Last Day in the French Quarter

Hi Blog.  This Saturday we took our last trip down into the French Quarter. This was the first really nice, warm sunny day we've had since arriving in New Orleans.  The city is all abuzz since the Women's Final Four is going to be played at the Superdome this week.  After getting dropped off at the riverfront, we walked across the French Quarter and into Louis Armstrong Park.

Louis Armstrong Park, formerly known as Beauregard Square, is a 32-acre park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. It was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley. The park contains the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, Congo Square, and part of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. Here is one of the many music inspired sculptures in the park

It is hard to believe you are in the middle of downtown New Orleans when you are strolling around the lakes and canals.

Since today was Saturday, there was a festival in the park.  The local high school jazz band was getting ready to march.

We had reservations for a jazz brunch at 11:00 a.m at Mojitos Rum Bar.  Learned a very valuable lesson.  Just because they call it a "Jazz Brunch" doesn't mean that a jazz band will be playing.  Apparently, the guys don't start playing until 12:30 p.m.  We were done brunch way before, so we headed off to find some adventure.

We stopped at the Louisiana State Museum to check out a couple of the exhibits.  They had a very comprehensive exhibit on Hurricane Katrina, including an awesome video display with interviews from many of the survivors.  It was amazing to hear of the great lengths people went to to help their neighbors. The only folks who could possibly understand what they went through would be the folks washed away by Superstorm Sandy.  It has been 8 years since Katrina and there is still work to be done.

The second floor exhibit was all about the history of Carnival and Mardi Gras.  It was fun to see some of the old home movies from the early parades.

All that standing and reading was thirsty work.  Time to go down to Bourbon Street for a little liquid refreshment.

Since the weather was finally hot and sunny, we stopped at a slushy bar for a (virgin) strawberry daiquiri and (slutty) margarita.  Guess which of us had which?  We found ourselves a little curb to sit on and spent the afternoon enjoying some very energetic jazz. Before long, it was time to head to the riverfront to wait for the shuttle van.  Along the way, we stopped to watch an amazing troupe of tumblers entertain a rather large Saturday crowd.  We got to the pickup point and realized we still had time for one more quick craft brew from Crescent City Brewhouse.

It is hard to believe our time in the Big Easy is almost up. While we did not do everything, we felt like we got a good taste of the French Quarter.  Au revoir!