NOLA, Continued

After the French Quarter, and recharging my phone battery at my Hotel Room, I walked to Lafayette Square. I took some photos of the monuments there and then turned up St. Charles Ave. toward the Harmony Circle.

From the Harmony Circle, I took a left down Andrew Higgins Blvd. There, I arrived at the National World War II Museum.

This was a great museum. It starts in the 1920s, discussing the causes of the war from the wave of poverty that caused citizens to accept dictators, to regional conflicts that were ready to explode. I didn’t leave enough time to see the whole thing, but I really enjoyed what I did see.

Also, I purchased tickets to Beyond all Boundaries, narrated by Tom Hanks. It was in “4D” which meant that it had haptic controls in your seat to feel plane engines and explosions. It was about an hour long and worth the bump in the Museum’s admission price.

After the Museum, I stopped at Boulevard American Bistro for Dinner before going back to the hotel for the night.

The following morning, I went out on the Trolley Cars. I bought a Jazzy Pass on the NORTA iPhone app. I rode all the way out to Marsalis Harmony Park. I saw an interesting little statue that was a rallying point for emergency evacuations.

Then, I rode back to Canal Street, where I caught another Trolley out to New Orleans City Park. There, I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art. It was a smaller Museum than the others I have visited recently (National Art Museums of Mexico and Ireland), but it had a huge sculpture garden. Each time I thought I was near the end of it, I saw more path with more sculptures.

I took the trolley back to the other end of Canal Street (outside Caesar’s Palace) while watching the first half of the Liverpool game against PSV. I had an late lunch at Bobby’s Burgers in the Caesar’s food court and went back to the hotel to pack.

After packing, I had a late dinner at Maria’s Oyster and Wine Bar, which was excellent. Then got to sleep early, so I could get to the airport early.

The next day, Thanksgiving, I was home.

If you’d like to see more pictures, they’re in my Flickr Album.

Believe it or not, that’s all AI.

While on the road in New Orleans, I created this picture with Gemini and sent it to my wife. Some things to consider when viewing this photo:

I didn’t have any blue jeans with me.
I never bought that shirt.
I took the background picture this morning and the shirt picture last night.
The pic of me, I took on the train.
Notice that my watch is missing because the AI created the hands without a reference photo.

So, next time you see something you don’t believe, you know that AI can do that.

So, (The City of ) New Orleans

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to take a train called The City of New Orleans, a train that I’d never tried before, to New Orleans, a city I’ve never visited before.

I did this. I wasn’t all that impressed by the train.

The food was awful, especially in the way it was prepared. For example, my instant oatmeal in my continental breakfast had been microwaved in the kitchen and placed on a shelf for my 7:30 breakfast time (which I specified when I ordered it the night before). Even though I got there at 7:20, there was no one working the dining car until 7:45. So, by the time that I got the cup of oatmeal, it had a consistency of rubber and had taken the shape of the cup.

The train was old and in rough shape. There were scars in the exterior showing how many times it had hit things. The electricity in my car failed. Because I needed the power for medical equipment, I was moved to another car. The other passengers were told to charge their phones in the observation car, as the electricity would not be fix before the end of the trip.

These seem like small inconveniences, but after already being on the Empire Builder for a couple of days where everything worked out well, these events just highlighted the differences.

I did see some good scenery but didn’t take that many pictures. I didn’t meet any people, due to the seat yourself policy in the dining car. I value this part of traveling on the Empire Builder and Pacific Coast Starlight.

After 20 hours on the City of New Orleans, I finally arrived in the city of New Orleans. This was immediately evident by the Superdome passing by my window.

A short Uber ride later, and I was at my hotel (The Mercantile Hotel). The hotel would benefit from floor plans for their rooms. The reservation said that I had a suite. However, I’m certain that would attract more business if they showed that “suite” meant, bathroom, living room, bedroom, and sitting area. They offered a continental breakfast which I enjoyed both mornings that I was there. The brick-faced walls added a lot of character to the experience, as did the record player complete with jazz albums.

Being in the Warehouse Historic District, I was a short walk from the Riverwalk Mall, Harrah’s and Caesar’s casinos, countless restaurants, and 3 trolley lines.

On the first morning, I walked to the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets. From there, I walked the length of Bourbon street, then back down Royal street to pass by Paul Morphy’s childhood home, now a restaurant.

From Canal and Royal, I walked to Jackson Square. I took some photos of the statues, Christmas trees, and buildings.

Jackson Square from the base of the Christmas tree across the street.

From there, I walked through the French market, which was a lot like Pike Street Market in Seattle and took a trolley back to my hotel to recharge my phone and my legs.

To be continued…