The French Quarter

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Everyone loved this day because there was a strong breeze blowing and lots of moving clouds to create momentary shade. (Peanut made it known that her feet were still sticky.) This couldn't compare to the "sticky" we were after eating beignets at Cafe du Monde; powdered sugar covered us as well as the table, chairs

and floor!

Walking to Jackson Square, we stopped at a big red basket full of squirming crawfish on the sidewalk. A big man walked over and handed us each one, then took our picture. Moments later, he dumped them into a giant steaming cauldron. None of us had noticed it before, or the piles of onions and celery which followed the crawfish into the pot. This was the most tragic event of the Road Trip for Peanut and I thought we were in for a breakdown but she held it together; Little Man was mighty upset as well. I was stunned by their response because our family is very open about the animal --> food link, discussing it often at our dinner table. (I know this is weird, but there you have it.) However, the kids have never actually witnessed the death of an animal and that is traumatic even for zealous carnivores like myself. Did I mention how delicious that Crawfish Stew smelled?!

Down the road, fully recovered, the kids were mesmerized by all the street acts, especially when I let them drop a buck into the tip jars. My thrill was buying the sweetest miniature painting from an equally sweet and tiny artist named Barbara Muscutt. In fact, I practically swiped the freshly painted canvas right off her easel! Ever since visiting Baltimore, I've been enchanted with these little gems...

We took a carriage ride (pulled by a mule) around the French Quarter with an amazing guide. Then, with hopes of Doodle taking a much needed nap, we also took a Grayline City Tour which included a cemetery and the 9th Ward Katrina damage.

For those of you who haven't been here, the cemeteries are uncomfortably beautiful and sacred. They're referred to as "cities of the dead". In the past, bodies were buried underground, but they kept surprising families (boo!) by resurfacing after such and such amount of rainfall. They quickly learned to bury their dead above ground in little tombs. To save space and to keep kin together, they simply stack the bodies on top of each other and add their names to the cover stone. We counted 30 names on a single one! Here's the gory but practical part: each body needs at least a year to decompose enough to remove the wooden box so the next coffin can be brought in. Seriously! If two people die within the same year, the family either buys them their own separate mausoleum or they go into a freezer, until enough time has passed. The cemeteries are fantastic and I wish we could have taken one of the evening haunted tours, but the kids are too wee at this time.

Cheer for New Orleans!!

You really should come here on your next vacation, especially if you've never been here before. Or, if you were here before Hurricane Katrina. The history and culture are fascinating and their recent devastation has them working double-time to please their guests (you and me). Every penny we've spent has been graciously received and I already want to come back to support them, staying in different neighborhoods, eating at different restaurants and lounging on a huge porch or under one of their mammoth trees.