Driving from Pensacola to New Orleans on Sunday 7th October 2018
Sunday 7th October 2018
This morning we were wakened by a bright sunny day and after having a good breakfast we packed all our stuff into our car and drove down to down town Pensacola as we still wanted to explore the historical district.
Pensacola is one of the oldest towns in the US as the Spaniards had their first settlements back in the mid 1500’s . Downtown Pensacola encompasses old Spanish brickwork, colonial French balconies and verandahs as well as Victorian mansions. The waterfront is sheltered by the island of Santa Rosa so it provides good boating facilities. We decided to stop for a refreshment at Jaco’s on the waterfront before we started our long drive to New Orleans.
The water front walkway – loads of people fishing and also running
Homes on the waterfront having their own berthing place for their boats
The harbour and yacht marina
Gerry with his Ozzie hat for some shade from the midday sun
Statue of Don Tristan de Luna who had established the first settlement in Pensacola
This pelican was watching out for the fishes
Trying to catch the bird?
One of the walkways in down town Pensacola
The museum which used to be the mayors home
One of the arty pelicans in front of the museum
In the historic district of Pensacola
We walked along various historical buildings as described on this board
Old locomotive
This house used to belong to an ex slave who dedicated her time to free other slaves by paying for them – Jules Panton
The old church serving as a public library
Typical – rocking chairs on the front porch
Another latticed porch
By 13.00 we were once again on the road – on the Interstate 10 taking us to New Orleans , our next stop over. Traffic wasn’t bad at all being a Sunday and we had a good drive going through 4 states:
At 13.30 we crossed the Florida state line to Alabama – interesting bill board: welcome to sweet home Alabama
At 14:15 we were welcomed to the state of Mississippi and then we had a drizzle of rain!
At 15:15 we crossed into Louisiana and weather was somewhat better – we could see stretches of blue skies and the sun started shining again.
On the road again…..
Gerry doing his relaxed driving bit……..
Our first glimpse of New Orleans
The flat lands or marshes and swamps along the Mississippi – and there are alligators roaming around there!
And at 15:50, we were finally at our hotel, Maison Dupuy located on Toulouse in the French Quarters of New Orleans. We had landed ourselves in the midst of all the fun, music and Colonial French architecture. As we had driven some 200 miles in nearly 3 hours, we decided to relax a while before going out again. We had booked a dinner cruise on one of the paddle steamers, cruising down the Mississippi and we needed to get on board by 6.30 pm. So a quick shower and then a nice stroll along the water front to our “Creole Queen”.
On Toulouse a corner building across our hotel
Music and people along the streets in the French Quarter
Dixieland blues band playing on the street
One of the paddle steamers
to go cruising on the Mississippi
Gerry enjoying the view
The Crescent City Connection bridge spanning the Mississippi
Our cruising Creole Queen where we spent a very enjoyable evening
Creole Queen still berthed
Finally we could enjoy our wine as we were not driving this evening
Lily, our hostess took good care of us during dinner – especially for Gerry
Dinner
Cajun dinner including jambalaya, corn stew, gumbo and salad
Of course the American flag ……
Another paddle steamer
cruising down the river
The New Orleans skyline at night – dazzling!
The jazz band on the top deck
Jazz bad and singers on the top deck x it was a sultry warm evening with a gentle breez
Enjoying my glass of wine after a really good meal of Cajun food – our first one during our stay in New Orleans
Back to the hotel – and our walk seemed somewhat longer than earlier on – but that wasn’t too bad as the streets were full of people……. tomorrow we’re off to visit a plantation and see how life was pre the civil war when slavery was still a normal way of life to runa sugar plantation……
Author: Liliana
Retired banker now spending time travelling the world with my soulmate, Gerry. Early retirement due to the fact that the bank I worked for changed their direction from global to local and hence my expertise was not needed any longer - now using my passion and energy in discovering the world after I have worked enthusiastically for so many years, brought up my daughter and son and now still have good health to enjoy my new experiences.
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