New Orleans - Part 2

The day after the wedding we had an entire day to spend in the city of New Orleans. We met up with almost everyone who was at the wedding for a beignet at Cafe du Monde and then we all set off on our own for a little exploring.

We first made the short trek over the levee to the mighty Mississippi. We had such perfect weather for this! In the photo above, I'm talking to my dad in Germany. He's been to New Orleans a few times an knew exactly where I was sitting - Daniel snapped that photo of me to send to him while we were talking - technology is so much fun for moments like that!

This was followed by a blurry selfie with Jackson Square and St. Louie Cathedral in the background.

We walked through the park toward the cathedral. While outside the park it was teeming with street art and tourists, in the park it was relatively quiet. I was surprised.

I love banana trees and always have to snap a photo or two - they still seem so exotic to me!

I checked for bananas but none of them were ripe yet.

Many of the buildings in New Orleans are quite old and have a very distinct style.

 One thing I noticed this time around were some of the very heavily planted second story balconies.

I think they would provide excellent privacy, but I wonder if there is still space to sit on those balconies. Maybe they just enjoy the lush greenery from inside.

And of course being there so close to Halloween everything seemed a little extra spooky.

This house seemed especially creepy to me.

And very nicely done!

While New Orleans isn't my absolute favorite city (I'm just not into the bar and party scene very much - or not at all to be precise), we both love the street musicians. We stayed and watched this band for a long time.

They looked somewhat bedraggled, but they were really very good. Look at that base!

At some point they had to clear the way for a short parade/rally that came through.

The tap dancer of the band kept tapping right along with the music of the rally. It was fun!

We ate some excellent food, which we didn't photograph. I know! How could we forget that?! I had shrimp and grits with a definite french influence and Daniel had Jambalaya. Delicious!!

The next day we left bright and early for our 10-hour drive back. When the sun came up over Lake Pontchartrain, it was so beautiful I snapped a photo out the (not very clean) car window.

I leave you with this shot of a gorgeous grackle above my lucky number at a gas station on the way home...

I wish you a beautiful weekend. Our day started out cold and windy. We went from summer temperatures last week to me contemplating turning on the heater this morning...

❧ Silke