Mardi Gras and Jazz in the French Quarter

Laissez les bons temps rouler....Let the good times roll

Finally, the sun decided to show itself today, but it was still cold and windy.  We started our day off by visiting Mardi Gras World, down by the cruise ship pier on the Mississippi snaking around New Orleans. Mardi Gras World is a huge warehouse, 1 of 15 that this particular family owns, to prepare and store props and floats for the Krewe Orpheus.  There are over 50 such warehouses, known as dens, by other families and krewes througout the city.

Hey!  Pick your own nose!

Queen Kong

Artists at work

As we entered the warehouse, we were given our official beads and badges.  Fifteen to twenty artists work in this warehouse, designing, sculpting, paper macheting, painting, gluing the props and floats that will be used in this year's Mardi Gras Parade.

 They were busily working as we toured the den. We had an opportunity to walk around without the guide and thoroughly enjoyed what we saw.  It is a huge production that gears up right after the first of the year.  Many of the warehouses become venues for conferences, weddings, meetings, etc.  And some of the krewes hold their Masquerade Balls in their own warehouses.

 This coming Saturday is the first of the parades leading up to the week before actual Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) before Ash Wednesday.  The parade we will see is the grandfather of the parades and it is on foot through the French Quarter.  We understand it is quite raunchy and definitely for no one under 18 years of age.  I'm not even sure we are old enough. but we are looking forward to it, and then glad to be out of New Orleans before the crush of tourists move in for the big stuff.

Under 18 at Heart

The original parades were walking parades.  Now the big parades with their large floats cannot make their way through the French Quarter because of their width and  length. One float was over 300 feet, the length of a football field!  By city ordinance, the krewes all where masks so spectators cannot recognize the people on the floats.   The krewes stand on their floats tossing swag to the the spectator/participants.

In the afternoon, we strolled through the French Quarter to the French Market and the Old Mint Building where the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park of Louisiana was presenting a free concert of a quartet of New Orleans renown jazz musicians.  We enjoyed an hour an half of wonderful music, from pianist Steve Pistorius, clairinet by Orange Kellin, trombone by Charlie Halloran, and base by Tyler Thompson.

This group calls themselves Halfway House.  Each plays in several different groups.  This quartet specializes in the old, traditional jazz.  It's the kind we like the best so this was great.  We bought one of their CDs and will play it for you when you visit.   Here are some links to their other works:

Steve Pistorius:On the piano
Charlie Halloran: On the trombone
Orange Kellin:  On the clarinet
Tyler Thomson: On the bass

We had a great day and looking forward to tomorrow when we head out of the city into plantation land to visit the Oak Alley Plantation.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's

WWII Museum, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

The weather has turned rainy and cold.  Consequently, we are trying to stay inside as much as possible.  Yesterday, we visited the the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

It was very interesting.  The 2 4D visual, audio, tactile, olfactory experiences, one a movie called Beyond all Boundaries, and the other the Last Mission of the Tang submarine were excellent.  We enjoyed our visit.  It was very sobering and provocative.  Could we as a nation ever come together again to fight an enemy with such determination and sacrifice.  We are not so sure given the current polarization of our political parties and devisiveness amongst individuals and groups that we could win again.

After our afternoon at the WWII museum we took a drive through an area basically destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt by donations for houses from Brad Pitt.  These homes are built high above the ground so that if another Katrina or flood should come they would be high and dry.

Last night, we experienced thunder, lightening and lots of rain.  This morning, it was even colder and windier than the day before.  We decided to head toward Mississippi and the Stennis Space Center, about 40 minutes from where we are staying.

Mississippi Dresses Up for Mardi Gras

We made a brief stop at the Mississippi Visitor Center and found a geocache, then headed to the Infinity Science and Technology Center.

We lucked out.  It was Wednesday, and seniors only pay $5.00 per person.  Whoot!!  Guess there is some compensation for getting old.  Infinity center had some great earth videos (climate change, fresh water, ocean currents, tsunamis, etc. shown on a mysteriously suspended revolving globe.  Fascianting to watch.

The space center is 140,000+ acres (2nd in size only to Kennedy Space Center) and is the site where every engine that has been built for rockets to the moon, mars, and space station has been tested.  But first we had to get in our space suits:

Today the center houses 14 different government agencies from Navy Seals and EPA to NOAA and Marine Geographic. Private organizations such as Amazon and Rolls Royce, also contract to test their engines.  Did you know Amazon is positioning itself for commercial space travelers?

We returned to Louisiana after our afternoon in Mississippi and captured some photographs of swollen river communities,

swamp boats,

Fork Pike,

and houses built on stilts.

These are bit more sophisticated than the fishing villages of Cambodia, where we visited last February.

Cambodian Fishing Village - Here about 1 year ago this month

Tomorrow looks like another cold day.  The change in the weather in from tropical to Caribbean to just plain cold and damp has contributed to my scratchy throat and stuffy nose.  Guess the climate change has been too dramatic for my system.  So it's a glass of wine and early bedtime for me.  If all goes well, we will visit Mardi Gras Word tomorrow.

Goodnight from the Worrall Travel R's

French Quarter - New Orleans

After we disembarked from the Norwegian Jewel, we took the airport shuttle bus and made our way to the rental cars, where we picked up our Honda.  We rented a room from a private party through Airbnb.com.  If you aren't familiar with Airbnb, it is a clearing house for people who wish to rent out a room in their home or complete house or apartment.  Here is the Airbnb link to Patrick's home.  It's perfect for us to relax and from which to visit the sites of the area.

We spent our first afternoon exploring the French Quarter.  Everyone is decorating and gearing up for Mardis Gras.

Great Music in the Park

Decked out for Mardi Gras

Russ and I met with SERVAS hosts Harvey and Grace for dinner and area tips on our first evening. We had a wonderful salad and fresh shrimp. Cuisine for the first day in the French Quarter at Patrick O'Brians included jumbalaya, gumbo, deep fried catfish, red beans and rice, and beer. In no time we'll be y'alling it!

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's