last to leave, but it was a memorable meal and one of the best we've ever had. I'm sure the martinis helped, but it was still fabulous. And the service was top notch throughout the room, not just limited to one waiter. My advice, if you eat anywhere in New Orleans, eat at Commander's Palace. You will need a reservation, but as long as you do this a week or more in advance, you will be fine.

After that meal, some went shopping, some went resting and we all met up about six for a final evening visit. We sat and talked, drank the rest of the wine and beer, and worked on travel plans. Gigi and Bob, after hours of option-exploring, chose to try for the 6am flight out, as it would have more stand by seats open. They have travel privileges with American because of Michael's employment, but they have learned to choose the less desirable flights if they want to find seats available. They made it home before we even left. Jim picked us up after breakfast and dropped us at the airport before he and Doty decamped the RV resort towards home. Our flight went through Kansas City, where Gigi generously met us with lunch and granddaughter Lily. We landed at 3:45, were home before 5 and unpacked and cooking dinner by 6. All this fun caught up with me, however, as I went to bed at 7:45 pm and slept all the way through until 6:30 this morning.

Better Late Than Never...

I fully intended to write a couple blog posts during the odd free moments in New Orleans...but those moments were few in number and other must-do items filled them. So yes, in case you did not know, we went to New Orleans this week for three wonderful days with Tom's sister and brother and their respective spouses.

We had a ridiculously early flight of a 5:45 am takeoff on Tuesday morning. What on earth were we thinking?? The alarm went off at 3 am, everything worked like clockwork, and we landed in New Orleans at 10:30 am and met Gigi and Bob and they whisked us off to the hotel where we were able to check in early and head out to the city.

We stayed at the Avenue Plaza right on St. Charles in the Garden District. Great location, and after having spent many prior visits in the French Quarter, I highly recommend staying in the Garden District if you ever have the opportunity. Much better feel for the true city.

This resort is part timeshare, so each unit has a large kitchenette with refrigerator, dishwasher, supplies, etc. One could easily do breakfast or lunch here, although we opted for local eateries for all meals. But with beignets for breakfast and 25 cent martinis at lunch....it's hard to want to NOT go out in this city. Keep reading and you will see why...

Our first meal (11 am breakfast/lunch) found us eating locally in the Garden District at the Rum House. It was Taco Tuesday, so amongst the four of us we tried almost every Caribbean inspired Taco on the menu. Along with $2 beers, the tacos were also just $2 each. We ate well for very little. My favorites were the Duck, Duck, Goose and the Carolina. Tom really enjoyed the Fried Oyster Taco and the Oil Spilled Fish.

We left the restaurant, did a bit of shopping and returned to the car to find a parking ticket! For parking facing the wrong direction. None of the other three cars also parked in the 'wrong' direction on that block had a ticket, but we were the only ones with a rental car (in Louisiana they all get a special plate) so you do the math. It was only $30, but it left a really bad taste as to how they treat visitors. A few days later, after paying parking and valet fees it felt a little better (as in parking tickets may be cheaper than parking fees) but it was still an ugly welcome to the city.

We then met up with Jim and Doty who were staying in the French Quarter with their RV and puppy dogs. After spending the rest of the afternoon talking and visiting, we all headed over to eat at The Acme Oyster House. At 4:00 there was no line, so we lucked out with a table for six just waiting for us. Everyone had at least one oyster, but other than that, I cannot much remember what else we all ate. Lots of grilled oysters, gumbo and jambalaya on the table, and neon signs everywhere inside.

Parking in the garage next to the Acme: $22 for less than three hours, early-bird special rate. After 5 pm we could not have parked there, it is reserved for Brennan's Steakhouse next door ONLY.

And that was just our First Day! More to be posted soon....

I might have a solution!

