** New Orleans: PHOTO journal @ Western Caribbean & NOLA post-cruise (Sept. 2012) **

[daliflor]

 

 

With so much food intake, one must burn the calories... or part of them! : - ))

 

 

 

On Monday afternoon, our group split: some of our friends took a "Swamp Tour" that afternoon

(despite the cold weather and rain warnings) and the "Plantation Tour" the next day.

 

 

We decided to use the cloudy afternoon to explore some more of the fascinating French Quarter

and trusted that the forecast will be much better the next day

(when we pre-booked online the "Swamp Tour" and the "Plantation Tour" too -

a combo tour completed the same day).

 

[daliflor]

 

After ensuring that our friends were picked-up at the hotel for their "Swamp Tour,"

we headed around the corner to the Canal Street and continued to explore the French Quarter.

 

 

 

** Just a quick note to point out a gem that we passed after exiting the Harrah's Casino.... the "Mother's" Restaurant

(often times mentioned in fellow CC members' reviews)

 

 

According to their website:

 

We speak a little differently here at Mother’s, we speak “baby, darling and sweetheart,”

so here’s a dictionary to help you with our menu.

 

You might want to print it out before you arrive, ’cause we don’t like lollygaggers hanging up the line.

 

Black Ham:

the crisp, caramelized crust from the world’s best baked ham

 

Creolized:

The blending of traditional French recipes and ingredients with those of Africa, Spain, Italy, Germany and

the Caribbean that produced the unique flavors that New Orleans home cooking is known for.

 

[mafig]

We'll be staying at Harrah's in April. Everyone is telling us

Don't eat at the buffet! However, from your pictures it looks pretty good. So, if you had to pay for it, would you?:)

Edited February 11, 2013 by mafig

[daliflor]

We'll be staying at Harrah's in April.

 

Everyone is telling us

Don't eat at the buffet!

 

However, from your pictures it looks pretty good. So, if you had to pay for it, would you?:)

 

Truth being told, I was just not hungry at the time and wanted to take a pass on the Buffet.

 

In addition, it is my understanding that prices change during the same day and also based on the day of the week too.

 

(FYI - price wasn't a issue/factor because that particular day was reasonable

meaning under $20.00 USD/pp with drinks being billed separately)

 

However, from what I gathered eating there, there were some hits and also some missed items.

 

I was only tasting practically, so everything that I had a bite of was fresh, I must say.

 

Shrimps and oysters were really tasty, same for the Mac & cheese that my friends had.

 

Next to our table, however, the gentleman complained about the beef and the veggies not being cooked properly.

 

The desserts section had an attended behind the glass and the presentation was nice

but the items were mostly ok with the coconut cake being awesome though!

 

On the bright side, that day the staff was fantastic: from the cashier to the people cleaning the tables constantly and

some type of floor supervisor/manager that tried to attend the complianing guests promptly.

 

Bottom line: it will be a matter of personal taste and also... luck!

[daliflor]

OK, a quick detour...

 

Since our friends went on a Swamp Tour that afternoon, here are some of their images:

 

 

Drop- off point (after the van picked them up from the hotel; tour company suggested by the Concierge)

 

 

 

All aboard!

 

See the Cajuns of the Bayou living and surviving in harmony with the swamps.

 

Here, the waterways are their highways!

 

 

(M & E's pictures)

[daliflor]

More images from our friends' SWAMP Tour that Monday afternoon!

 

Seen some of the wildlife that made the Barataria Swamps the Crown Jewel of the Louisiana Purchase.

 

Here, birds, snakes, turtles, fur animals, and Gators are the king of the swamp and easily spotted.

 

 

From the comfort of their covered Swamp Tour Boat, our friends drifted slowly past

a 2000 year old Indian Burial Mound, a Cajun cemetery and Fishing village!

 

 

(M & E's pictures)

[daliflor]

Last images from our friends' SWAMP Tour that Monday afternoon:

 

 

Gators do hibernate during the cold winter months, but lay on the bayou banks on warmer days.

 

 

(M & E's pictures)

[daliflor]

Back to the streets of the French Quarters... Monday afternoon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a tourist, one can easily identify many things that make the New Orleans French Quarter different from other places.

 

One of them: it is easy to spot the colorful plants and ferns that people use to decorate those historic buildings.

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

The French Quarter balconies look great with the hearty plants or hanging ferns... wrought iron and French doors.

 

Those decorative details make the New Orleans French Quarter a more livable and beautiful place to visit.

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

New Orleans French Quarter streets can be much quieter than many people would think.

 

The residentail areas tend to be much quieter and historic and sooo beautiful.

 

It ain’t all Bourbon Street : - ))

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

The bronze statue @ the Bienville Place -

the triangular park between North Peters and Decatur streets at Conti Street

 

In March of 1718, Bienville started a settlement called

New Orleans on the banks of the Mississippi.

 

Life was not easy in the Crescent City from the beginning.

 

 

Tid bit of histroy is that Bienville was born in Montreal, Canada on February 23rd of 1680.

 

The statue is of a native Indian and a Priest at 400 Decatur in a small park called Bienville Place.

