New Orleans, LA

The Natchez Trace Pkwy was an easy ride, and probably would have been fun for us to explore, if it hadn’t rained all day the day we were driving it. We did stop at one museum along the way, but that was about it. We also took one wrong turn which was a big mistake. Most of the museums, trails, and scenic views require you to turn into a parking area that isn’t totally visible from the main road. No problem, except, after we made this particular turn into the road to the parking lot there was a sign that said “No RV Turn around”. It would have been more effective if the sign had been visible before the turn off. 30 minutes and many frayed nerves later, Paul finished his 20 point turn and we got out of there. That pretty much soured us on taking any more turns off the main road. We did spend the night at the free campground on the Pkwy and it worked out awesome for us. It was our first FREE night, with no fee! Once we arrived at New Orleans, we were immediately happy with our decision to pay more to stay within walking distance of the French Quarter. The RV Park is the nicest one we’ve been in, with great sites for parking, a great hot tub and pool, and we were greeted by a guy wearing a SUIT! Hahaha. More upscale than we needed but it served our purpose well. Our first night we decided to walk to the French Quarter, just to check it out. Many hours later we staggered back home. We tried a “Hurricane” which is one of the strongest drinks around. Bourbon Street is one of my new favorite places. Similar in spirit to Duval Street in Key West. So much music coming from so many venues! People everywhere, walking down the street with drinks in their hands, wandering from one club to the next. Its so Alive! The weather was perfect for it- in the high 70s. The next day, during the daylight hours we walked to the river front- almost took the ferry over to Algiers, but decided at the last minute to not do it. We walked Canal street, ate lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter, and headed home to rest up for night time. This time our plan was to walk down to Frenchman Street where most of the Jazz music is played. I don’t know, maybe we were just in the wrong mood, but it was so quiet there, we lost interest after a while, and headed back to Bourbon Street, for another lively evening. Halloween in New Orleans is similar to Mardi Gras, but on a smaller scale. The buildings are decorated, the bars are decorated, there are parades, music, you name it. Eminem performed last night and tonight KISS is performing live downtown. Yesterday we moved to our new park, just outside the city- we’ll take their shuttle into town, then have to take a cab back. We washed the Everest yesterday- took us a loooong time. I have no idea how it got so dirty! Most RV parks won’t let you wash the RV, so we took advantage of the fact that this one does. Today is Halloween so we are headed into town for an early dinner, hopefully we’ll be in time to see the parade…..