I've been testing out a new blogging app. This one is supposed to work seamlessly with blogspot/blogger now that blogspot no longer supports a blog app. My only trouble seems to be getting the pictures to be sized the correct size so I'm going to put a couple of pictures into this post and if I can manage to get them to show up a reasonable size, I'm claiming success. But so far these are not the right size. I shall continue to edit!!

And let me try this one now....

If you had happened to be checking the blog while I have been playing with the pictures, you would have seen everything from ten inch photos to one inch high photos. And print size of microscopic to normal, just opposite of the pictures. I THINK, this is an OK size of photo and text...I just have to remember to set my photo sizes to around 400 or 500 pixels before I publish them. But I think this new app might be a good substitute for the one-who-shall-not-be-supported.

if anyone happens to be reading this and wants to make a comment about the size and how it looks on your screen, please let me know and tell me if it is an iPad or full size screen.

Test, test, test

Well, crap.  Turns out Google, in its limited wisdom, has deleted the blogger app.  So what used to be a simple matter of composing a post offline and then posting a completed document when I could get online has now become a lot more complicated.   Geesh, now I have to write the post in some other format, copy and paste, then go online to add pictures to that text and then upload the whole thing.  Much harder to do with limited internet on ships and using cell data.  This does not make me happy at all.  So thanks for nothing blogger and Google.

Hmmmph!

And we are home.

And my blog or app is still messed up. I think it has something to do with the keyboard because it's only when I hit punctuation keys that it crashes on me. So I have been using the microphone to record the words. But even then it crashes every three or four sentences or whenever I try to put in an apostrophe or. Period

After another lazy afternoon and casual evening watching the World Series, we packed up after breakfast this morning and headed home. We stopped at the Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge on our way home.

The fall colors on the cottonwoods were absolutely gorgeous. And while we did not see any Sandhill Crane's while there, we did hear that they are on their way. We will hear them from our home as they fly on down. And that's where we are now, at our home. It was a lovely vacation, and we both commented on how we want to re-create that on our future trips

Truth or consequences

That's the name of the town. For those of us of a certain age who remember the game show back in the 50s, it's the same town that used to be called Hot Springs but because the game show offered them a bunch of something to change their name to truth or consequences that's what it is now.

It is about 7 miles down the road from the lake. So we took the scooter and our bathing suits and went to the Hot Springs for a soak.

I am, unfortunately, still having trouble with the Blogger app. I think they updated it to put in new features, and all it did is mess with the old version using iPhones and iPads. I am sure they will get it fixed soon but in the meantime I'm just going to give you a couple of pictures from today. Oh and I did get some of my embroidery done yesterday. other than sit around and do nothing that's what got done it's been a fun Little relaxing vacation.

It's a mini Blog!

So far this app has crashed on me three times since I managed to start getting something put down. I'm saving after every sentence. So this is a mini blog for our mini vacation. I was reminded yesterday that we blog when we travel and that means were supposed to blog on our little travels too, not just the long ones.  I've been having a little trouble with the Blogger app it keeps crashing on me and this is now the fourth time I've tried to just say hello. I think the best thing is to show you the picture of where we are staying.

As you can see, it is a desert sort of lake. Nothing like the lakes you may envision from your time in the Midwest or the east. But it's cool and comfortable and we're looking forward to a quiet weekend. Except of course during the World Series when we expect there to be a lot of yelling.  Yes, we do have TV. And were supposed to also have Wi-Fi, and while we can see the signal, the speed is so slow it's not worth even trying. So we are using our cell phone connection, because we have a fair amount of leftover data we can use up.  Sorry for the lack of punctuation, it's something I usually try to catch, but it has crashed on me two more times so I think we're up to time number six. I think I will be safer to just go ahead and publish this on my luck is holding out. I'll try and catch you up again sometime tomorrow.

Homeward Bound

I'm writing this from the Dalllas airport...we've had an uneventful morning of travel, and are just waiting through a long layover.  Our friends (and neighbors) are prepared to pick us up in four hours and then we adjust to re-entry.

