New Orleans

Thursday, April 07, 2016
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
This morning started with a short walk to breakfast. Just a couple blocks away is the convention center so there are several restaurants near by. We ate at Two Chicks where the food and service were both pretty good. After breakfast we continued our walk use a few more blocks towards the National World War II museum. Along the way we passed several sketchy BBQ joints and a few sketchy characters as well. New Orleans is filled with some very odd, interesting, unique, freaky, people.

At the museum we are transported back to the 1930s, when Japan was pushing its empire into China, Korea and the surrounding islands . At the same time Hitler was pushing his purist aryan nation to cleanse and take over Europe and beyond. America tried to stay out of the Great War but was forced to battle when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and only days later Hitler declared war on the USA. At first it seemed we were neither prepared nor trained to battle with the suicidal will of the Japanese and the swift might of the Germans. But America persevered and won the war we did not want to fight.

The museum has excellent presentations of the European and Pacific battles. There is an wonderful 4D movie presentation that tells to story of WWII in about 45 minutes. Many vehicles and planes are on display with more details than I can remember about each one of them. Weapons, uniforms, letters, supplies and more are also displayed.

The Merchant Marines were the supply ships that delivered food, ammunition, and other supplies to the troops. These ships were targeted by the Germans and Japanese to disrupt supplies . 1:26 merchant marines were killed, a ratio higher than all other military divisions combined (1:52).

There is also an interactive exhibit about the USS Tang. The most successful submarine in US history. By most successful they mean the sub with the greatest number of sunken enemy ships, 33 in all. As the museum tells it, the Tang intercepted a group Japanese supply ships. The Tang sank many of the enemy ships but the last torpedo circled around and struck and sank the Tang. 78 sailors died, only 9 survived.

The displays for the Road to Berlin and Road to Tokyo do a great job of taking you down the timeline of the war, highlighting different battles and individuals. A few years back we visited the National World War I museum in Kansas City, both are excellent and highly recommended.

After our museum visit we headed back to our hotel to shed a few clothes. It is sunny and 80 degrees . We decide to take a taxi to the far side of the French Quarter for lunch and afternoon sightseeing. We end up at the New Orleans French Market (farmers market). There are lots of food vendors and souvenir stands selling all kinds of trinkets and junk. People watching is prime here. We do observe several homeless people digging thru the trash for scraps of food.

Next we walk down Frenchman street per the recommendation of a local. He said that is where you will hear the real New Orleans Jazz. We did hear some jazz but we also saw more homeless and generally weird dudes hanging around. We didn't stop but made a safe return to the "normal" are of the French Quarter. It was early afternoon so we figured Bourbon street should be pretty tame so we walked down Bourbon street avoiding the obscene by crossing the street as needed.

We turned off Bourbon street and found some pretty cool jazz groups playing on Royal street . We listened for a bit and then walked on towards the Canal Street Mall. Canal street mall is normal and high end shops on the edge of the French Quarter. We walked on through and headed for the Riverwalk Outlet Mall. In the outlet mall we browsed a few shops before exiting out the other end near the convention center. Just a few blocks to our hotel for a little rest for our tired feet. Not sure how many miles we have walked the past couple days but it seems like a ton.

We found a great restaurant in the Garden District called Shaya. The food was outstanding, maybe the best meal of the trip. After dinner we drove along St Charles Street in the Garden District. The street has a green median that has street cars going up and down the street on. Between the street cars are lots of walkers and runners who step out of the street cars path when they get close. The street is home to many beautiful old estate homes. Also Layola New Orleans University and Tulane University are located off St Charles, along with Audubon Park. The park is filled with large old trees, ponds, playgrounds and a wide bike and walking path. We enjoyed a short walk through the park. Further down the path is a zoo, a children's amusement park, and a tree named "the tree of life".

We returned to our hotel eager for some rest. Tomorrow we will explore the gulf coast and City Park.

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2025-02-12

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