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.