New Orleans and the French Quarter

We decided to visit New Orleans on a safe day, "Ash Wednesday". The street sweepers were out in force and all the drunks were fast asleep in their beds. Our first stop was Cafe Du Monde for some great coffee and a pile of Beignets "French Doughnuts". Beignets is pronounced, "apple fritter with no apple and lot's of powder sugar piled on". We shopped and some of the outdoor markets, visited the 8th Police Precinct where I worked with the Navy during several Mardi Gras and saw many street vendors. Some of the buildings were still being repaired from Katrina and I could tell many of the buildings had fresh paint and new windows.

We stopped in and had a Cajun lunch. Kelly even had her first "Hurricane", well then she had her second one. Please don't tell her dad or I will be in trouble! I even sneaked some fresh Catfish to Lindsay under the disguise of "chicken". Heck, it all tastes like chicken but she figured things were amiss when I put a fried oyster on her plate. Her mistake was she didn't eat the whole thing. Lindsay said, Dad, what is this green stuff? I told her it was the stuffing in the chicken. That really didn't go over too well and her gaging soon quit. We took a walk along the river walk and saw the "Natches" paddle boat. We were going to see the aquarium, but the cost was just too high and it was time to head back home anyway. All in all, this was a trip to remember for sure!

We leave here tomorrow for Montgomery, Alabama. Ya'll come back now...