No one saw any ghosts (afterall, it was a sunny afternoon), but we learned to go "oooh" on cue and jump back when Magic Mike went "boo!" Rob and I just HAD to buy the book and video to expand our learning of the subject matter. (Photos of Ghost Tour)
After the long "ghost" walk, the next thing which drew us was a mule and buggy ride around the garden district, the area where the "Americans" settled in the early 1800s. (This was after the French Canadians(Cajuns), Italians, Germans and the Caribbeans). The Americans were mostly well-to-do northerners who came south to capitalize on the sugar and cotton and built great mansions. When the Civil War broke out, they had no interest in getting involved and went back home. (Photos of Garden District)
New Orleans is below sea level by a few feet and in the past the heavily Catholic population buried their dead above ground in huge concrete masoleums. Incredibly, if your ancestors had a crypt, you can still claim it for yourself and your remaims can be added. A newly added bod goes through a slow cremation and becomes dust along with those that went before. This is fondly called "Shake and Bake"! Nowadays, if you are unfortunate enough to not have an ancestral crypt, your coffin may need to have holes in it to let in the mud, as moderns bury their dead under ground. (Photos of Mausoleums)
Our guide was Andy and the mule was Sam I AM, Sam for short. On the way back, Rob got to sit up on top. We went by the restaurant from the Eiffel Tower, which had been moved there in 11,000 pieces. The resulting American restaurant had gone bust..
The ride was relaxing and lovely. As expensive as it was, it rejunvenated us and we were off to explore more of the town and get some dinner. I wanted to try "crawfish etoufee", a Cajun specialty. It was kinda hot, so I couldn't eat all of it. Rob had a ribeye with crawfish sauce on the side. I ended up eating that.
Later in the RV, I got a terrible rash which went from my ears being too hot and then progressed as far south as my legs. By the morning it was gone.
We had finally found a copy of "All the President's Men", which we watched before bed. Thank God it was cooler this night. Even the armadillos were happy and scampered into the bushes when Lucky tried to chase them on the leash. Our other local visitors were a multitude of large blue dragon flies, drawn by the lights.
The mosquitoes were out, but thankfully, yellow fever, another source of local ghosts, was a thing of the past.
April 27
Before heading out of New Orleans, I insisted we go to the D-Day Museum, which had received very high recommendations.
The Second great war was the subject of some amazing cinematography as well as hardware and this newer museum did a real job of getting across the circumstances and context in all the different sectors.
War. The first thing we saw was a movie of the Normandy invasion, staged from Great Britain, ordered by General Eisenhower, and overseas during a storm which meant that most of the G.I.s were seasick. The first casualties were drowned before they even got to shore. Many others were slaughtered on the beach. Others landed by parachute in the wrong area and were shot by the Germans when their parachutes snagged in trees. A real bloodbath, but somehow with yankee ingenuity they made it through the German line.
The movie seemed to be original footage from the front, with survivors telling their personal accounts. Around midday after the battle, the beaches were quiet and eery, with bodies and wounded everywhere.
In other sections, there were buttons to push which had people from both sides telling of their experiences in combat in both the European and Asian arenas. There were displays of weapons, badges and bedrolls. There was a chilling documentary on the first atomic bombs.
On the way back to the car, we discussed how the war came about, how life was during the depression and how carismatic leaders like Hitler and Mussolini got their feet in the door because the people were depressed and needed a more upbeat vision of themselves. This seemed positive at first, but the fascists got a hold, the people were sucked in and it turned out they were making a deal with the devil...
I asked Rob how he thought the world would be different if Hitler had been stopped before he did all this damage. No loss of Jews, no loss of all those soldiers. Rob added, "No baby boomers!" So many things would be different. How would the depression have ended?
"There are some positive things about young men going into the military", I said later.
"Really?" He replied, kind of stunned.
"Can you imagine what they might be?" He had a bit of trouble with this.
Ishael had spoken of a very important thing that leaver cultures have that we are missing and it has to do with pulling together and protecting each other. A battle is men (and now women) pulling together as a team. Also, I told of how my father had described his bootcamp experience.
"Do you know that guys have to make their beds with the sheets perfectly meeting in the bottom of the mattress?" That got his attention! Discipline!!
We finally got out of New Orleans just in time for rush hour, but did put 2-3 hours of road behind us and spent the night outside of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
April 28
Today, I just needed to see Ocean Springs, which like every town, USA, had its generic "strip", but also featured a quaint, artsy downtown which I guess I could call the "heart"-not just for its central location, but for its beauty. We didn't even stop and get out, but my sense of goodness was restored.
Just think. There was a time when most human "improvements" were beautiful to look at, when downtowns had an aesthetic which, in the case of most smaller towns, were human-scaled and although reminiscent of the time when they were built, unique to that area. We cherish these older buildings today because we need their grace and beauty. Countrywide, the buildings from 100-150 years ago still make towns and cities places you want to live in or visit. I wonder if in 100 years the fast-food and discount chains will still be with us. Will they still look as ugly and commercial? Will they still provide horribly low-paying, demeaning jobs to people? Will they still look like "anywhere", USA? (By the way, do you know where the only turquoise McDonald logo is? Sedona.)
We went on and found a lovely place near Mobile, Alabama, right on the gulf where we swam in the pool and jacuzzi. (The real thing was a bit brackish looking...) I like that we have stayed one night in each of these shorter states: New Mexico, Mississippi and Alabama.
In the evening, Rob needed to make something creative and started playing with the calligraphy pen set. There may be a new comic strip made totally of calligraphy!
April 29
This morning, I started to read an amazing book: Rich Kid, Smart Kid. It is about how to get your kid to strategize towards a weathy consciousness. This guy is good!
We started out towards the east and decided to take the scenic coastal route, which did not disappoint us for scenery, although parts of the panhandle coast is quite built up and slow to get through. Florida must have more bridges per capita than anywhere else on earth-big ones across long expanses of water. (Photo of Panhandle Bridge)
Then, somehow maps and road signs disagreed with each other and instead of bypassing Tallahassee, we went through a part of it where the signs and maps might as well have been of different countries. What a mess!
It was well after dark when we finally got going on Highway 27 South to our chosen destination, Steinhassee, just below the panhandle. We were due in Sarasota on Friday afternoon to have sessions with our friend Ron Jensen's friend, Mary, a BodyTalk practicioner and accupuncturist. If we didn't get as far as Steinhassee, there would be no way to get to Sarasota on time. SO, we kept going. It didn't help that we had just gone through the Eastern time zone and lost an hour. Robin cooked dinner, which we ate around 11pm and we were off to bed with Richard Bach's ILLUSIONS-just the start of it.(Photo of Steinhassee dock)
April 30
It was a race to get to Sarasota by 3pm, but as it turned out, between Mary's family's roofing project and as there was no way we were going to be there on time, we postponed our sessions till the next day.
We got to the Sun 'n Fun RV Park and were plugged in by 4pm. We never realized how hot it was until we got out of our air conditioned RV. WOW, we were upon the summer season here! We went right into the pool by way of some very hot pavement which Robin discovered too late that he should have worn shoes on. Flippers don't work on land!
Rob created a real culinary masterpiece this evening, "Indian Chicken Strips ala Rob" on rice, with RQ(real quick) salad and, for dessert, "creme brownee", a cross between brownie batter and pudding with peanut butter chips. Yumm...
This Friday night's entertainment was The Bird Cage, a Hollywood remake of one of the funniest French flicks ever. It was fun, but nothing close to the French one...
2004 Tour Home
