June 21: Samedi Gras

Today’s post is dedicatecd to the French Creole, which refers to the historic group of French born in the colonial western French territories outside of France (Wikipedia). Louisiana creole today are their descendents. They and their ancestors have created a unique place within the United States that should be considered a National Treasure. I find the history of New Orleans to be fascinating and unique. My college major was American Studies, which is the study of modern Americans people through history and geography. So, I study you.

“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child.” - Cicero

“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” - Winston Churchill

“Strong people are those who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at them.” - C.A. Matthews

The back bay of Biloxi

Back bay

Another bridge

Another long bridge

Eastern Louisiana University

New Orleans skyline

Drew is not at home.

Can you tell which came first? Look how close these two are together.

I had no idea this was here.

Contemporary Art Center

Harrah's Casino right in the middle of the downtown.

At the RV park and marina you can rent these house boats

Or, you can rent a little apartment

Or you can rent a tiny house

Today’s drive was going to be a quite short, so I added a couple of stops. First stop was the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, which was in Gulfport, Mississippi. It was built by the Dedeaux Clan of furniture makers in 1965. They started their furniture company in their old cow barn. They are famous for their “Magnolia State Rocker.” All the furniture they make is made from solid oak. After that it was a short way to Louisiana and then New Orleans.

I have reached the Big Easy, home of the Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), but I have reached it on Samedi Gras (Fat Saturday). In the surrounding areas coming into the city there are these big warehouse stores that are “Mardi Gras Supply” Stores. Last time I saw these big stores they were in Texas and they were selling Fireworks. When I reach a new city the first thing I like to do is drive through it without stopping, just taking pictutres and getting a feel for the architecture, it’s down town, the people on the street, and so on. Because I am a fan of the Saints and Drew Brees, I asked Siri to take me to the Super Dome, which she did not do. She took me to some neighborhood far from down town. It really is better to type in what you want from her rather than speech. If you remember the Super Dome was where so many people were evacuated to during Hurricane Katrina. So I went there first and from there downtown. Sadly Drew was not home. I took a lot of pictures. Lots of one way signs but they are different than other cities. You’ve heard me say that the streets are so narrow in other cities that they have to have one way streets. In New Orleans the streets are divided, so many of the streets are quite wide, but they have grass running down the middle. There are many different types of architecture, but you can see the French Quarter influence in at least one building on every street. The people in the downtown area were respectful of the traffic and the street signs. This is something I have rarely seen on my trip. I thought Texas had a lot of churches. New Orleans has a church on every corner and one in between.

Around 1:30-2:00, I went to the RV Park, Pontchartrain Landing, which is right on the water. I unhitched the trailer and got all the hookups hooked up. Then we ate lunch. I just had some cinnamon apples because my stomach was upset. My Chai Latte said Almond Milk on the side, but I can’t really taste the difference, so it may have had milk. Ugh, my stomach hurts.

After lunch we went down to the water to see what we could see. There were large paddle wheel boats to look at and plenty of birds to bark at. We then went to the dog park where we met a guy named Brian and his tiny dog, PupDaddy, a pomeranian chihuahua mix. Adorable. His name suits him; that little dog had some attitude. My plan as I wait for Yvette to get here on the 23rd is to just hang around here, get some sun by the pool and walk the dogs around for their exercise and mine. Oh yeah, laundry :0( I’ll do the New Orleans tourist stuff with her.