I wanted to make one last travel post for this trip to thank those of you who have stuck with us throughout this adventure as well as add a couple of photos of yesterday evening.  Yesterday we hit the MoMa, Museum of Modern Art....

Danny, look what you can do with leftover latex paint!

And especially for Barbara, we saw this and even though Cezanne painted it a century ago, it sure reminded us of that fellow at the bar on the ship!

....and then, thanks to friends of friends, we scored VIP tickets to the Late Show with Steven Colbert yesterday.  It was kind of odd to see the taping, which was from 4:30-7:00, but felt later to us since we were watching a show that normally started at 10:30/11:30 pm.   After taping and grabbing a humongous sandwich at the Carnegie deli we headed back to eat and pack and watched the first part of the show before falling asleep.

It has been a fabulous adventure...thanks for going along with us.

Approaching the Real World

As I write this on Tuesday morning we realize that our month of travel will be coming to an end in 36 hours, as we return to the real world.  We've been fortunate to experience so much in so many places.  Interestingly, to us it seems like the cruise was a while ago, although it has only been three days.  (Jam-packed New York City days, but still.)  So you can understand that the start of this trip, Iceland, seems so long go that it was another trip entirely, but it was exactly five weeks ago today.  I think getting home will be good, to sleep in our own beds, but the shock of five weeks worth of mail piled up and having to cook and clean for ourselves will be the biggest adjustment.

BUT, we're not quite done yet and I have a couple of days left to tell you about....

Yesterday, we planned to do the midtown area.  Empire State, Times Square, Grand Central, Rockefeller Center, etc.  We realized, however, that we needed to build in more down time, or at least less standing and walking time.  My knees and feet, Tom's knee and ankle; they keep reminding us of old injuries and ongoing aging issues.  So we went first to the Empire State Building, and while up there decided that we were getting our best look at the Chrysler building and some of those other famous landmarks mentioned earlier without actually walking to them.  

We then ventured into Macy's (largest department store in the world), walked up Broadway to Times Square, took the required pictures, marveled at the hubbub and crowds, stopped at one of the Shake Shacks for lunch and then returned to the hotel to rest a few hours before our night out in the theater district.  We finally got smart about this pacing yourself thing.

(this is a screen grab off the video on Facebook, see that for the whole thing)

https://www.facebook.com/tom.graham.100483/posts/717471481736371

At five we headed back out, had a fabulous pizza dinner at John's of Times Squre (supposed to be one of the best pizza places in New York--we agree). The restaurant is housed in a former church, replete with stained glass windows and they use coal fired brick ovens to bake their pizza.  One of the best margherita pizzas we've had, including in Naples--Jackie, I know you will remember that one!  An with a pitcher of beer and a salad that could have served six, we could not finish all of it.

The evening was capped off with a night at the theater, Paramour at the Lyric theater.  Gorgeous theater, great sight lines.  The show is a mix of a Broadway show and Cirque du Soleil acts.  The music and storyline of the musical part is a bit ho-hum--movie producer discovers starlet who realizes she really loves the faithful songwriter boyfriend--but the way the acts were woven into the story was creative and different.  But it was the acts that stole the show.  

Welcome to New York

Sorry about missing a day in posting, but I was so exhausted yesterday by 6 pm that I skipped dinner and did not even think about blogging last night.

So here's a brief recap:  Ship arrived in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to a drizzly, low fog.  We had chosen a late departure time, and at 10:10 we started the departure process.  It was a madhouse, but only because there was a line of people exiting the building looking for taxis.  Everyone was stuck behind this line.  Baggage was handled beautifully, found three of them together and all four inside of one minute.  Customs was a three minute line, and then we battled our way outside.  Once clear of that mess we ordered up an Uber ride, he was there in five minutes and we waved at the taxi line as we drove off.  We got lucky with a really nice driver and a big car that held all the luggage.  It was a bit of a traffic hoo-haw, but we got to the hotel at 11:45, and by then the sky was clearing up, too.

