Are we done looking at old houses yet?

Yesterday was a long day. I had told the boys that I wanted to get to Houston and be asleep at a decent hour since for the past few nights I hadn't gotten to bed before midnight. But I am finding that we do not have enough hours in the day to get everything done.

New Orleans skyline from the ferry

One of many duplexes on Algiers Point

Before leaving the Crescent City, we took the 5-minute ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers Point which is the second oldest community in New Orleans. The French Quarter is the oldest. We walked around the neighborhoods looking at some lovely old homes. I noticed that many of them were duplexes. Although it was interesting, it was hot, and I didn't think to put on sunscreen.

We rode the ferry back over and walked along the river front to the French Market. We stopped for some cold water and beignets (french donuts) at Cafe du Monde, the coffee shop that has been around since 1862. After that needed refreshment, we continued our journey until we reached the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, which was just an air conditioned building with a few exhibits. But you can't dismiss air conditioning, so we went inside to cool off and play with the hands on exhibits, and buy a CD. The park ranger told us that in an hour they were performing a jazz concert, but we couldn't stay. Houston was calling our name. 

Central Grocery

And you too can go insane

We picked up a muffaletta sandwich from the Central Grocery across the street and started the trek back down Decatur to our parked car. A muffaletta is an original New Orleans sandwich created right at the Central Grocery. The Central Grocery is a true Italian market filled with amazing sites and wonders. You can purchase many different types of cheese, meat, packaged goods, and a plethora of canned foods (smoked octopus anyone?). The muffaletta is made from a round loaf of Sicilian sesame bread which is delicious. It has cold cuts like salami, ham, and provolone cheese in it. But the magic ingredient is the olive salad which consists of several different types of olives in an Italian dressing. The sandwich is cut into fourths and we each took a piece (except David who doesn't care much for cold cuts). It was very yummy and the perfect light lunch for on the go.

Oak Alley Plantation

About an hour outside of New Orleans we took a little detour to visit Oaks Alley Plantation. We made it just in time for the last tour of the day. The boys and I all agreed that this tour guide was much more interesting than the two we had in Natchez. The home was gorgeous, the tour guides dressed in period costumes, and the stories of the family were well told and interesting. While there, Joe and I tasted a frozen raspberry mint julep. It was like a raspberry mint Icee with a kick of bourbon. Neither of us cared much for it, so Joe got a cookies and cream milk shake instead.


We had  another four hours of driving until we reached Houston, which was about how much time we had left of Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. It was an exciting ending with a great cliff hanger. We are looking forward to listening to the final book on these last days of our journey.


Needless to say, by the time we checked into our hotel, revised the plans for today's activities, and examined my sunburn, my head finally hit the pillow at 1:30 a.m. So much for an early night!


Today we are visiting the Space Center and then it's off to San Antonio!