3/17/2019

Weekly Update 3/17/2019

Well, I’m home again, and it feels good. The flights were, well, what they are. I didn’t like them, but there’s not another way to do this. Each time I swear never again, but I know I’ll get my courage up, try to calm down, and get myself where I need to go next time.

Once in New Orleans, I relaxed a bit and recharged my toys. My room is nice - very nice. I went out and walked around a bit on my own. I stopped at a Beignet Cafe – oh my!  I had an iced coffee mocha and very very fresh and warm beignets.   As I was leaving, I slopped chocolate coffee on my blue lace shirt, and I'd already spread powdered sugar everywhere on my lap. I’m not going to fit in well with this crowd of The Landings residents. There were 12 of us altogether on the trip from Savannah, and all very nice. Dinner that night was a planned meal at Brennan’s Restaurant. The meal was followed by a slide show presentation about the history of New Orleans, and some photos of what we would be seeing. I don't think anyone went out for music, but we just went back to the hotel, which was ok with me. I was back in room 221 by 10. 

my room

iced coffee and beignets

After a good sleep, we began with a walking tour in the French Quarter, and lunch at Muriel's which was good, but too much; I needed a nap.  After that we went to the Cabildo Museum Tour - more New Orleans history, in fact, more of the same info.  And we had to rush through it to get to the 1850 House Tour. Following that, we trekked to the Hermann-Grima House Museum.  Now we're talking - historic house museums!  Others on the tour were kind and asked that I join them for dinner and we decided to go to a place not far from the hotel.  Since I generally don't do much, I was tired, and went to bed early.

Jackson Square

a lot of lovely iron work

the group ready to enter the Hermann-Grima House

the parlor of the 1850 House

On Wednesday, we met the bus at the hotel, and drove about 40 minutes to the first plantation we visited - Whitney Plantation. It was terrifically moving, as it focused exclusively on the slavery experience in the South. As we handed in our tickets, we were given a badge with a name and the photo of a statue on it. At the church (antioch - ANTI YOKE), there were many statues of young slaves. We needed to find the one who matched our picture. We also learned the story of that person. They were all born into slavery, but as old people, told stories of what they remembered to be written down in a WPA project. As we listened to the talk, I had the eerie feeling that the "children" were all watching me. The entire plantation, and the story it told, was incredible. And yet, just as during the Slavery in Savannah Tour last week, I did not get a feeling of anger, of trying to instill guilt, of animosity. I felt healing, the quest for understanding, and the gratitude for being able to tell the story. After that, we went to Oak Alley. That was mostly about the rich sugar cane plantation and exhibiting the wealth of the owners, with only a slight nod to their enslaved people. They tried to incorporate the enslaved people’s stories, but after Whitney, it was lame. Then on to the final stop, Laura Plantation. Again, we learned a lot about Creoles and wealth and sugar cane, with a nod to the enslaved people. But this guide (I thought, and maybe she just seemed this way to me) was patronizing toward the enslaved peoples.

me and my "child", Hunton Love

this is his story, toldin the 1930s

the Big House at Whitney Plantation

some of the slave quarters, and sugar cane trams in the background

on the porch at Oak Alley 

Oak Alley plantation

Laura Plantation

We had free time in the evening and I wanted a picture of the gold statue of Joan of Arc that we had hurriedly passed yesterday. As I was walking, I went past another Cafe Beignet, and decided on supper. I got my donuts to go, but there was interesting jazz band, and (I mean, really, it's not a BAR, it's a donut shop, so I didn’t feel too funny about sitting there alone) I got a frozen mango margarita. I listened for a while then, packed up my drink and walked a little further to find the statue. As luck would have it, I passed a Christmas Shop, and as luck would have it, they had a Mardi Gras nutcracker!  I was not far from Jeanne d'Arc, so I took a couple of photos, then headed back toward the hotel. I was offered to join the group for dinner again, but declined, the beignets were filling enough.

Joan of Arc

music at the Cafe Beignet

We didn't meet until 9:30 on Thursday morning. We took a street car to the Garden District and enjoyed an overly long walking tour. You seen one wealthy white man's antebellum Mansion, you seen 'em all and don't need to go on and on. But each really was more impressive than the last. We also wandered through Lafayette Cemetery. I don’t think this is the best one in New Orleans, but it was the only one we got to, and I believe it was typical.We ate at the Commodores Palace, which had the dress code (and I dragged my Clark's with me so I could change). It's historic, it's famous, and the food was really great!

the oldest continually running street car system in the US

each house was more beautiful than the one before

what's not to like about an old cemetery?

not exactly BC

The Commodore's Palace

Then back to the hotel on the street car for a quick refresher. After we had about an hour to freshen up a bit, we met again to walk to the River Boat Cruise. The buffet sucked, but all buffets do. After eating (and 2 whiskey sours), I went up to the top deck to enjoy the views as we paddled away from the city. There was some good Dixieland Jazz to entertain us. After we got back to the dock, a few wanted to go to hear fellow-traveler, Libby's, friend play at the Spotted Cat. I didn’t stay long, but I really enjoyed the music - Johnny Mercer, Ella Fitzgerald, 40s blues.

our riverboat

the Dukes of Dixieland

jazz at the Spotted Cat

Then, Friday was a L-O-N-G day of travel.  I was glad to be able to go to New Orleans, but equally glad to be home again.  

a few more random photos of the travels:

our senior citizens inc. group

with my Doug's Fish Fry bumper sticker

there used to be a statue of Robt E Lee on this pedestal but it was recently removed

we visited just after Mardi Gras, but there were traces of the fun, like all the beads in the trees along the parade routes

one of my souvenirs (the other is additional, unwanted pounds from all the great food)

the New Orleans skyline along the Mississippi River