We woke up early (about 6a) and packed. About 9a we moved our suitcases down to my parents’ unit and then headed out for breakfast and to do a little shopping. We went to Croissant D’Or, a bakery on Ursaline. It was OK, I had a breakfast sausage croissant, the kids bacon and eggs and hashbrowns. Headed down Royal to visit the Historic New Orleans Collection and to do some shopping. The Historic New Orleans Collection is in a neat old building and has temporary exhibitions on the first floor and a permanent collection on the second floor. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the permanent collection, but did enjoy the exhibition. It was about the Boswell Sisters, a harmony group of three sisters that was really famous in the 1930s. The group broke up in the late 1930s but sister Connee went on to fame as a solo artist and sang with Bing Crosby. There was a good ten or fifteen minute movie in one room and then on the other side of the lobby a room filled with artifacts from the group like fliers, instruments, and Connee’s chair (she was paralyzed by childhood polio and a fall from a wagon).
Entrance to our unit at The Courtyard Inn
Interior of the unit
Sign for Croissant d'Or
Interior of Croissant d'Or
Fancy room in the building housing the Historic New Orleans Collection
The Black Butterfly was still closed, but James H. Cohen and Sons anitques was open. That store was wonderful, it had coins from many periods (ancient Greek Athenian, recovered coins from Age of Piracy shipwrecks, and more modern coins) as well as many swords and guns from different eras. They had some local-painted miniatures as well but I didn’t see any that really caught my fancy. They had a Bank of Louisiana $10 bill from the early 1860s, its amount denoted by a Roman ten, “X”. French for ten is “dix” — thus where “dixie” came from. Interesting.
Walked the short distance to Cafe Beignet for some drink, then went through Jackson Square to Decatur where we went to Southern Candymakers and got some more pralines and other candy for the trip home. It was right at 11:30, time to meet the parents at Magnolia Grill on Decatur. I had bacon, fried eggs, and a hashbrown. Addison had chicken and waffles but was disappointed to find out that the chicken was not boneless, he had hoped to make a sandwich of it. The place was good, but unfortunately there was a very loud group nearby. As we left it started raining (for the first time since arriving). Genetta and Michelle went into a gift shop and, upon their return, we said farewell to my mom as she had to go to the doctor.
Final interesting (to me, at least) look at Saint Louis Cathedral
A building surrounding Jackson Square
The rest of us headed back to the unit. At one point a (very) drunk lady walked into the street in front of a truck and stood her ground, saying that the truck was not allowed to pass. He laid on the horn and she flashed him as her friends hauled her to the sidewalk. Crazy town. At the unit we moved the luggage to the curb and visited with dad until the shuttle arrived.
French Quarter buildings after a light rain
The ride to the airport was interesting, the driver weaved in and out of traffic. Seems nobody in New Orleans uses their turn signals. The flight to St. Louis (a surprise, as I thought we were flying through Florida) was slightly delayed but went off without a hitch. When we landed it was a very chilly 37F (contrast with 70s in both New Orleans and Raleigh). Made our connecting flight with ease, landing in Raleigh around 10:30p. Got picked up by Adrianne and Chad and were home and visiting with the kitties by 11:30p.
Southwest plane at Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans
All in all, a wonderful trip! We really lucked out with the weather and got to do a lot of fun and interesting things and had a great time with my parents.