New Orleans - The Zoo

Yesterday was hotel switching day. Since I came down early I was on the hook for my hotel until my work event started. I wouldn't recommend the other hotel but the new one is much nicer. It's a bit off the beaten path relative to the French Quarter but it's where our meetings are so it's very convenient. I don't know the whole history but it's a very old building with original wooden floors and a brick facade. Not a huge pool but everything is well maintained and a welcome relief from the heat.

I wasn't expecting to be able to check in right away since it had been booked solid over the weekend but I guess during the week it empties out quickly as I was able check in just after lunch. This gave me an opportunity to drop off my bags and head to the local zoo. Not sure why but when I go to big cities I like to go to the zoo. As per usual I took transit which was pretty easy, starting with a couple block walk to a bus that went straight there. By the end of the line I was the only one on the bus. I guess going to the zoo in the heat of the afternoon isn't a local pastime.

This zoo has a very long history, starting in the early 1900's. I knew it was older so I was expecting it to be a bit run down, but they've obviously done a lot of work recently. All the exhibits looked fairly new and there were whole sections of the zoo off limits for renovations. It even had a water park in the middle of it. Not huge but it had a nice play area for the kids, a pool and a small lazy river. It was 30+ and muggy so a dip in the pool would have felt very good but I already feel a bit creepy walking around the zoo without kids so I stayed out of the pool.

Some of the highlights included the chubby jaguars who like many of the animals were apparently very well fed. None of them moved very much so I don't think most of the animals were super fit. There was also the white alligators. They've apparently been out tours all over the world since they were born in the early 90's. I also enjoyed the very old Live Oaks. Live Oaks don't lose their leaves and are typically covered in Spanish moss. A quintessential southern looking tree. I'd recommend the zoo if anyone is visiting New Orleans and has an afternoon to spare.

New Orleans - Pralines and Beignets

I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to go to New Orleans for work this week. We're meeting with other North American utilities regarding their use of drafting and design software for electric substations. (Alright, enough of the boring work talk that no one understands anyways.) The event starts Tuesday but I came down on Saturday so I could check out the sites. I'm rather enjoying the opportunity to check out a foreign city on my own. Not that I don't enjoy doing the same with my family, but you can see a lot more when there is just you.

I arrived late on Saturday night so I was ready to go first thing on Sunday. I tried to get a hotel room near the French Quarter but everything was either booked or terribly expensive. I managed to get something okay in Matairie which is the first suburb of New Orleans. I knew transit would be cheap but I hadn't checked out the schedule for Sunday's. Turns out it's not great. I had to wait about 40 minutes for a bus from near my hotel which would get me to New Orleans. So far my observation of Transit here is that it shows up whenever it feels like it. Not on schedule at all.

I had planned on doing some research last night on where to go but the internet connection in the hotel was terrible yesterday and I gave up. This meant I was wandering blind. I knew I wanted to check out at least one cemetery and it turned out that there were some very nice ones at the transfer point for switching between Matairie and New Orleans. The mausoleums ranged from the mid 1800's right up until today and were in various conditions. I suspect that once a family moves on or can't afford to, they stop maintaining a particular location.

After the cemetery I hopped on one of the electric trolleys down Canal Street. I've previously been against ground level light rail in Surrey in favor of Sky Train, however this system was effective and simple. The stops weren't elaborate and weren't slowed by traffic and without being elevated there were a lot more stops. It might just be a good option. The trolley I was on was quite old with wooden seats. I really think we should use more wood for circumstances like this. It's fairly light-weight, easy to maintain and gets better with age. No more plastic.

I got off at Bourbon Street and wandered around the French Quarter. The atmosphere was quite good. If you heard music it was often live, even during the early afternoon. There are lot's of places to eat and I checked out the French Market which is really a huge flea market with lot's of different souvenirs. My only issue for the day was the first half of Bourbon Street. The smell of alcohol and the impacts of too much to drink by people from the night before was quite over powering. Maybe it's nicer after a good fresh rain.

I stopped for a quick street show with some very athletic performers doing a gymnastics type routine on solid concrete. It finished with a leap over 9 people landing on nothing more than a tick towel. They were quite good with the crowd, asking specifically for $10 or $20 dollars before they would do their last trick. They probably took in a grand for the four of them. They claim to have been doing it for 25 years. Quite impressive. The rest of my walk included Pralines at the French Market and Beignet's at Cafe Du Monde. Lot's of good food here.

I finished off the day with a trip to the World War II museum. It claims to be the #1 Museum in New Orleans, the #4 Museum in the US and #11 in the world and to be honest it really was quite well done. A bit of an American Centric view of the war but that's to be expected. The exhibits were well built, informative and included some very well preserved artifacts. I only had a few hours but it would take you at least a full day to see and read everything. I was pleased to see they also had a Victory Garden, though of course most people were passing it by.