Well hi y'all, greetings from New Orleans.
This morning we started the day early with a visit Airboat Adventures down at Bayou Barataria in Lafitte, south of New Orleans. As the name suggests, we were off on an airboat adventure. Inside the Airside Adventures building was a large tank which contained two Gators, one of which was an Albino Gator.
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| The Headquarters of Airboat Adventures...and our car in front |
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| An Albino Gator |
The tour out on the Bayou went for around an hour-and-a-half and predominently consisted of looking for Gators (yes,
Alligators), and powering through corridors of swampland on an airboat designed to carry around 12 passengers. On our tour there were only six passengers. The tour guide was hilarious with regular invitations for one of us to volunteer to be eaten by an alligator. He also spoke of the Rougaroo a legendary swamp creature who is pretty much the equivalent of the Yowie. The boat was very fast and the sliding turns were awesome.
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| The official wrist band that allows me access to the airboat |
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| Yikes!!! It's an 8-footer |
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| Our tour guide / Drive / Comedian |
The highlight of the tour was getting the opportunity to actually handy a live Alligator. The Alligator we all got to hold was called Kit (Killer In Training), so we had to be very careful. Strangely, everyone wants suddenly quite when Maureen said that Kit looked just like a handbag.
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| 'Kit' the Alligator |
At the end of our fun and adventure down in the Bayou, we headed back towards the city. We first stopped for lunch at 'DQ' and it actually took me a while to realise that DQ stands for 'Dairy Queen'; but the food and service were top notch for a fast food restaurant. We then headed into town to visit the National World War II Museum. The museum is relatively new and both astounding and sombre at the same time. Many of the images and videos were very confronting and the displays are brilliant. For example, there is the note from Roosevelt giving approval to drop Nuclear Bombs on Japan. The aircraft display in the main hall comprises a DC3 and Spitfire which were fantastic in that the aircraft weren't all pristine - they looked very much as they would have during the war.
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| I couldn't help but be mesmerised by this Congressional Medal of Honour which is the US equivalent of our Victoria Cross. So sad that this one was awarded posthumously. |
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| Supermarine Spitfire |
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| The main entry foyer |
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| Douglas DC-3 |
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| Douglas DC-3 and Supermarine Spitfire |
We then headed across the road to the US Freedom Pavilion - The Boeing Centre which housed an array of aircraft including a B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 Mitchell, Dauntess, Avenger, Corsair, P-51 Mustang and the nose section of a B-24 Liberator.
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| Douglas SBD Dauntess |
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| General Motors TBM Avenger |
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| B-17 Flying Fortress |
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| B-17 Flying Fortress |
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| Douglas SBD Dauntess |
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| Vought F-4U Corsair |
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| B-17 Flying Fortress |
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| B-17 Flying Fortress |
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| North American B-25 Mitchell |
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| Vought F-4U Corsair |
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| Douglas SBD Dauntess |
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| Sal, is there something you want to tell me? |
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| Family photo in front of the US Freedom Pavilion - The Boeing Centre |
After being captivated by a museum that I would rate as a must-see in New Orleans, we headed off to the French Quarter because that's what you have to do in New Orleans. We first hunted down a Record Store in the district and then set about walking the streets and picking up souveneirs. We also walked the famous/infamous Bourbon Street and...let's just say we saw some eye-opening things. I think Sal would have been in his element.
BTW, there's not too many pics in this section, because this is a 'G-Rated' Blog.
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| Kyle gets some left-hand-drive experience in the French Quarter Carpark |
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| Peaches Record Store - Not overly impressive |
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| Bourbon Street - Not for the faint-hearted |
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| The view down Bourbon Street |
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| The French Quarter is filled with beautiful old buildings |
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| The Mississippi River and in the distance is the Crescent City Connection bridges |
Well that's all for New Orleans, tomorrow we head off to Pensacola, Florida. Oh and as I write this blog, this region all the way to Pensacola is under Tornado Watch.
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| The red sections represent 'Tornado Watch' areas |
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