Big Easy City Tour

Posted on December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Our tour was billed as the Super City Tour covering the French Quarter, Jackson Square, The French Market, Mansions along St Charles Ave, St Louis Cemetery, City Park and the Universities of Tulane, Loyola and Xavier.

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Unlike the San Antonio Tour which took all day, the tour was only about 2.5 hours and consisted of driving past most of the sites. We only made 2 stops and those were both very short.

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One of the stops was at St. Louis Cemetery and with the storm clouds threatening it set the proper mood for a New Orleans Cemetery!

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The Stop at the City Park was very short. Most of tour group went into the Morning Call Cafe for coffee or to use the rest rooms. I broke from the group to try to get some pictures of the park itself. I would have loved to spend more time there.

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There were ducks in the ponds and lovely stone bridges. Trees with Spanish moss over hung the water features.

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Later in the hotel room as I browsed one of the magazine I found an article about the park. It seems that it is a high crime area which explains the quick stop. It made me sad to learn this because it is such a beautiful place.

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The ride past the universities was fun because the Students had gone all out to decorate for Halloween. The Day of the Dead was also celebrated in New Orleans so skeletons and skulls abounded.

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Sandy was looking forward to visiting the French Market as she buys coffee or something online from there unfortunately there was no stop there. The same with Jackson Square. We just got to peak out the bus windows as we drove past.

Morning in the City of New Orleans

Posted on November 29, 2015November 29, 2015 by Dusty Roads

We were up early and ready to meet the City of New Orleans. Everyone told me I would fall in love with it. DSC_1492_edited-1

We decided to walk to the waterfront to meet the tour bus. It was supposed to be a short walk and it probably would have been if I’d checked a walking map. But I used my phone to google the route not really thinking that google would give me driving directions. Needless to say we added a few extra blocks to our walk!

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After an excellent breakfast buffet in the restaurant attached to the hotel we took off to find the Lighthouse that doubled as a visitor center.

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We walked and walked. We passed a wonderful park with bronze statues of jazz musicians and promised we’d come back when we could sit and enjoy the live music. I love all the decorative grill work on the balconies.

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The streets were just waking up. Large trash cans lined the sidewalks waiting for the garbage pick up. A few joggers were out but mostly the streets were empty. Clearly New Orleans is a city of the night.

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Finally we spied the “Lighthouse” . It was located on the banks of the Mississippi. I admit that being on the banks of the Big Muddy gave me goose bumps. I hadn’t even thought about seeing the Mississippi while we were in New Orleans and there it was.

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It looked like the rain had followed us from San Antonio as dark clouds threatened while we waited for the tour bus to arrive.

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Riverwalk to French Quarter

Posted on November 27, 2015November 27, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day.

Now it’s time to get back to my tale of our most recent adventure. We were about to embark on the Amtrak portion of our trip. We had to be ready to board by 6:30 am so we arranged the cab ride the night before.

The cab was early. It was still dark and rainy when we arrived at the station so we didn’t see much of the exterior.

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Inside was much smaller than I expected and there were plenty of people waiting for trains. As we checked our luggage I joked with the clerk who assured me that they had a better track record than the airlines for getting our luggage where it was supposed to be.

He told us the conductor would come in to announce our train so we could have a seat and relax. Time passed and I watched the clock progress toward our departure time and still no “All Aboard” announcement. Finally I got concerned and started asking other passengers. One said our train was boarding right now and that we’d better get out there. So much for the conductor!

Outside we were immediately given our “room” assignment. By having upgraded to a “sleeper” all meals were included and we had a little bit of privacy. The room was tiny and if we wanted to sleep one of us would have to climb to the upper bunk. It was adequate but I think the full size sleeper would have been nicer. Next time.

One of the nicest amenities was the lounge car, a windowed dome car with tables and more comfortable seats.

Amtrak’s lounge car feature windows that reach into the ceiling which makes it the best place to soak up the scenery on a long trip. (Photo by Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)

Meals were served in the dining car. The conductor came around with a form for us to sign and choose the time we wanted to eat. You don’t just wander down anytime you get hungry. Snacks are in the the Lounge Car. Anyway, when they call your seating you go to the dining car where seating is 4 to a table. We had lunch with a French couple and dinner with a German couple. The food was excellent which amazed me considering the size of the galley and the wait staff was top notch. I was quite impressed.

The views along the corridor from Texas to New Orleans weren’t the most scenic that I’ve ever seen. One of the most interesting to my mind was refineries we passed, at least one was burning off gas which was quite something to see. Up until now, I’d only seen it on TV.

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We passed cotton fields but I seem to have missed them. The German couple told us they had seen several.

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We wondered what the grassy crop was that we were seeing. It was clearly cultivated so we asked the dining car staff. They told us that was sugar cane.

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I never would have given Sugar cane a thought. I think of Sugar cane as an island crop not something on the mainland US. Its wonderful what you learn when you travel!

Before we arrived in New Orleans the sun had set and we were back in the dark. Once in New Orleans we retrieved our luggage, hailed a cab and soon were checked into our hotel in the French Quarter, Wyndham New Orleans.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Our Final Hours in San Antonio

Posted on November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Usually my vacations are go , go , go while I try to cram in every possible attraction and sight because who knows when I will get to return. So the first day in San Antonio with the City tour filling the hours was right in style with the way most of my vacations go.

Day two was much more laid back. Being on our own with no car limited the amount of running around we could do. The rain was another deterrent. In the end once we returned from the botanical garden and got dried off, we had lunch and retired to the back veranda of the hotel. There they had tables and chairs which overlooked the River walk.

I confess I embraced the Southwestern tradition of siesta and snored my way through the afternoon comfortably ensconced in the cushioned chairs.

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Dinner was with our travel voucher at the Hard Rock Cafe on the River Walk. Sandy had Salmon and I had the only Bar-B-Que of the whole visit. It was so good and in true Texas fashion, way too much food!

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While we were at the Alamo I was pleased to learn that they have an Alamo Cat. We spotted one large, fluffy, orange and white cat while we were at the Alamo but it didn’t look like C.C., the official Alamo Cat.

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We missed out on the San Fernando Cathedral thanks to the rain. Founded in 1731, it is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. The Cathedral building has the added distinction of being the oldest standing church building in Texas.

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The Cathedral of San Fernando is said to be the resting place of the remains of the heroes of the Alamo. At night there is a light show that is projected on the sides of the structure.

We also missed visiting the Tower of the America’s. Maybe next trip.

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