The Big Easy

Two years ago, we came through New Orleans on our way out of Texas. Despite the fact that we had both been there before, separately, several times, we had a ball rediscovering it together. We had so much fun that time, there was no way we were going to drive past without stopping for a few days.

While there was some construction beginning in the lower ninth ward, much remained to be done as witnessed by this sign near our very upscale campground.
New Orleans, however, has always prided itself on its touch of whimsy never far from the surface.

Despite the tragedy that visited here a few years ago, the city has retained its sense of humor, even if steeped in irony as this sign indicates. On Sunday morning, we discovered a paper in the restaurant in which we breakfasted, "The New Orleans Levee" (its motto is "We don't hold anything back"). It was packed cover to cover with pointedly humorous articles aimed at just about every facet of New Orleans life and every political leaning. One of the articles was about Katrina the Clown's faux candidacy. One plank of her platform was that she would negotiate with future hurricanes. We believe that every city in the World should be able to make fun of itself the way New Orleans does.

The most recognizable place in New Orleans, perhaps in the entire South, is the Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral area.

No visit to New Orleans would be complete unless you left stuffed to the gills. While there are lots of upscale restaurants in the Big Easy, it isn't necessary to spend a lot of money to eat well. This is "Pierre Maspero's". We've eaten here twice in the last few years, and been very pleased with the food, service, and the value both times.

This is "The Coffee Pot Restaurant". It is alleged to have the ugliest chandelier in New Orleans. Here it is, judge for yourself. Breakfast here was, however, a truly memorable experience. Penny had a fabulous, uniquely New Orleans variation on Eggs Benedict, and Ted had a delicious omelet based on Oysters Rockefeller.

We ate at "Coop's" our last evening here. It has a very good jambalaya, but the red beans and rice with tasso were the best. This is their kitchen. In the front window is a cat bed complete with cat. We both wondered how they ever passed a health inspection. Never happen in Portland, OR!

The produce in the French Market is always unique. There were several baskets of sugar cane.

Residents of New Orleans are always ready to party, any time, any place. We thought this fire hydrant table was a really clever idea. Again, I doubt this would be possible in Portland, OR.

They love their Saints here. We had a lot of fun walking past several bars on Sunday while the Saints were playing. With every score, and when the game was over and New Orleans had won a squeaker, each place erupted in cries of "Who dat, who dat, who dat say de gonna beat dem Saints?"

New Orleans is known for its street entertainers. There were good (and some bad) musicians, kids in tap lines, and just about any other act imaginable. We liked this fellow who stood completely motionless as he climbed a ladder to nowhere with a 2x4 on his shoulder.

The Big Easy has always been a city of contrasts. One of them is illustrated in this row of tarot card/palm/aura readers and psychics in front of St Louis Cathedral. Just down the street is a shop specializing in voodoo artifacts.

Many of these street artists were quite talented. Penny and I both commented that we would like to have some of their wares in our home when we decide to go back to living in a house without wheels.

Across downtown from the hurdy-gurdy of the French Quarter lies the elegance of the Garden District illustrated in this house.

Here, New Orleans readies itself for Christmas in its unique style. Arguably, the second most recognizable place in New Orleans, the Jax Brewery is decked with garlands, wreaths, and bows. Not easily visible from this angle, a fleur-de-lis tops the Christmas tree.

Penny and I have decided that when our rich uncle dies (neither of us is aware that we have one), we want a place in New Orleans with a courtyard similar to this one to go with our flat in New York and our cabin in the mountains.

Into and out of Alabama

From Ocala, we headed to Foley, Alabama. We've enjoyed our time on the East Coast, but after turning onto I-10 we both commented on how good it was to be heading west again.

The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile passed us near Pensacola. Note the wieners on buns in the area of the instrument cluster and the glove compartment. I'm still not sure I liked being passed by a weenie.
We were now back where leaves were turning in deciduous forests.

Where else but Alabama would you find a Spear Hunting Museum.

Here along the Alabama Coast, cotton fields like this one blended easily into luxury condominiums and hotels. Those piles under the tarps are cotton. We saw a couple of cotton fields that remained unpicked.

The times have not been kind to the Alabama Gulf Coast. Many of the large high-rise hotels and condominiums were mostly unoccupied. I counted a grand total of six cars in the parking lot of this one. We don't think everyone could have gone home for the holidays. Actually, kinda spooky.

We stayed at the Bella Terra, a nice RV park near Foley, Alabama. It is new, and very well done. When these Palms and the other plantings mature, it has the potential to be something special. Winter temperatures here average only about five degrees cooler than Southern Florida, so they are positioning themselves as a place for snowbirds to alight.

