Waking up after a short night of sleep after it was late yesterday. Construction work outside the window doesn’t help much. Quick shower, packing my bag and checking out. I will get a refund of 75 % (because of the festival, the rules are stricter, I found that in the contract).
Luggage gets into storage. I don’t want to run around with it all day. I bought a Jazzy Card for a day that gets me around on all buses and streetcars for 24 hours. 3 USD is not much. Getting towards Jackson square where my free walking tour starts at 10:45. Getting something to drink and some cash… they don’t have bakeries here or open supermarkets. So hopping over breakfast.
The sky is gray, but the next days shall be sunny if you trust weather.com. After a short visit to the catholic cathedral I get to the tourist information and then all hell breaks lose. The rain is coming down in buckets, combined with a nice thunderstorm. Not a drizzle, but heavy rain. Great with no umbrella. Like some others I try to sit it out in the tourist information, but it won’t stop. No way I am going on a walking tour in this weather. But i can’t sit here all day. Doing some research about what to do in New Orleans and after 30 minutes I get out. Still raining a lot, but many buildings in the French Quarter have balconies towards the street. So I have a “roof” over my head at some times which reduces the impact of the rain.
The street are empty. Some very nice houses, but I want to see it without rain. Must be more impressive then. After some waking the streets (you can buy Trump Voodoo dolls^^) I woul like some food. Unfortunately much of the food is seafood – and I hate seafood. But on shop that I found on Yelp has varieties to offer. I opt for a Blackened Chicken Po-Boy – a kind of sandwich. Tastes good and is very filling.
Leaving the restaurant, I walk the rest of the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street. I would say much of this is a tourist trap. 🙂 I will try to check into my new hotel. Got the luggage from the hostel and have to walk 15 minutes through the rain that started to be stronger again. At the Springhill Suites by Marriott I can’t check in, because the receptionist tells me to wait and is getting me a towel. Great service (better than yesterday). I am soaked. 🙂 My room is on the 6th floor with a nice King sized bed, a sofa, a working area, several USB- and power-outlets, TV and a nice bathroom. I like it (my bank account doesn’t^^).
Hearing the rain at the window a take the opportunity to a Skype call home, a shower and some relaxing – it is a holiday after all.
The sky gets blue at around 16:00 and the rain stopped. The opportunity to see some more of New Orleans. The lady at the tourist information gave me a map for a self guided short walk through the Garden District. It is just 2 streetcar rides away.
The streetcars are a little bit nostalgic. You can open the window – which is nice with the high humidity today. No arms or heads outside the window – but who cares when you want to take a picture. 🙂
The first graveyard of New Orleans is unfortunately closed that late on the day. You can get all kinds of tours – the spooky kind if you believe in that kind of stuff. But around are some very nice houses. I posted some pictures on Instagram (you can see then in the menu to the right on the homepage). There is some serious money here. A very nice walk and a good recommendation from the tourist information.
Forgot to get some geocaches. That is done on my way to the bus stop. Since it is jazz festival (which costs a fortune as I found out), I get en Uber to Frenchmen street. There should be some live music there. A lot of Bars and Music clubs. Some take a cover to get in, others don’t. Some have security who openly wear handguns – I don’t like that at all. I find a pub on Yelp that has a very good rating. 30/90 is the name. A live band is playing Blues. Find a table with a view on the band and get a Burger (OK, but not great) and a Hurricane cocktail (mmmhhh). Nice music.
But when the pub gets more crowded after an hour and as it is in the US, someone puts the bill on your table, I leave (I could hover judging by the smell outside) and take the next streetcar that brings me to my hotel.
Even with all the bad weather a really nice day.