Right, first things first. I haven’t included everything in these
blogs, some bits I have forgotten, not out of choice, but out of the fact that
we did so much, that it is inevitable that I would forget some things. However,
if I remember any salient points, I will bung them in!
Where are we today……………?
Oh yes, Memphis, so next stop New Orleans.
We were to have two nights in New Orleans, so we decided to have a
rest day. There was an optional excursion to somewhere, but we decided to skip
it, as there’s only so much input one can take and more importantly, only so
much credit one can put on the credit card!
Anyway, before all that, we need to get to New Orleans; it’s a
long old haul from Memphis. Around 400 miles give or take a few, so this was
going to be a long day travelling! As I recall, we watched a film on the coach,
not sure what the film was……. I might have been asleep!
I do recall a mid morning toilet stop and leg stretch at a Walmart!
Where I bought more batteries for the camera! Mrs Dave must have bought something,
she always does and Little Miss Dave decided to go off on her own to see what was on
offer.
And with only minutes to go before the bus left, we couldn’t find
her! Blind panic sets in. Walmart is big! No, it’s huge.
Mobile went to answerphone.
No reply to texts!
Has she been eaten by a local?
Has she signed up with a local drug cartel?
Has she been arrested for trying to buy guns?
No, she was buying Root Beer and sweets and thought the bus was
leaving at 10 past, not 10 to. Panic over. Now for that long walk of shame, as
you are the last ones to get on the coach.
Oh the looks you get! The jeers, the slow hand claps, the other
passengers threatening to slit your throats!
Well, perhaps not that bad, but you never want to be late. Oh good
God no! It’s so embarrassing being the ones to board after the head count has
been done.
Just imagine Suzanne, counting away; “eins, zwei, drei, vier,
fünf, sechs……..” etc.
“Vee haz the tree mizzing!”
“Ver is da fat man with za kid and zee woman?”
“Ver are zey?”
And then we appear, running, weighed down by Walmart carrier bags,
apologetically running onto the coach trying not to make eye contact, smacking
people around the head with our shopping, as we shimmy along the aisle to our
seats!
Rule number 1 of coach travel; never be last on the bus.
(Please note. Suzanne only has a German accent in this blog for
comedic affect. Actually after 27 years in the States, she has an American(ish)
accent, but she is from Germany and still loves the schnitzel unt sauerkraut!)
Everyone back on the bus and we’re off again, a quick stop in the
afternoon, before we start the last leg into New Orleans. Suzanne describes
what we will see as we cross the bayou and Lake Pontchartrain, along a huge
bridge. “Vee may zee ze alligator or svamp birds, some great views of zee lake,
itz a beautiful part of zee country”.
We see nothing.
A massive storm breaks and more rain falls in those last few miles
than we’ve seen all week!
We make it to our hotel at 4:30pm. Suzanne says the bus will pick
us up again at 5:30pm for the boat trip on the Mississippi. Cue the mad rush
for the room keys, suitcases and lifts! An hour to get changed! It usually
takes Mrs Dave an hour to decide what to wear!
However, we make it and we’re off for the short drive down to the
river, to board our genuine Mississippi paddle wheel steamboat, with the luxury
of supper and a Dixieland jazz band on board.
As we reach the dockside Suzanne jumps off to get the tickets for
us and Ernie drives us and the coach around to the parking lot.
Now, normally, when we’re on board, Suzanne would point
out places of interest, not now, Suzanne was off. So Ernie took over. I can’t
remember exactly what he said, but it went a bit like this; (Please provide
your own accent, remembering that Ernie is a funny black American guy, from
Tampa, Florida, with a wicked laugh).
 |
| Ernie |
"Now if
you look to your left, there are some really old houses. They are really old.
If you added up all the ages of the people on board, it still wouldn’t match
the age of these houses. If you look to your right, there’s some more old stuff.”
“Now back on the left, there’s a cute couple, look like they’ve
just got married. Nice. She’ll be having some fun tonight.”
“Oh look, there’s something you don’t see that often, that man is
clearly drunk or extremely happy!”
“Hey, look in front! There’s a woman wearing white trousers! They
clearly don’t suit her”.
And so it went on, you really had to be there, but he had the
coach absolutely roaring with laughter.
We alighted from the coach and boarded The Natchez, which is New
Orleans’ only steamboat, apparently.
On board we were served dinner, a very nice meal and the option if
you were sneaky, to go for seconds!
Then it was out on deck to take in the sights of the Mississippi, as we cruised down (or possibly up) stream.
As the second sitting for dinner finished, the Dixieland Jazz Band fired up and entertained us. We picked some front row seats at the pointy end and listened to some great music (CD’s are available), whilst enjoying a glass or three of Pinot Grigio.
Excuse me whilst I drift off here, but the notes I made at the time, clearly reflect my mood. It was one of those moments, where you have a sudden realisation of where you are in the world. You are on-board a genuine paddle wheel steamboat, on the Mississippi, in the heart of Louisiana! It is a far cry from the rivers I grew up with; the Windrush and the Severn.
So onto New Orleans itself, our first real taste of New Orleans was a real culture shock. We left the boat about 9:30pm, to walk back to the hotel (with Suzanne guiding us), via Bourbon Street.Now apparently Bourbon Street has a bit of a reputation. Innocent me was totally oblivious to this! Until now. Well, what can I say? New Orleans itself, is a bit over the top, ostentatious, brash, hot, noisy, intimidating etc., but Bourbon Street is something else! It’s louder, very busy, music issuing from every bar, restaurant and club. People milling around, dancing, shouting, singing in the streets. It’s like Blackpool pier on acid, but 100 times better or worse dependant on your point of view.
There were people hanging out of windows and over balconies,
throwing down strings of beads, if you were to impress them in anyway.
Apparently showing your breasts is a sure fire way of receiving such rewards.
My manly chest was kept covered.
And so, weary, beaded, and with ears ringing, we made our way to
bed, tomorrow was a rest day and no wakeup call was going to spoil our lie in.
Our rest day was to be a lie in, sightseeing and swimming. Unfortunately,
the hotel didn’t have a pool! So it was a bit of sightseeing and shopping for
gifts instead. We ventured out, into the sticky heat of New Orleans and walked
down to the banks of the Mississippi. Wandering back towards the hotel, nipping
into various shops, looking for gifts and taking advantage of their air-conditioning.
Once back at the hotel, we lunched on the various snacks, we had accumulated
on our visits to Walmart.
Another coach tour tip; stock up on snacks and drinks when you get
a chance, you never know when you might be peckish or thirsty.
After lunch we decided to have a nap, it was after all our rest
day. When, 3 hours later Mrs Dave decided to wake up! We changed and took a
wander out to find some supper. New Orleans was it’s typical noisy and rowdy
self, so after bumping into a huge wedding party, strolling down the street, we
found the nearest fast food chain and stepped in. And as we were in the South,
what better way to eat, than with some Southern fried chicken! Loads of it! And
no it wasn’t a KFC, it was a Popeye’s. Same thing really, but with real
American grease!
As the light was fading and the weirdo’s were coming out, we bid a
hasty retreat back to the hotel, only after walking back to the banks of the
Mississippi for one last look.Click here for Part 6
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