New Orleans, LA; City Tour, Mister B’s, Jazz, More WWII Museum and Peche

On our 3rd day in New Orleans Myra had scheduled a driving tour that showed us highlights of the French Quarter and the 9th Ward (heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina) and then stopped at St. Louis Cemetery #3. This is one of the many famous above-ground cemeteries in New Orleans.

Our guide explained that the reason the graves are above ground isn’t so much about the water table, which is the common belief, but about the Catholic tradition of enclosing multiple people into the same tomb. The tradition is when somebody dies they are placed in the tomb inside a rudimentary coffin, and after at least one year and one day, the New Orleans heat and humidity completely breaks down their body to just the bones. If somebody from the same family dies within that one year, one day period they are placed in temporary vaults like these below.

When a new body is ready to be put into the tomb, the face plate is removed, the brick enclosing the tomb is broken down, and the previous person’s bones are placed in a sack and then pushed back into the tomb where they fall into a vault below the tomb. The term “I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole” supposedly comes from the pole used to push the remains into the vault. Some of these tombs have as many as 50 peoples remains in them.

The vault in this photo is an exception. This rather wealthy woman was apparently told by her daughter that she couldn’t wait until she died so she could get her inheritance. This outburst prompted her to change her will and gave it all to charity and her dog. She purchased an extravagant tomb where everybody would see it, and insisted her tomb only contain herself and her dog. Maybe keep your persnickety remarks to yourself around your elders??

The tour also stopped in New Orleans City Park and we had 20 minutes to walk around the gorgeous grounds.

Apparently there are occasionally alligators in the park, so stay clear of the waters edge.

This park was created by the guy that planned Central Park in NY, only this park is larger! Beautiful spot.

Here is William showing off his expert selfie skills!

After the tour we walked through the French Market, which is decorated for the holidays. It’s one of those must-visit spots in the French Quarter, although the stuff in the market wasn’t French in the least. Not even a cheap Eiffel Tower!

That night we had dinner at our favorite New Orleans restaurant, as we’ve eaten here each time we’ve visited NOLA. It did not disappoint! The waiter, Terrance, was awesome, and very entertaining! If you come here ask to be seated in his area. He’s worked here for 20 years so he’s not likely to leave any time soon!

After dinner we worked our way into Mahogany Jazz Hall, which was quite a feat for a group of 12!

The music was quite good.

On our way back we checked out Observatory 11 Bar at the Westin Hotel. The elevator ride was the best part of the bar….not as scenic a spot as I had hoped for. William, you took this photo and cut off your own head??

Myra and June challenged each other to ride down the bannister in the bar. The things these kids get up to.

On our 4th day we all decided to break up and do our own thing. William, Myra, Rob, June, Vaughan and Tina went to Commanders Palace, the famous restaurant in the Garden District.

While Rob, June, Jeff and Sharilyn went on an air-boat ride to check out some alligators!

Kim and I went back to the WWII museum to see what we missed the first time around. The museum is huge, and if you are in to the history of WWII you will want to spend at least 2 days here.

I was impressed to see an original Enigma machine. These are SUPER rare. The only other one I’ve seen is at the MONA Museum in Hobart, Tasmania. Very cool! If you don’t know anything about it, I highly suggest you watch the movie “The Imitation Game”, with Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s excellent!

This photo of General Eisenhower talking with Lieutenant Wallace C. Strobel became an iconic photo depicting his incredible leadership. Lt. Strobel, chatting with the future President, is just 2 hours away from boarding his plane and leading his paratroopers into battle behind enemy lines on D-Day.

The museum really went out of their way to make the place as engaging as possible. That’s a video of aircraft flying over an apparent hole blasted in the ceiling.

They even had a mock-up of the forest from the Battle of the Bulge. I’m pretty sure the air conditioning in this section was turned down to 50 degrees! Bear in mind the AC throughout is quite effective, so if you get cold easily bring a sweater. I was very happy we went back for a second day, as I think this is likely our last trip to New Orleans.

That night we had dinner at Peche, just south of the French Quarter. Another excellent meal! Somebody seems to know what they are doing planning this shit out!