Eastwards and New Orleans

Neither Galveston nor Austin were graced with our presence.  Common sense prevailed, and we pushed on towards New Orleans, not wanting to lose a day - we have discovered that the GPS system tells porkies - it does a great job of getting us around, but it tends to underestimate the time needed fortravelling  between cities.

We spent most of the day driving to Beaumont, Texas.  This is a town of about 100,000 people half way between San Antonio and New Orleans.  It is not particularly famous for anything we know of, but there were huge shopping centres, and the town had a nice comfortable feel to it. We pulled into an RV park that was on the surface rather nice - the people were friendly, and it certainly was the cheapest one we have stayed in - for good reason.  We were parked immediately next to the amenties block - handy you say - yes, but the amenities were so poor that the girls would not use them, so they might as well have been on the moon.  They were really old and tired, and the girls said they could smell mould.  Didn't put the boys off at all.

Our neighbour in the park kindly gave us a bag of Craw Bobs her husband had caught.  I think they ended up in the freezer, untouched to this point.

We got an early start the following morning so we could be in New Orleans for all of Saturday afternoon and night.  WRONG.  Of all days, with the destination we were so looking forward to there were delays.  LONG delays.  The I-10 motorway was closed for some reason just out of Lafayette, and police directed all traffic to take a 20 mile detour to another major road - the 190.  That was bad enough, but about half way along the 190 - between Lafayette and Baton Rouge there is a very long bridge built over swampland.  It runs for miles, and about halfway along the bridge, a motorhome pulling a car behind broke down.  Stopped completely. Kaput. The traffic jam that it created was enormous.  Not sure how far back in the traffic we were, but it took an hour to cover about 2 miles before we cleared it.  The traffic jam plus the detour meant that the normally 2 - 2.5 hour trip from Lafayette to New Orleans took 4.5 hours, and we didn't arrive until after 4pm.

Once we arrived and booked in, we wasted no time however, and Brian booked us on the free shuttle bus into the French Quarter - the old part of town where it all happens. We just had enough time to get ready and we were whisked off in a 12 seater bus into town.  The driver gave us a running commentary about everything and nothing all the way.  We understood some (truthfully very little) of it, but we were very impressed by the beautiful and stately homes of the South's heyday as we travelled the narrow streets along the levee.

We arrived in town around 6pm, and decided to wander the streets.  They were full of other tourists of course, as well as clairvoyants (they must have known we were coming), artists and street performers.  We slowly made our way to the famed Bourbon Street.  By this time, it was starting to jump. We had arrived for Saturday Night in downtown New Orleans right in the middle of their Jazz Festival. How's that for timing.

The scenes in Bourbon street were chaotic.  Everyone trying to make a buck from the tourists. Our shuttle driver had told us that numbers may be down in town due to the Bruce Springsteen concert happening at the fairgrounds, but we saw no evidence to support this theory. There were people everywhere, and the noise from the clubs and bars was almost deafening.

We managed to find a small bar/park/cafe and took a seat near the stage where a three piece Jazz Band (is there any other type in NO?) was playing, and enjoyed the great music and a couple of appetite enhancers before seeking food.  Southern Food.

We settled on a restaurant which served authentic cajun and creole dishes, and the meal was excellent. We dined on the first floor verandah of the restaurant overlooking the street, so we missed nothing.  One of the most amazing things we encountered was a wedding.  The whole wedding party came out of the venue followed by a big band (Tuba and all), and they all marched around the block with colourful parasols twirling, then returned to the venue to continue the celebrations.

After dinner we strolled the street, and found a club called Bandstand where the most amazing cover band belted out classic after classic. We managed to spend a good hour or more rocking to the great music before deciding that we would head further onwards. More sights, more sounds, more fun.

It was a great night - just what we thought it would be like - and just what we needed. We had lots of laughs, and will remember Bourbon Street fondly as one of the great experiences in the USA.  We loved it.

The cab driver who took us back to the RV park was Pakistani, and Brian sat in the front seat and interrogated him all the way.  To be fair, he was a really nice guy who was most informative and spoke great English - he was easier to understand than may of the locals.

Tomorrow is another day, and we have the full day and another night here in New Orleans.  I am sure we will find a way of filling in the time.

Cheers.