Foley is not far from Mobile, so we decided to go there one day. Hurricanes have played a significant part in shaping this area. In the Gulf Shores area, it was Ivan. Here in Mobile, it was Frederic, commemorated here. Of course, not too far away, Katrina wreaked havoc.

In Mobile, the remote past, the recent past, and the present seem to meld easily into each other. These two interesting high rises were near the Mobile waterfront.

Only a few hundred feet away, these historic homes recall a different time.

This plaque commemorates one of the more shameful eras of our past. One of the largest slave markets in the south was at Mobile for some time.

Mobile has a large military presence. Here, the past and the present also merge. This is the USS Independence. It is an advanced member of a group known as LCSs or Littoral Combat Ships. It was built by the Austal shipyards here. It was designed to perform multiple missions in as little as twenty feet of water at speeds in excess of forty knots.

This is Fort Conde'. During the American Revolution, it was wrested from the English by our allies in that war, the Spanish.

Representing World War II is the battleship, USS Alabama, permanently docked in Mobile Bay. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific, seeing action from Sicily to Tinian. Although there were casualties aboard her due to accidents, and she was damaged in hostilities, she never lost a man due to enemy action, thus her nickname, "Lucky A".

You may remember that Mobile Bay was where Admiral David Farragut is alleged to have uttered the immortal words "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" during his successful assault to close the Confederacy's last major port on the Gulf during the Civil War.

This Phantom jet is a reminder of the Vietnam Era.

From Alabama, we went to New Orleans. There are long causeways such as this one along both the eastern and western approach to New Orleans.

We are, as we post this entry, at the French Quarter RV Resort. This is the view of downtown New Orleans out our front window. Out our side window, just across Rampart Street, is the French Quarter.

Let the good times roll.

Naples & Ft. Myers

From Miami, we drove to the Gulf side of Florida along the Tamiami Trail through the Northern Everglades.

Most of the problems in the Everglades are due to the relentless encroachment of Miami and other residential communities. While inappropriate, often obsolete, agricultural techniques contribute to environmental issues here, the crops in this part of the world are, nevertheless fascinating. Here, a field of banana trees is being cultured.

Here is a field of royal palms ready for transplant.

The first night we were in Naples, we went downtown for dinner. We ate at a Spanish and Mexican restaurant named Meson Ole. While that may be a rather unusual combination in many places, due to the strong Spanish and Mexican influences in Naples, it is not surprising here. This small suit of armor that we called Don Quixote guarded the entrance. There were a lot of great little shops here too, and Penny found some nice clothes in one of them.
The next day, Penny went to find some craft supplies. While she was looking, I hung out next door at perhaps the best Home Depot I have ever seen. I've never seen so many colorful bromeliads as those on this table.
This table was all orchids. Gardening would be such a kick in this part of the world.

A few miles east of Naples is the Big Cypress National Preserve. This big guy was at the entrance.

The clear waters were full of these Florida gar. You can use the lighter colored fins to spot this one.

Here's a male anhinga swimming. Its alternate name is snakebird due to the way it swims with only it's head out of the water, much like a snake.

This mossy backed turtle hung about near the surface. It's head is to the left beneath the straw running from the upper left toward the lower center.

Walking catfish are an invasive species in the area. Here a double-crested cormorant does his part to help remove them.

A black-crowned night heron tries to get a little sleep before night comes and it's time to hunt again.

We felt fortunate to see a wood stork at a distance in the southern Everglades. Here we found two more only a few feet off the road.

Near Ft. Myers is the Sanibel Island Wildlife Preserve. This sign warns drivers to beware of crossing gopher turtles. There were several signs for the endangered Florida panther. Last year, twenty of the eighty known cats were killed on highways.While most of us think of cacti as limited to the dry desert southwest, this epiphytic cactus is dependent on lots of water and very high humidity. An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another one, but does not parasitize it in any way. Epiphytes of all types including orchids, Spanish moss, and bromeliads are plentiful in this area.

Much of this preserve is red mangrove thickets, but there are also white and black mangrove present here.

We saw groups of dunlins like these along the banks of the many estuaries.

This little blue heron was on the bank, and seemed to be quite comfortable with our presence.

As did this beautiful yellow-crowned night heron.

Leaving the island, we saw this osprey standing guard on his nest over the causeway. We couldn't decide if this was a double-decker nest, or the bottom pile was pieces of the upper nest that had fallen through. Penny's parents, who must be in birder's heaven, are clapping with delight over our interest in winged creatures.

That night, we arrived home to see this beautiful full moon shining through the palms. Thus ended another great day on the road. Time to retire for the night and start thinking about our next adventure.