Greetings from New Orleans, Day Two

Wednesday was our 19th wedding anniversary, and we had a delightful day in New Orleans to celebrate. In the morning we went to Jackson Square, where we toured the Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral, and the Presbytere. The Cabildo is now part of the Louisiana State Museum, and houses exhibits on regional history and music, but it was originally the seat of Spanish government (and later housed the mayor and state supreme court) and the Louisiana Purchase documents were signed here. The cathedral is a Catholic minor basilica and was restored for the American Bicentennial. The Presbytere was built on the site of the residence of the Capuchin monks and currently has an exhibit on Zulu and Carnival, including the most amazing costumes I've ever seen.

We ate lunch in the park in Jackson Square before walking to the aquarium past the mule-drawn carriages, riverboats, National Park Service center, and dozens of French Quarter antique stores and praline shops. I knew nothing about the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas before we got there, quite the opposite of my experience with the Georgia Aquarium, and it turned out to be a nice surprise -- the penguins are very accessible and so are the sharks, rays, and other animals in the big ocean tanks, nothing was crowded (including the stingray touch tank), there were many exhibits on local ecology plus a rainforest with birds and snakes, and in general it's a great place especially with kids.

We walked around a bit in various shops (Voodoo, hot sauce, Mardi Gras souvenirs) but we were very fried from the heat, so we went back to the hotel for some late-afternoon pralines and air conditioning before we headed out again to go to Cajun Cabin, having opted for highly-rated gumbo and jambalaya over live music since the kids wanted to swim. Tomorrow night they're going to hear jazz whether they want to or not. I have bought only the tackiest, most touristy souvenirs for myself and others here and must contemplate proper keepsakes when we get back from Destrehan Plantation in the morning!


This is the Rue Royal behind St. Louis Cathedral, but I cannot resist a "Moon Over Bourbon Street" reference. (We're going to drive by Anne Rice's house tomorrow too, though I can't bring myself to go on a vampire tour!)


The room in the Cabildo where the Louisiana Purchase documents were signed, making New Orleans and a great deal of territory beyond officially part of the United States (at least, according to various European empires, with some heated debate by the Spanish about where the Texas border should be).


Inside St. Louis Cathedral, visited by Pope John Paul II in September 1987.


The boys with some of the fantastic costumes in the "100 Years of Zulu" exhibit in the Presbytere.


The wide view of Jackson Square -- Andrew Jackson's statue at the center, surrounded by flowers and plantain trees, with the Cabildo, Cathedral and Presbytere from left to right in the back.


A riverboat in the Mississippi River near the aquarium.


Penguins at the Aquarium of the Americas, one of several Audubon facilities in the city (there's also a zoo and "insectarium" where one can snack on bugs).


A mule-drawn carriage near the market in the French Quarter.