Our Last Day in New Orleans

On our last full day we took the street car and bus to the World War II Museum.

As we waited for "the street car named Desire" I took this photo of the cheerful passenger shelter in the middle of Canal Street.  Can you find the word "Desire" in this photo?  

The Rapid Transit system in New Orleans is really great... for $3.00 you can get a day pass and go anywhere in the city at any time... getting off and on as many times you wish.  We used it a couple of times just to see the city.

Sitting on a crowded bus with my camera on my lap I clicked a few shots of this little boy so nobody knew I was taking any picture.  

My greatest take away from our visit of the WWII Museum was all the details I learned about D Day... and the magnitude of this single event.  It certainly made General Eisenhower look good for his management of forces.

I didn't realize that there were troops from 14 different countries with about 175,000 troops involved.  No small feat to organize all this and keep the event a secret from the enemy.  

This Rolls Royce airplane engine was all chromed up for display... quite a magnificent piece of art, eh?

I asked Lorne to stand by the American Flag so that I could show the size of this large flag.  An American saw me taking this photo and commented, "She's a beautiful flag, isn't she?"  I agreed without telling him I was Canadian and the man by the flag was also Canadian!

The museum was in an old renovated building that over 150 years ago was used as a distillery. When they moved out in the mid 1900's it was used as a warehouse and then a Moving & Storage company had it.  

There was a model of the expansion of the facilities for the WWII Museum... an estimated $300 million is being spent.  Much of it is already done.  For example, we went to the Tom Hanks production in the new theatre across the street.  It was an amazing 4-D production... well worth seeing.

Thousands of contributors have their names on bricks in the sidewalk leading up to the front door of the WWII Museum.

The City of New Orleans has an image building campaign to revitalize the downtown since Katrina.

It's so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas." -Paul Cezanne

There were lots of these banners all over downtown New Orleans.

We never rented a car in New Orleans... but got a chuckle out of this parking enforcement sign.

Here is my sweetheart walking in front of the New Orleans District Court of Appeals.

The fleur di leis is everywhere in the city.

Even on the garbage cans along the streets.  Pretty nice garbage receptacle, eh?

We wanted to spend a little time on Magazine Street... an eclectic kind of shopping area.  

Old houses turned into stores.

We found out what the Po-Boy sandwiches are.... no screaming hell.

A variety of sidewalk cafes flank Magazine Street... people enjoying some food and friendship.

Lots of art galleries and design studios.

Some crazy names.

Lots of original names for their business.

Shirley went into this jewelry store and came out with a fleur di leis.... got to help their economy a little.

These little poodle dogs were all custom decorated and found all around the city.  A fun project.

These colourful beads became synonymous with New Orleans.... they were hanging on trees and power lines... this bicycle basket is loaded in colours.

We went into several of these interior design shops.  We had a lot of fun just looking at the variety of things available... Shops full stuff, but nobody else in the store.  We were glad not to be them.

All too soon our time ran out and we hustled onto a bus heading back to Canal Street to meet our friends for dinner.

It was a fabulous four days.