Leaving before the sun rises
Vanna and I have made it a mission to give our children experiences over material things. As children we had the opportunity to travel with family on vacations, plus we are able to tell our children stories of our travels and how much fun we had. This year instead of gifts we went to New Orleans “NAWlens” for the locals. Originally the plan was to fly but with the holidays and football games going on it was extremely expensive for a family of 4 to fly comfortably. That could only mean one thing……… Road trip! We head out Thanksgiving morning before the sunrise and the traffic starts to form in the St. Louis region. Car packed with people and cargo filled with the essentials. As a kid I could always remember enjoying the first few hours traveling on the road with siblings and cousins as the most boring part of the trip because we were in familiar territory. Usually by the first “pit stop” we were in a different state and we got a chance to stretch our legs and hang out with other family members. On this trip it’s just us.
Why did we decide to drive again?
As a parent I know it is safety in numbers and when we used to travel we would be almost 10 cars deep sometimes, plus it gave the adults someone to talk to when we got to our destination. I have Vanna with me and the kids, who slept during the trip or kept themselves entertained with various devices. Travel via the highway can seem pretty boring as most of the vegetation and wildlife is less active in the colder seasons. We did see plenty of deer parts laying around the highway and narrowly missed a chunk on the way home. For the most part the drive was pretty tame. Road construction sucked, but we missed the bulk of the slow down both ways. It’s entertaining to note the quality of interstate 55 as it crosses over Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Hands down Louisiana has the best section of 55. A close second is Arkansas and Illinois is a long 3rd only because of the stretch in the Chicago land area. The stretch of road that goes along the lake pontchartrain bridge is a beautiful stretch. A word to the wise. Make sure your car is road worthy because it is about a 25 mile stretch of road over or near water. Once you are on the bridge it’s 20 miles of nothing but water.
Hey that’s the Super Dome!
We finally make it to the smaller suburbs of New Orleans and it is a sight to see. The highway starts to cross over itself sending travelers in different directions as they head to their destinations. As we file in with the rest of the speeding traffic, we catch the profile of the Caesars Super Dome looming off in the distance. It is a massive structure placed just off the highway. One thing we did learn in our stay there is, New Orleans knows how to move traffic. We take the exit to Carondelet St, which placed us just southeast of the super dome. The area reminds you of how the area of the landing used to be near the Gateway Arch before they demolished the 70 ramp on interstate 64. As we travel down Carondelet we notice all of the artwork on the sides of the buildings and traffic boxes. Even though it was Thanksgiving the city was still busy and moving when we arrived around 5pm. If you plan on staying in the city find a place that has parking included with your stay. We payed almost $60 a day to park in downtown New Orleans…….. Yea the pockets did not like that at all. It was that or park 5 to 10 blocks away in some of the less lit areas.
The Printing Press
You know it has to be good if there is a gigantic metal gate and a keypad…….. Right?
So at first we were not sure we were at the right spot because the address pulls up the business located in the connected building. We punch in the door code and hear a faint click acknowledging our correct entry. This door had some heft to it. We walk down this long dark entryway that has lights on motion sensors to save on energy. It was pretty cool because one side is the exterior wall of another building. We make our way up to the front door of the building and we are faced with another large heavy door. Past the door is a plain lobby with a chest of drawers that contained extra toiletries for the guest of the Printing Press. We crowd into the elevator and head up to our room. There are only 4 rooms per floor which helps cut down on the noise. We head out of the elevator and around the corner to our room. It was a simple space with tall ceilings which made the room feel bigger without actually adding to usable space. The rooms were not tiny but cramped because they crammed in king sized beds into the room. Down the hall contained the other bathroom, a small combination washer and dryer, and a linen closet with no extra linens. After the hallway the apartment opens into a great room that has a living room and dining/kitchen area. It reminds me of a hotel suite, just with a real stove and refrigerator. No cooking was done on the stove as we ordered out or ate on the road.
We love us some tours
We booked a city tour through downtown New Orleans, City Park, lower 9th, French Quarter, and one of many cemeteries they are famous for.
We started our tour being picked up in front of the Quisby hotel. We hoped on a climate controlled bus (we thought about the double decker buses but the weather was not in our favor. We started on the British side of the city covering historic parks and buildings spaced throughout the city. As we ride around the city our tour guide was also our bus driver. He was very knowledgeable about the history and the current activities going on at the time. One of the best parts of the tour was stopping in St. Louis Cemetery #3. We learned about the process of storing and preservation of the plots. On our secured tour we got to attempt a rescue.
We saw a gator…….. Kinda
The swamp tour was a surprisingly fun experience for how cold it was on the water. Air temps were about 55 degrees that day but moving over water it was easily 10 degrees cooler. Our captain gave us the normal safety speech and off we went. We trolled around for a little bit until we started to head towards the bayou…… We passed down the first strait and saw absolutely nothing but trees and Spanish moss. Lots of Spanish moss. It’s really pretty looking with the right time of day. Now the tour was sold as a swamp tour and not a gator sight seeing tour. One family…… That shall remain nameless, started to become upset with the fact we have not seen a single gator. The captain did a great job explaining why the chances of seeing a gator was going to be really low. The water and air temperatures were relatively cool and seeing as gators are cold blooded animals they were not going to be very active. Well halfway through our tour they decided they were not having it and wanted to be dropped back off at the dock. While all of this is happening the children that were with the family are kicking the undersides of the seat, jumping up and down near the side of the boat. The railing is there to prevent falls, not stop every fall. These children could have easily fallen out of the boat as we were cruising along. We watched as the captain became more and more agitated due to the inconsiderate family, it was only a matter of time before he reached the end of his patience. We get it, children get bored when there is not very much action that they can understand. This tour was like watching a nature show on PBS. Very little action but very interesting at the same time. We travel a little further down the bayou and Vanna spots the back and eyes of a gator just barely peeking out of the water. Vanna pointed it out to us and the captain who in turn tried to point it out to the rest of the passengers. That did not go as planned and the gator blinked and dove under the water to hide from us. This really upset the family as they missed the gator. The kids continue to kick the boat after missing the gator….. This was it, this was the moment we waited for! The captain grabbed his mic and let them know to stop kicking the boat and to sit down. A hush fell over the boat. That family barely spoke the rest of the tour.
Why didn’t we fly again?
Now the worst part of the trip is having to drive back home again. We made sure to get up early Sunday morning to head out. We even packed our bags the night before to be able to avoid the last minute rush. We head back to the I – 10 and head west towards Baton Rouge on our way to I – 55. That is the only saving grace on the trip is the simple travel route. Now there is not much to see as it was the start of winter and most vegetation is dying or has been chopped down. We really didn’t look forward to the possibility of driving back into the snow. We get some PJ’s coffee for the road and continue on. We really enjoyed the family time in New Orleans and would go back when it was a little warmer. New Orleans and St. Louis share similar elements and you can definitely notice the street names. If you are traveling to New Orleans to enjoy the greenery, just know it is illegal unless you have your medical card. Finding a doctor that will prescribe it for you is not too difficult. Having your medical card does not mean you can consume it in public, it just allows residents of New Orleans to hold up to an ounce for personal use. There are plenty of head shops that sell THC-A along with various craft vendors. If you are traveling from out of state just be careful when and where you consume because it’s still illegal for non medical purposes.
