New Orleans in our time!

Our second visit to New Orleans went quite well. Weather was good, the famcamp at NAS New Orleans was very nice and we were glad to be there.  We will definitely make a 3rd and maybe more visits now we know!

As you may remember we arrived there from Red Bay AL in far NW and cold AL.  NAS New Orleans is a small joint reserve base south of New Orleans on the very edge of the suburban limits on the delta of the mighty Mississippi River.

USMC display helicopter

An A-4 attack jet

LA highway 23 runs on the west side of the river and in Belle Chasse the base on the west side of the highway the river on the other side.  Of course high flood control berms are between the river and the highway.  At the base we are about 15 easy miles on good roads to the French Quarter. 

Louisiana Citrus

It is 70+ miles south along the river road to the gulf and river mouth. We took the trip one day just to see the territory. Less than a mile from the base and we are in open country, to the west is open wetlands mainly but there are homes and small businesses along the road. There are a few small towns along the way but no major concentrations of populated areas. 

A partial view of one of the refineries 

Some of the remaining wetlands toward the end of LA 23

River traffic at sunset!

One surprise I got was Louisiana Citrus.  A small but thriving fresh fruit business exists along this highway.  Main product in Navel oranges with lesser amounts of Satsuma oranges which are like a tangerine, easy to peel and very sweet.  I was in a UPS store one day to mail a package and there were stacks and stacks of relatively small boxes proudly labeled "Louisiana Citrus" being mailed out.  We of course bought some of the citrus while in the area and it was delicious!  We took a few bags with us when we left. 

Our first visit to New Orleans was on our honeymoon, 40+ years ago.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I visited New Orleans on the way to San Antonio TX to attend Officer Training School and again after commissioning with my Dad and sister Marla who came out for commissioning ceremony. But that is a tale for another day!) When BJ and I were last there we enjoyed the night in the French Quarter and rested during the day! This time we switched and enjoyed a few days in the French Quarter and rested at night! 

One of the bombers on display 

And a suspended fighter at the WW II Museum

The National WW II Museum was a highlight of the trip for me.  It originally started out as the National D-Day Museum but was "upgraded" to include all of WW II later.  I believe the original impetus was to recognize Andrew Higgins and his boats. General Dwight Eisenhower attributed a lot of the D-Day success to the Higgins boat which were the landing crafts that took some many of the troops and supplies right to the beach. Higgins was a New Orleans native and he came up with the basic design of the landing craft that was so successfully used in both the European campaign and the Pacific Theater. The museum certainly told the story of the boats, but that was just part of story.

The exhibits, while telling the big picture, featured a lot of stories of individual efforts during the war. Of friends and relatives lost (and sometimes reunited), of the privations of families and individuals to support the war effort. They had gathered interviews from the war years as well as more current ones from the people that experienced it firsthand.  All in all a very well done museum.  A repeat visit will definitely be on to-do list next time we visit NOLA! 

In the French Quarter we saw the St Luis Cathedral, a magnificent cathedral built in the very early days of New Orleans and still an active place of worship.

St Luis Cathederal 

The sanctuary 

The big picture

It is on Jackson Square for Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans that was actually fought about two weeks after the treaty ending the war had been signed in Ghent, Belgium.  Word of the treaty signing had not reached New Orleans by then so the British attacked and lost over 2000 men, including the commanding general while Jackson’s forces lost 8 men!  Even though the war was over, the decisive victory was a great source of pride to our new nation. That was also the last battle between the US and the British!

After a week in NOLA we were getting itchy feet to move on so we headed out toward TX our future home for 4 months. We have about 5 weeks to WAT before starting our volunteer gig in February and were anxious to get started seeing TX! 

So we packed up and headed west!    

Always at home, no matter where we are!!