"Whoa! New Orleans is just like Disneyland's New Orleans Square!"
"No, Lizzie. Disneyland's New Orleans square is like New Orleans. The city came before the park..."
I'm such a Californian at heart. And the farther East I travel, the more apparent that becomes. For one, I compare almost everything I see to something I've seen at Disneyland:
There are mardi gras beads decorating everything here - just like Disneyland's New Orleans Square!
The chicadas are so loud here - just like on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland!
For two, I raise an eyebrow every time I see a Hardee's — don't they know that's called Carl's Jr?! It must be a knock-off... and WHERE are the In-N-Out's???
Thirdly, I see rush hour traffic and think to myself, "Where is everybody?" "Traffic" outside of LA and Southern California really isn't traffic at all. It's a few extra cars on the road.
I've also found myself keeping my mouth shut a lot more since I entered the world of Southern accents. The moment I open my mouth is a dead give-away that I'm not from the South. The quieter I am, the less I reveal myself as a tourist (as if the backpack and camera don't already give me away...).
In fact, as I continue thinking about living on the East coast, I expect it will feel like living in a foreign country — the metro system will be the main form of transportation, the people will have accents, tourists will be buzzing, and the coffee will taste better.
Here's a little on our time in New Orleans:
The first night we arrived, Clark took me out for a classic New Orleans date — beignets (pronounced "ben-yays") at the world famous Cafe du Monde, just next to the Mississippi River.
He told me that tradition is to blow the powdered sugar from the beignets onto somebody else.
I don't know about that...
Thanks to my mom's suggestion, we stayed at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast: Avenue Inn B&B.
Highly recommended!
We took the streetcar, below, into town from our B&B. It's like a trolley, but not. Fun ride!
Clark shared with me about the importance of New Orleans as a port city, due to it's location at the mouth of the Mississippi River. He also shared about the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after the storm, Clark visited the city to help out. He had lots of stories to share about that experience.
Below is the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.
This is the oldest cathedral in North America and is still in use to this day.
Not pictured: Per our B&B innkeeper's suggestion, we spent some time at the local WWII museum. WOW! I'm not even partially a history-nut, but I loved it ! The film presentation alone was worth the money we paid for the museum entrance. If you ever get a chance to visit New Orleans, that's the place to go!
We explored some good 'ol Southern food while in New Orleans including gumbo, fried alligator, creole chips, and cat-fish. Here's Clark trying out some fried alligator.
We took a day-trip to visit a plantation just outside of New Orleans. This one, Oak Alley, is an antebellum (pre Civil War) sugar-cane plantation. It's grounds include a replica of the slave quarters, the original mansion, and a beautiful lane of 300 year-old oak trees leading from the house to the Mississippi river. Beautiful place, sad history.
The Oak Alley lane :)
Not pictured: Clark also took me to "The Spotted Cat," a local jazz bar where we could experience some of that classic New Orleans jazz.
And boy was it hot there! Family and friends tried warning us about humidity, but of course, as Southern Californians, we didn't know what they were talking about. Turns out, humidity is a real thing. And no one was kidding when they described how wet it feels!
Next stop: The unbelievably green and gorgeous land of Georgia.
No comments:
Post a Comment