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After our long drive yesterday we got a late start in reaching New Orleans. We contacted numerous hotels in the French Quarter, Garden District, and Midtown areas attempting to get reservations for tonight and tomorrow night. A huge teachers convention is in town and hotel rooms were scarce. Ann found a brochure at last night's motel that advertised a full day tour of the French Quarter, the swamp, and a plantation. We had planned to go there tomorrow but Ann has changed her mind after viewing the area where we would have to leave the van. We will take a swamp tour at Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours instead.
We contacted Emeril Lagasse's restaurant in New Orleans to make reservations for lunch or dinner but we found out that casual attire was not appropriate for the restaurant. We gave up on that idea.
Tourists were everywhere! We hadn't found a hotel yet so we just set out driving for downtown New Orleans. We checked all the hotels we saw mid-town and in the French Quarter. They advised us that they had overbooked and were sending their own customers with reservations to hotels outside of the city. We had hoped to get a hotel in the French Quarter or close to it so we could explore the area on foot. Instead, we took our huge van down one-way streets that were originally designed for horses, not cars. The French Quarter was charming but we marveled more at the non-tourist characters we witnessed there. One guy was dressed and spray painted gold; another was similarly colored in black. We never figured out the purpose for their attire.
After our drive through the French Quarter we parked the van and walked through the Riverwalk. We had lunch/dinner overlooking the Mississippi River. The Carnival Cruise ship Sensation was docked there. We watched passengers unloading from busses and embarking on the ship. We had two types of gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, corn fritters, shrimp creole, and shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. Yum!
The Riverwalk in New Orleans is nothing like the one in San Antonio. The Riverwalk here is merely an indoor mall (albeit a nice one) that parallels the river. Windows offer a glimpse of the river and there are a few places where one can walk outside and look out over the river. It has no soul, however.
The French Quarter has most of New Orleans' character. The number of tourists is astounding, though. We didn't take the time to walk around. It was just too crowded.
We're thinking about leaving New Orleans tomorrow after we do a swamp tour. We're not sure whether we should head for Mobile or for Atlanta. We have landed in the Motel Hell. I should never have complained about the other places. We found one hotel on the west bank with one room. We should have suspected problems. It's musty, dusty, old, and the shower doesn't work properly. Our allergies are standing at full attention. But it seems to be the only room left in New Orleans. Get me home to my own bed!
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