 

 

The statue (showing Bienville in colonial attire) was sculpted by artist Angela Gregory in 1955

for the Louisiana Purchase Sesquicentennial Commission.

 

 

 

Well, it wasn't the day of the SuperBowl XLVII...

 

Still, the power (electricity) seems to be only 50% in New Orleans:

 

[daliflor]

 

 

New Orleans offers a HUGE selection of Masquerade ball masks, Feather Masks

including the very popular Venetian Mask Styles:

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

In New Orleans' shops, handmade works of art meet the masquerading traditions of

Carnival, Mardi Gras, Halloween, and costuming for all occasions.

 

 

 

No longer confined to the historic French Quarter or the parades along St. Charles Avenue,

the splendor and mystery are now available to everyone!

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

Masks have been worn during New Orleans’ Mardi Gras balls for centuries.

 

 

It is also a tradition to wear a mask on Mardi Gras Day to disguise oneself for the revelry.

 

 

The word "throw" is used to show that those necklaces were mainly purchased in a great quantity

so they can be thrown during the festivities from a balcony or Mardi Gras float.

 

That's how history has made Mardi Gras Throw Beads a famous part of the Mardi Gras tradition.

 

 

French Quarter - colorful jewelry, masks and beads, jazz and drinks!

 

 

Enchanting and grotesque masks add to the mysteriousness of Mardi Gras as only a hint

of seductive lips and enticing eyes give a sign as to who hides beneath the mask.

 

[daliflor]

 

All the streets in New Orleans lead to... historic Jackson Square!

 

 

For well over a half-century, an open-air artist colony has thrived at Jackson Square,

with artists painting, drawing and displaying their work on the outside of the iron fence.

 

 

Under the shade of the oak trees, you can sit and have a pastel portrait done in about 1/2 hour.

 

 

[daliflor]

 

Adjacent to Jackson Square on the Mississippi River are the Shops at Jax Brewery,

the Washington Artillery Park river overlook, and the French Market complex.

 

 

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

On the northwest side, Chartres Street, stood a church (now Saint Louis Cathedral)

and the governor's mansion (the Cabildo).

 

 

 

JACKSON SQUARE -

 

In the center of the square stands one of three bronze statues of General Andrew Jackson, hero of New Orleans.

 

[daliflor]

 

In 1986 a third Cafe Du Monde was opened in the Rouse Co.'s Riverwalk Marketplace.

 

 

The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market.

 

The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so here we are - enjoying the famous beignets!

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

The Original Cafe Du Monde is a traditional coffee shop.

 

Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets,

White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice.

 

 

Beignets are square French-style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar.

 

They are served in orders of three.

 

 

The coffee is served Black or Au Lait.

 

Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk.

 

 

It is said that coffee first came to North America by way of New Orleans back in the mid-1700's.

 

It was successfully cultivated in Martinique about 1720,

and the French brought coffee with them as they began to settle new colonies along the Mississippi.

 

[sharpasice]

Your pictures are AMAZING...thank you so much for posting ..definitely now, my next cruise will be out of NOLA!!!

[daliflor]

Your pictures are AMAZING...thank you so much for posting ..

 

definitely now, my next cruise will be out of NOLA!!!

You're very kind, Linda. Thank you kindly for the positive feedback!

 

Indeed, NOLA is a must see place for anyone inside or outside U.S.! A unique experience; memorable too!

[daliflor]

 

 

 

Cafe du Monde - a great place to enjoy beignets with coffee while people watching along the Decatur Street.

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

"There is no gradual sliding into the (French) Quarter,

 

you go there to find something you cannot find elsewhere."

 

 

There is... "a mystique,

 

an ambiance as indefinable as a scent you once smelled and long to smell again.

 

 

There is a feeling of leisure that creeps into your bones with the damp;

 

the luxury of "don't have to get up in the morning,"

 

a slow sensuality that leaves you in bed longing for more of something good."

 

 

"For Quarterites it is the great love affair.

 

Light and music pour from doorways into the street,

here the carnival and there the quiet of candlelight.

A celebration of flesh, and an acknowledgement of the spirit."

 

 

"The faces of people, too, seem more vivid here.

 

A trick of Southern light, perhaps, the sun up when it should be set or after a rain."

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

"In the city of dreams

Lies the city's ghost

 

There's a beginning

There's a middle and an end in this city"

(of New Orleans)

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

"In the midst of the sea of dreams

Lies a perfect storm

In the sea of tears

Lies a city ghost.

 

In the spirit of the Mardi Gras

Well, the people hope

That their lives will get better

The people hope

That their lives will get better"

 

 

 

VIDEO (live music @ French Quarter in New Orleans):

 

 

"I wanna get a room in New Orleans

 

I wanna sing in the streets of the French Quarter!"

 

 

"I see a sea of smiles

I see a haunted city reachin' out

I see hope in all their faces

Behind the mask of Mardi Gras

Where the good and the righteous walk

And the wicked as well."

 

 

 

"I wanna get back to New Orleans

I wanna sing out in the streets of the French Quarter

 

I wanna dress up

I wanna wear beads."