What a wild, wonderful time we had on our vacation to New Orleans on our way to visit Richard's Mom in Miami. Our trip was brief, but we sure did pack in a lot of fun.

We left Tucson on the morning of November 14th and arrived via Dallas to New Orleans in the late afternoon. We took a taxi from the airport to our French Quarter hotel, after deciding that driving a car in the city would be difficult.

We stayed at an old hotel called "The Landmark". It's not very fancy but the room was lovely and decorated with French style furniture in keeping with the atmosphere of the French Quarter. We were surprised at all the French tourists who were staying there and how much French we heard spoken all over New Orleans.

We wasted no time getting settled so we could walk through the Quarter before dinner. The heart of the French Quarter was only about a three block walk. I had not been to New Orleans since I was a child, but I remember a lot about the area. I was surprised to find out that not much had changed. The same sights and sounds on Bourbon street that I remembered. Jazz coming out of every door and all those beautiful courtyards.

Dinner that first night was at the Commander's Palace in the Garden District. It was delicious. It is very strange when being seated in their rear dining area. One must cross through their bustling kitchen, through the bar area and across their courtyard. It was an excellent dinner and the atmosphere was very impressive, even for New Orleans.

After dinner, we returned to the French Quarter to walk some more and take it all in. We did not expect the weather in New Orleans to be so pleasant this time of year, but it was in the 70's the whole time.

The next morning we took a bus tour of the city. We had a great guide and he showed us everything and stopped while we photographed. What a beautiful city it is. We learned that the entire city is like a bowl surrounded by levies and well below sea level.

After the tour, we went to Riverwalk which is along the Mississippi. We saw the paddle boats and walked through the gigantic mall.

Later, we went back to the French Quarter and walked along Royal Street, famous for it's shopping. In and out of antique stores we trekked and of course, lots of glass stores. We found a few nice paperweights that wanted to come home with us.

We stopped at a place called "NOLA" for lunch after a recommendation by one of the shopkeepers. It was really exceptional. I don't think there is a "bad" meal in all of New Orleans.

We walked and walked all over the Quarter and listened to the Dixie Land Jazz. We stopped to heard a group called Maison Bourbon. They were really good.

My, how time flew by. That evening, we took another tour. This tour was a walking tour of the Garden District. Only two others were on the tour with us. We walked around admiring the architecture of the time and learning about the history of the people who built the homes. The tour was basically an Anne Rice tour. Anne Rice wrote "Interview with a Vampire" and the rest of the vampire chronicles and also a series of witches stories. We were shown the cemetery that she writes about in her books, the home where she was born, another home that she grew up in and finally the mansion that she now lives in. It was kind of eerie seeing it at night. She must have a good sense of humor, because on her upper porch landing, sits a blow-up, huge, German Shepherd dog, looking out over the street.

After the walking tour, we returned to the Quarter, had dinner and then went to the famous "Preservation Hall". It is standing room only in the "hall". The whole room is about 30x 15 feet and it was very hard to see anything. We enjoyed several old favorites and then went on our way.

On the morning of the 16th, we decided to take another tour. This time we visited "Destrehan" Plantation. It is the oldest plantation house left intact in the lower Mississippi Valley, built in 1787. It is a Greek revival style mansion. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and whatever questions Richard had, she sure did have the answers. We walked through the parlor where Brad Pitt filmed a scene in "Interview with a Vampire". Also, outside stood the ancient oak trees where the "Death Under the Oaks" scene was filmed for the same movie.

Moving right along, the tour also included a Swamp Cruise on Bayou Segnette in a small town called "West-we-go". We learned a little about the Cajuns who live in this area and cruised through winding bayous lined with moss draped cypress trees. A very peaceful wilderness area filled with wild life. We saw an alligator and some nutria (looked like a big rat) as we passed close to the shore. We left the bayou at sunset and were back in New Orleans in time for our dinner reservations at Brennen's Restaurant.

We had a delightful meal in a beautiful location on the balcony' over-looking Royal Street. The architecture of the city is beautiful and we took so many pictures.

After dinner, we hurried over to the "Top of the Mart" at the World Trade Center and what a view we had of the whole city from their revolving lounge on the 31st floor. We relaxed and watched the river and the city roll by.

But, anxious to finally go to Harrod's for some light gambling, we soon left the loft I had a ball slipping those quarters in the slots. It took 3 hours to get rid of $10. 1 have never had such an experience. Up and down, until I was so tired, I was begging to get rid of the last of it. Richard was practically asleep on the stool next to me. Richard does not play ... he only watches and brings me luck. It was a long night and we went back to the hotel about 1:30am. I am glad we went to the casino, because they closed a week later, bankrupt. I hope I didn't have anything to do with it!

The morning of the 17th was our last few hours in New Orleans before leaving for Miami, so we savored our time before catching the plane. We had a huge brunch at "The Court of The Two Sisters" on Royal Street. They have a beautiful courtyard where we were seated. This is an enormous buffet with more than 60 dishes to enjoy. We ate our fill.

We walked along Royal Street and stopped at more glass stores. In one of the stores, we struck up a conversation with the owner. She asked us if we would like to see a secret courtyard behind her building. She took us outside to an old gate, opened it and invited us in. It was the most quiet and beautiful place, right there in the center of the city. She then began to tell and show us the places in the courtyard where movies were made. As a matter of fact, one was being filmed there later that day. She gave us a little memory to savor.

There was another movie crew in town and wherever we went, we bumped into them. The movie is a remake of "Lolita" starring Jeremy Irons. On our way to take photos of the St. Louis Cathedral, there they were again, filming a scene and no one could get by. We managed to find a distant vantage point and get a few shots.

We hurriedly walked down the blocks that consist of the "French Market" and then we left this magical city. We vowed to return to "The Big Easy" again.