Dropped our bags off and headed over to the subway, bought our passes and off to the city we went.  We were in New York!  

I have to say, having seen photos and movies for years and having heard stories good and bad, it was really fun to actually be able to say those words.   Our first subway ride ended up at Central Park at Fifth Ave. across the street from the Plaza Hotel, so it was a real surprise to exit the stairs with a view of leafy trees overhead and then to realize the ornate building was the Plaza.

We meandered through Central Park under what had become beautiful blue skies, along with the carriage rides, joggers, families with strollers and dogs, and just marveled at the fact that we actually made it.  And we even bought a pretzel from one of the many food carts (just like the pølse wagons in Denmark!)  

By 1:30 we were at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we did our best to see as much as we could.  We had a short list of several 'must see' items, and we used the museum wifi and app to find out which rooms they were in and then we mapped out a route.  Despite this, we ended up backtracking a few times because we got lost, remembered another item that should have been on the  now-not-so-short list, or just decided that a room looked interesting.  

Somewhere in there we stopped at one of the cafes for a late lunch, attempting also to give the knees, ankles and feet a little rest.  We continued on as best we could, but by 6pm my fun meter was pegged, and we decided to head back to the hotel.  A quick stop at the corner grocery got us a six pack and some cheese and bread, and we were set for the night.  We slept like logs until the alarm went off this morning.

We had breakfast at the hotel, then caught the subway down to the Statue of Liberty at 8 am.  We had another glorious, clear day for our trip.  And we walked everywhere, again.  Then we went to Ellis Island and walked through that, too.  Are you getting a sense of what the day was going to be like?  The tickets came with excellent audio headsets and information, but it was information overload.  

View up inside Lady Liberty... The spiral staircase goes to the crown... Which my knees refused to even consider.

The original flame, built by the same guy that was the lead engineer of Mt. Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum.

Sculpture of Annie Moore--yep the same girl seen on our Cobh, Ireland post. First immigrant through Ellis Island.  Her trip took 10 days, ours was only 6.

We could have spent a lot more time at each of these museums, but our joints were still feeling the effects of the day before, so we called 'enough' and went for a quick bite to eat.  And while ordering, we got a phone call from a long-ago friend who migrated from California to New York.  Amy was one of our first rent-a-kids when she was about 9.  She's now forty-something and a mother of two, but we've been keeping up with each other on Facebook.  Since we were in her town, she asked if we could meet for dinner so we could meet her family, so we agreed on dinner at one of her old haunts across the street from her former apartment in the West Village.

So with three hours to fill we decided to go up to the 9/11 Memorial, which was about halfway from where we were to where we would meet Amy and Rob.  All I can say about the the memorial and museum is that is probably the most powerful museum I have ever experienced, and I've been to quite a few museums on our travels.  It truly deserves an entire day to see it properly, and to experience the entire museum.  There are many powerful messages and images; many you have seen or heard before, and many you have not.  I was moved to tears by many of the exhibits, and in many ways it brought back many forgotten memories of that day.  It should be on everyone's To Do list when in New York.

Words and still photos just don't capture the impact of seeing this in person.  The sight and sound of all that water disappearing into a black hole, surrounded by the names of the victims is quite moving.

After a few hours there, we decided to head over early to the restaurant where we were meeting our friends, if only to decompress from our museum visit...and we started with a couple of very fine beers and moved on.  We had a lovely visit and 'let's catch up on the last thirty years in person' talk with Amy and Rob, for which we are very grateful.  We very much needed a fun evening, and we received a great dose of it with our friends.  We managed to make it to 8:30 tonight....😄.

My mermaid and rainbow pictures by  Kelly and Annie.  

Now it's time for some feet up and relaxation before tomorrow's adventures.  I'm not entirely clear on where exactly we're going, but we do have tickets to a show tomorrow night, so we hope to last a little later.