Today is our last full day in New Orleans, and we decided it was time to play tourist. So we booked ourselves on a Louisiana Swamp Tour on an airboat. But before the tour, we had go go look for somewhere for breakfast. This time, we decided to follow the TripAdvisor advice and found a place right around the corner on Canal St called the Ruby Slipper Cafe. Breakfast was awesome! I had the Spanish omelet with potatoes and a biscuit, and Jody had the banana pecan pancakes made with slices of banana mixed in with the pancakes. Everything was delicious!
     After breakfast, we had to hang around the hotel for a little while as the swamp tour included transportation to and from the hotel . They were supposed to pick us up at 10:20, and as we were waiting outside at about 10:10, it started to rain, much harder than yesterday. We looked at the weather report, and it didn't look good for the rest of the day. We were starting to get a little bummed that the tour would probably be cancelled. But no, at 10:30 the guy from the tour showed up and said that it rained a lot around here and they would have the tour anyway.
     So we figured, what the hell? Worst thing is that we would get a little wet. So we hopped on the bus with about 30 other people from various hotels, and headed out for our adventure. By the time we got to the swamp where they were giving the tour, the rain had stopped. The clouds didn't look to good, but at least it wasn't raining. As we hung around waiting for the tour to start, the clouds got a little darker, and just as the guy showed up and announced for us to get on the boat, it started to rain again. I had the camera with me, and managed to get a few pictures before the rain picked up . Then I put the camera back in the bag to keep it from getting wet.
      The airboat was fun! It was a little loud when he cranked it up, but they gave us ear protection to wear to help block some of the noise. The rain was getting a little harder now, and it looked like the tour was going to be a combination of fun and misery. We saw our first alligator, and he swam right up to the boat. We soon realized as the tourguide explained to us that it was illegal to feed alligators, so that we would be feeding marshmallows to the fish. Unfortunately, the alligators were faster than the fish, so they tended to eat the marshmallows before the fish could get them. Clever plan!
     The first alligator didn't want to socialize much, so we cranked up the airboat again and headed deeper into the swamp. as we did, a blue patch in the sky opened up and it didn't rain again for the rest of the afternoon. We were so glad we had stuck it out. the swamp is really a bunch of waterway paths amongst the land, but the tourguide said that you really needed waders to walk on the land in some spots as it was very soft and muddy . With the trees, the overhanging vegetation and the Spanish moss, it really is beautiful. The water is perfectly smooth, like glass. and the airboat glides across very smoothly if a little loudly.
     We soon found other alligators that were more than willing to come up to the boat and intercept marshmallows from the fish. There were some big ones and some smaller ones but all were a lot more active than what we typically see in Florida. We rode through lots of waterways, and stopped several more times along the way and interacted with the alligators. Now that the rain had stopped, the weather was nice, but not too hot and it just made for fun, peaceful afternoon.
     At one point, when we had stopped to look at the latest batch of alligators, the tourguide brought out a live baby alligator about a foot and a half long. He showed us how to hold it and passed it around the boat. We all got the chance to handle it. i managed to get a picture of Jody holding the baby alligator. When we finished the bag of marshmallows, it was time for us to go back . We were out there in the swamp for a couple of hours, and it was just long enough. It was really a fun afternoon.
     We got back into town at a little after 3:00, too early for dinner, but too late to do much of anything else, so we just headed back to the hotel to relax. We started looking online to pick a place for dinner. About 5:30, we headed out to the place we had picked out, when we remembered that the Red Fish Grille that had been closed for the last couple of days might open back up tonight. So we swung by, and sure enough they were back opened tonight.
     So we stopped in at Red Fish Grille, and since we were eating at Florida old people hours, there was no problem getting a table. Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix-up with the waiter, and we ended up sitting there for about ten minutes before anyone noticed us. We didn't care, we were just chatting about our afternoon adventure. When the waiter finally did come by, he apologized for the mix-up and offered us a free dessert. Not one to pass up free stuff, we thanked him and he told us that if we wanted the double chocolate bread pudding with ice cream - their house specialty , that we had to let him know as it had to be pre-ordered . We looked at the dessert menu and decided the bread pudding sounded great! It turns out he was from Haverhill and Salem in Massachusetts and he had just moved here about a year ago.
    This is one of the better places in town, so we looked over the menu and Jody had the Lump Crab Cake with black beans, corn salsa and avocado and I had the Cajun Jambalaya Risotto. Both were easily the best dinners we had while we were here. The jambalaya even came with three large crawfish on top. It was so delicious! At the end, we had the double chocolate bread pudding with ice cream, and it was so rich, the two of us couldn't finish it. But it was delicious! We're really going to miss the food here!
     After dinner, we decided to take the one last stroll down Bourbon Street. It was after 7:00 so the street was closed to traffic, and as the weekend gets closer, the crazies come out. There were lots of street performers, some sad and some really good. There were a couple of dancers that had been on America's Got Talent. There was even a guy wearing a yellow Transformers outfit that would close up and roll down the street, and then stop, stand up and Transform into a person. It was pretty cool! Of course there were bands and costumes and just party everywhere and it was only 7:00 at night! It was lots of fun to watch.
     This is our last night in New Orleans, tomorrow we head east again for Crestview, FL in the panhandle of Florida. That's where Jody's parents live, and we will be stopping in for a visit on our last night on the road. On Saturday we should make it back to Orlando. What an adventure!

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